We got up this morning to a bright sky and a decision to visit the BMW Plant and museum. Since this is out by the 1972 Olympic Grounds we can enjoy having a look at it as well as taking our swimming suits and going for a swim in the Olympic pool that Mark Spitz won his 7 gold medals (and the tragic loss of 11 athletes were killed).
Before we got our day started we had to stop at the railway station to buy our reservations for our train on Friday because this is going to be Easter Weekend and the trains are expected to be booked. We also went back to the tourist information center to decide if the Munich Pass for 24 hours was a good plan and learned that we would benefit from the pass since we got 24 hrs metro use and substantial discounts at the BMW plant tour and museum. It would not help with the swimming pool though, but as long as it was to our benefit, we would buy the pass.
We then had to figure out the metro system. The maps we have to work with are so extremely small and cluttered with the buses and trams as well we took quite a bit of time at the metro station sorting it all out. Eventually it was not difficult at all, but the maps really could be a bit bigger or different maps for different systems.
We arrived at the BMW center and walked around looking at displays of their car models. Yes I got to watch the Z4 hardtop convertible fold away the top and it was fun. The displays of cars included all the models they sell from the mid-sized 3 series, the 5 and 6 series. They included 4 cyls to 12 cyls, gas, hybred and diesel. In addition they have displays of the engines, many displays of explanations of how the different engines operate etc. Ok, to say that this was unique is an understatement.
You can imagine our surprise to be standing by the stairs when staff started to rope off areas and we hear a motorcycle surge into life. They have a stunt rider ride the bike around the showroom, up a flight of stairs and down again. He does this in a variety of ways and even came down the stairs balancing on the front tire with the back tire in the air. We were impressed and not volunteering to try the stunt ourselves.
We had decided that if we could we would take the BMW Plant tour but we had been warned that reservations since the tours usually book up. We were fortunate that when we check that not only did they have room for 2 more, the tour started in 10 minutes so we did not have to wait long.
The tour started with an 8 minute video of the history of BMW which started in 1917 building airplane engines. Then we headed across the street to enter the plant. What is interesting is that the plant is in the middle of Munich and has not been able to expand as the company grew. So they decided to build upward and the plant is actually on 5 different floors. As we walked through the plant we were not able to take any pictures.
We started by going into the sheet metal stamping plant. From there we went into the computerized robotic line where the metal pieces were assembled into frames, roofs and cars with spot welding and other assembly features needed to put the metal together. Most of this is done by robots with staff managing the components and oversight. When the ‘assembly’ was finished we were looking at the complete assembled car frame ready for the paint shop.
Our next section was to go into the paint shop to watch the robots complete the multiple layers of cleaning metal, electroplating, undercoating and several layers of paint to the finished product. It was very interesting to watch the robots arms swivelling, pivoting and darting with the paint nozzles and air jets blasting.
After the paint shop we headed over the engine production section to have a look at the assembly of the engines. Although this is robotic assisted the actually assembly seems to be staffed with men and women along the assembly line dealing with their specific speciality.
We were not able to go into the final assembly line area since it was being re-tooled and there was nothing for us to see. So we ended the tour after almost two hours of poking around and being amazed at the complexity of constructing an automobile. For your information this plant (BMW has several others around the world) employ more than 9,000 and manufacture 900 vehicles and 1400 engines per day.
After we left the tour we still had plans to go over to the BMW Museum. Neither of us had any idea of the incredible quality and history of the BMW company which included the development of airplane engines, construction of motorcycles, and the emergence of the automobiles. I was amazed at how many cars from the 50’s have a very similar look to the cars in North America and some very cute cars such as the Isabol (front opens). The museum itself had some very creative displays and one that was most intriguing was the book that as you turned the page it triggered a small vocal commentary. If you flipped the page to the next one halfway through the commentary it stopped that one and started the new appropriate one.
We finished our tour of the museum very impressed with the BMW vehicle and history. As I walked back through the BMW Center I tried to convince Wes that the Z4 hardtop convertible would be a great present – but I think the price tag of about 70,000 euro dampened his support.
We headed over to the Olympic Center (a 5 minute walk) to hunt down the swimming pool. We had decided to take some time and enjoy swimming in the pool that Mark Spitz was so successful. Of course we had hoped to find several recreation pools but only found a 50 meter pool, a diving pool (not for us though) and a spa (full of students). So we were forced to head into the 50 meter pool and start to swim laps. I sure missed my goggles but considering that I have not been swimming it was really good to stretch out and swim a few laps. I only manage to swim about 350 meters before my shoulder started to complain. Since I normally swim 1000 meters when swimming regularly I take this to mean that I need to get back to my swimming next fall.
We enjoyed the relaxing time at the pool and both of us left feeling refreshed. What was different for us was the change rooms. As we walked into the change room area we found it was male and female all together with individual cubes to which you could step into to change. The showers were separate but after showering you had to return to the common area to get to your locker and then go to a cube to change. It was very different than what we have experienced and it was not indecent and no exposures occurred, but it was different.
We returned to the downtown center area to enjoy a relaxing beer at a beer garden that we walked by. It was so nice to sit at a sidewalk table and enjoy the warmth from the sun and a beer. The day has been a full one, but a very good one too.
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