I know this has been asked before, but it never seemed to get a real response. We'll be in Munich on my partner's birthday in June and he's not only a car nut, but a BMW driver. When last there we did the museum, but couldn't do the factory tour without an advance reservation, so we'd like to do that this year. Even his BMW dealer doesn't have a clue how to do this. Google turns up lots of references to BMW factory tours, but all as part of some long German package tour, and nothing specifically about how to book -- just telling you that you must do so. Any help out there?

Here you go Pat,
website link:
http://www.bmwgroup.com/
once on the site, click "production" link on upper right of the page and follow to plant tour link.

From above site:
Public Relations and Employee Communication Office
Petuelring 130
D-80788 Munich
Tel.: +49 (0)89-3 82-2 36 39
Fax: +49 (0)89-3 82-2 58 78

[email protected]

Please call the BMW museum between 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at +49 (0)89-3 82-2 33 06 for information about tour dates and times, or to request tours for individual guests (i.e. groups of up to five people). Groups of five or more persons can make reservations by writing to the address above.

Thanks for the information. After posting here, I did email BMS USA and left an email which a person has already responded to. He gave me a number in the US for setting up a tour. I'll try that tomorrow, otherwise I'll call this number in Germany and post back here for future reference.

Patrick, please let us know how this works out for you, including the US number for arrangements.
P.S. Your partner is a very lucky guy!

For Patrick: My partner and I will be at Le Meridien in May before you get there in June. I'll do my best to post a message as soon as we return to get you even more pumped about the hotel (the place better be good or we blew it!!! Cheers!

Patrick,
Make sure the BMW USA contact is making the arrangements for the Munich factory and not the Spartanburg, SC plant!

Patrick: Please give us a BMW tour report after you return. We want to go to the Frankfurt car show in Sept., but cannot make it due to the relocation of our company beyond our control, we have to postpone to Oct. We plan to tour the MB factory which has been arranged.
Thanks.

A brief update. I received an email from BMW telling me to call the following number in the US: 866-868-7269. I did and got a recorded message that tours are only given on Monday and Friday (good, we want Monday) and to leave details and date wanted. I did that and just received a call back telling me as soon as they hear from the Munich factory, they will confirm.
This seems like the best and easiest way to do it.

Of course if you pick up your new Bimmer at the factory, they'll throw in the tour gratis. Good savings, BTW.

I just received email confirming the arranged factory tour on June 30. The information is very clear of when and where to be (it starts at the museum lobby). There is no charge for the tour, and they tell you what to expect and how to get there. Very organized and concise. So it looks like the best way to organize this is by calling and leaving the message at the number I posted above.

I went on the BMW factory tour in Munich in 1998, and found it absolutely fascinating. They were building the 3-Series vehicles, such as the 328i. It started with rolls of steel being stamped into shape, and ended with cars being driven away. In the paint department, they can change the color in a matter of seconds for each car as it comes through. Beer is served in the workers' break rooms.

We made an advance reservation for the tour given in English. When we arrived at the BMW Museum for the tour, there was a sign at the factory tour counter saying "No Tours Today." Don't be alarmed. It simply meant there were no tours without advance reservations.

Helo:

For those of you from the states, you can have a wonderful tour of the BMW Factory in Spartenburg, S.C. State of the art facility. One thing I learned was that this factory controls "All" the production on the BMW SUV and the BMW Sports car. Funny to think that Spartenburg ships their cars to Germany for sale in Europe!!
JOHN