After being closed for months, the BMW Zentrum is open again, as of October 17. The distinctive circular structure that has served as the visual front piece of BMW Manufacturing's Plant Spartanburg since the 1990s is once again set to greet visitors to the massive BMW complex in Greer, South Carolina.
The original Zentrum contained a display of significant BMW historic cars, motorcycles, and even marine engines that traced the company’s heritage back to the 1920s. The newly renovated Zentrum will contain historic vehicles but will also display a variety of new BMW products, including those made in the factory next door.
BMW Manufacturing is putting the finishing touches on a $1,000,000,000 expansion that includes a new 1,200,000-square-foot body shop for BMW’s largest Sports Activity Vehicle—the BMW X7—which will probably be released within the next two years as a 2018 model, although BMW has not revealed the actual production or availability dates.
Plant Spartanburg is currently the only manufacturer of BMW X3, X4, X5, and X6 vehicles. An additional X3 production location will start in BMW’s Rosslyn, South Africa factory in the next couple of years.
BMW Group CEO Harald Krüger announced that the company would make an all-electric X3 by 2020. Manfred Erlacher, president of BMW Manufacturing, said the South Carolina plant, which is currently the largest BMW factory in the world, might produce the battery-powered SAV.
“We are already building hybrids, and we have the experience here to build the electric high-voltage car,” Erlacher said. “I think in the future there will come a real electric car. That’s necessary, but we are not under real time pressure.”
The new Zentrum will also feature a 375-square foot high-definition video screen, the Isetta Café, and the BMW Boutique gift shop. The building will be open between 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Admission is free.
Once again, new BMW owners taking BMW Performance Center Delivery of their new vehicles will be able to tour the Zentrum. Tours of the manufacturing plant are still suspended until sometime in 2018 as the factory makes changes and gears up for new models.
On special display is a 1957 BMW Roadster that was once raced by Hans Stuck the elder and owned for a time by Elvis Presley. BMW Classic in Munich undertook a two-year restoration of the car and revealed it to the world in August in Monterey, California during BMW’s 100th Anniversary Celebration there. The Elvis Presley 507 will be at the Zentrum until spring of 2017.
The original Zentrum was a fun place to visit and the new version should be as well. It will certainly attract people taking Performance Center delivery as well as everyone attending the various driving schools offered by the BMW Performance Center, which is only a couple of minutes away from the Zentrum. Next door to the Performance Center is the home of the BMW Car Club of America Foundation. Guided tours of the Foundation’s collection of cars, artifacts, and memorabilia are available the second Wednesday of each month from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and at other times when coordinated in advance.
BMW has done a great job updating and renovating the Zentrum. BMW fans visiting in the area, and even those just passing by on I-85, should stop in for a visit.—Scott Blazey
For a video preview of the newly renovated Zentrum, visit https://www.bmwusfactory.com/zentrum/ and click on the “Watch Video Preview” button.
[Photos courtesy of BMW Manufacturing.]
