A secret prototype disguised on film at BMW's Plant Zero
Where is every BMW born? In a secret place the company has barely admitted exists--until now, called Plant Zero. The plant is staffed by the best of BMW's technicians, where prototype cars are built almost entirely by hand.
The techs use their own methods to program the eventual robotic assembly units that will build the series production versions of the car, so the robots are effectively replaying the motions of these experts.
BMW even goes so far as to mill an entire prototype vehicle out of a solid block of aluminum to ensure its specs are precisely as laid out in the computer drawings of the car. There's even a bit of info on how and why BMW chose to move to the now-ubiquitous swirl-based camouflage instead of the older plastic cladding.
For another look at how BMW tests its vehicles, check out our previous coverage of its Death Valley hot-weather testing.
