An interesting document was posted earlier last month on the Bimmerpost F80/F82 forum. According to the post, it is the full 2017 production schedule for model-year 2017 BMWs—and it provides valuable insights into the company's strategy for the coming year.
For example, right now you can buy an original BMW i3 with the 60-Ah battery and 82-mile range, or the i3 with the newer 94-Ah battery that gives it a 114-mile range.
The 2017 BMW i8 is scheduled to stay in production until October 2017, so at that time it will have had a sixteen-month run. This also lends credence to rumors of a facelifted i8 for model year 2018, which is also supposed to be the first model year for the i8 Roadster.
June 2017 will be the last month for production of all 2017 2 Series coupes and convertibles, including the M2. The 2 Series is due a Life Cycle Improvement (LCI) for model year 2018, so production for that series will start probably mid to late summer.
The model year 2017 3 Series will be in production until June, July, or October depending on the individual model, except for the 2017 BMW M3 that will cease production in February. Four plants are involved in making 3 Series Sedans: Munich, Regensburg, and Dingolfing in Germany and Rosslyn in South Africa.
Like the M3, the 2017 M4 production line will stop in February. In fact, all 4 Series production will stop in February. The 4 Series is also due for a Life Cycle Improvement, which observers believe will be 2018 models. However, March 2017 is pretty early for a 2018 model year LCI launch. Unknown at this time is if there will be a multi-month gap between model years.
Production is already underway on the new G30 5 Series 530i, 530xi, 540i, and 540xi in Dingolfing, and that will continue until June of 2017 when the 2018 model takes over. A holdover is the 5 Series Gran Turismo that will end production in February. The latest rumors have the 5 Series GT being converted to a 6 Series for the next model year, but since BMW is still testing what appears to be a camouflaged 6 Series GT, that particular model would probably appear as a 2018 model at the earliest.
All 2017 6 Series Coupes and Gran Coupes will end production in February, so we obviously expect 2018 models shortly thereafter.
The same appears to be true for 2017 BMW 7 Series Sedans, even for the recently launched M760i that just started production last month. It appears therefore that the 2017 M760i will have only a four-month run.
The 2017 iteration of littlest Sports Activity Vehicle, the BMW X1, will cease production in June.
Now for the Spartanburg family of X vehicles. By the time production ends for gasoline-powered versions of the 2017 BMW X3, they will have been coming off the line for 17 months, which is a very long run for a single model year. Production of the F48 will end in August, with the G01 2018 BMW X3 expected to launch sometime after that, possibly at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September. Other sources have pegged market availability of the next-generation X3 at around February or March of 2018.
The 2017 X4 Sports Activity Coupe will run until March, giving it a full twelve months of production.
Production of the F15 2017 X5 and F85 X5 M will proceed until August. These will have been in production for thirteen months except for the X5 35 diesel, for which start of production is delayed until January due to more extensive government testing resulting from the VW diesel scandal.
The 2017 X6 and X6 M will also be rolling out of Spartanburg until August.
The 2017 M550i xDrive and 530e iPerformance were not on the list presumably because they had not yet been market launched. They will be officially launched to the press at next month's North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
For a good look at the model year 2017 production schedule that also includes start dates, factory codes, production months, and manufacturing plants, check the link below to the document on Bimmerpost.com.—Scott Blazey
http://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1332642
[Photos courtesy of BMW AG.]
