BMW in the United States

BMW Zentrum (visitor center) at the Spartanburg factory, with the "Stars and Stripes" X5 (First Gen. X5 (E53))

BMW of North America, LLC is the American subsidiary of German car manufacturer BMW. Its headquarters are located at Woodcliff Lake, Bergen County, New Jersey. ^[2]

BMW cars have been officially sold in the United States since 1956. ^[3] Max Hoffman was the exclusive importer in 1962 from until 1975, when BMW of North America was established. ^{[4] [5]}

In 2016, BMW was the twelfth highest selling brand in the United States. ^[6]

The BMW Spartanburg manufacturing plant in Greer, South Carolina, opened in 1994, had the highest production volume of the BMW plants worldwide, ^[7] with 396,117 units in 2025. ^[8] The models produced at the Spartanburg plant are the X3, X5, X6, X7, and XM SUV models.

In addition to the South Carolina manufacturing facility, BMW's North American companies include sales, marketing, design, and financial services operations in the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Latin America. The North American headquarters for its large financial services subsidiary is located in Columbus, Ohio and is responsible for the captive lending for BMW automotive, BMW Motorsport, and Rolls-Royce cars, when buyers lease the vehicles or decide to finance directly with the company. ^[9]

Spartanburg manufacturing plant

34°53′35″N82°10′44″W / 34.89306°N 82.17889°W / 34.89306; -82.17889

BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC

Company type	Division
Industry	Automotive
Founded	1992;34 years ago (1992), Greer, South Carolina [10]
Headquarters	Greer, South Carolina , United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Robert Engelhorn (president)
Products	Automobiles
Number of employees	11,000 [11]
Parent	BMW
Website	bmwgroup.com/spartanburg

The BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC, also known as BMW Spartanburg, is the BMW Group's only assembly facility in the United States, and is located in Greer, South Carolina. ^[12] The plant is currently BMW's major global production site for the X3, X5, X6, X7, and XM crossover SUVs, ^[13] whose biggest market is the U.S., while other BMW models sold in the U.S. market are imported.

History

In 1992, BMW announced that it would build a 1,150-acre (470 ha) manufacturing facility in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States to strengthen its international production system. The plant opened in 1994. ^[8]

In 2010, BMW announced that it would spend $750 million to expand operations at the Greer plant. This expansion will allow production of 240,000 vehicles a year and will make the plant the largest car factory in the United States by number of employees. ^[14] BMW's largest single market is the United States, where 339 dealerships sold 346,023 cars in 2015. ^[15]

The two millionth vehicle built at BMWUSM rolled off the plant in January 2012., a vermilion red BMW X3 xDrive35i. The vehicle was retained on display at the Spartanburg Plant to commemorate the milestone. ^[16] The six millionth unit was produced in October 2022, a green BMW X6 M. ^[17]

The plant is the largest BMW plant in the world in terms of vehicle production volume. ^[18] In 2025, the Spartanburg plant produced 396,117 cars, of which 225,000 units were exported at a value of $10.1 billion. ^[8]

In 2018, around 70% of production was exported to 125 markets. The biggest export market was China, accounting for one-third of all export. ^[19] That same year, BMW ceased exporting the X3 to China. ^[19]

Most units are transported by rail to the nearby dry inland port, 200 miles (320 km) from the port of Charleston. ^[20] Some air freight is also used. ^[21]

Current products

• X3
• X5
• X6
• X7
• XM

Previous products

• BMW 3 Series (E36) (1994–1996; also produced in Germany and South Africa)
  • 318i Sedan (1994–1995)
  • 318is Coupe (1994–1995)
  • 328i Sedan (1996)
• BMW Z3 (E36/4) (1995–2002)
  • Roadster
  • M Roadster
  • Coupe
  • M Coupe
• BMW Z4 (E85) (2003–2008; successive generation produced in Germany)
  • Roadster
  • M Roadster
  • Coupe
  • M Coupe
• BMW X4 (2014–2025)

Model range differences in the U.S.

Models offered only in the United States

There are several models which have been solely sold in the United States:

• 1971-1977 BMW New Six Bavaria: This US-only model offered the more powerful engine in a car with fewer luxury features. ^{[22] [23]}
• 2005-2016 BMW M5 manual transmission options: The United States and Canada were the only markets where the E60 and F10 M5 was available with a manual transmission. ^{[24] [25]}

Engine availability differences

Several BMW engines have not been officially sold in the United States, due to emissions regulations. These include:

• M20: Early versions of the M20 engine, which used Jetronic fuel-injection, were not sold in the US.
• M52: Due to high-sulfur fuel in the US at the time, most M52 engines sold in the US used an iron block, instead of the aluminium block used in other markets. ^[26]
• N53: Due to high-sulfur fuel, the US was one of several countries where the N53 was not sold. Instead, its N52 predecessor remained in use in these countries. ^{[27] [28]}
• S50/S52: For the E36 M3, the United States used different engines to the models used in most other markets. The S50B30US and S52 engines used in the US are less powerful than the equivalent Euro-specification S50 engines. ^{[29] [30]}

References

1. https://www.bmwblog.com/2012/07/04/bmw-super-bild-of-the-day-x5-stars-and-stripes/ ^{[ dead link ]}
2. "Company Information | BMW USA" . Retrieved January 16, 2023.
3. "Isetta 300 model selection". www.realoem.com. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
4. "Max Hoffman & The Orgin Story Of BMW in the U.S." BimmerFile. 15 January 2025.
5. "50 Stories for 50 Years Chapter 2: "Before BMW of North America: The Max Hoffman Era"". BimmerLife. 22 January 2025.
6. "Sales by Manufacturer". www.edmunds.com. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
7. "BMW Plant Spartanburg leads U.S. auto exports". Roundel . BMW Car Club of America. April 2015. p. 30. ISSN   0889-3225.
8. Daniel Golson (25 March 2025). "BMW remains top exporter by value of cars from The U.S., makes up nearly 20 percent of the country's total". Jalopnik.
9. "BMW Financial Services NA LLC - Company Profile and News". Bloomberg News .
10. "Company Overview of BMW Manufacturing Co". www.bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
11. "Production". BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC. Retrieved 2019-12-27.
12. "Directions to BMW Plant". BMW Manufacturing. Archived from the original on 22 March 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
13. Harper, Ken (July 27, 2019). "BMW Group Plant Spartanburg More Than Doubles Capacity For Battery Assembly". AutoLoud. Archived from the original on 2021-07-27.
14. Bennett, Jeff (14 October 2010). "BMW to Expand Plant in South Carolina". The Wall Street Journal . p. B5.
15. "BMW Group U.S. Reports December and 2015 Sales, 5 January 2016". Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
16. Zach Bowman (12 January 2012). "BMW pouring $990M into Spartanburg plant to build more CUVs". Autoblog. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
17. Andy Kalmowitz (3 October 2022). "BMW Produces Six Millionth Vehicle At U.S. Manufacturing Plant". Jalopnik.
18. "Spartanburg's Number Two in BMW plant production". Roundel . BMW Car Club of America. April 2015. p. 31. ISSN   0889-3225.
19. "BMW's U.S. plant sets record for output in 2019". Automotive News Europe. 15 January 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
20. Greg Thompson (30 September 2016). "BMW and Spartanburg: A port far from any storms". Automotive Logistics. Archived from the original on 7 April 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017. That Charleston facility now sees approximately 5,000 finished vehicles per week arriving via Norfolk Southern along a rail line that starts at the end of the BMW assembly line and testing center in Greer. Of the 285,000 finished vehicles exported by the OEM from the plant during 2015, Charleston port was the point of departure for some 250,000 units.
21. "BMW consolidates air freight shipments between US and Germany - Automotive Logistics". AutomotiveLogistics.media. 27 July 2016. Archived from the original on 21 May 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
22. "Classic and Vintage BMW". www.classicandvintagebmw.tumblr.com. Archived from the original on 23 July 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
23. "BMW Bavaria Defense Mechanism". www.i-vol.com. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
24. "This Ten-Year-Old BMW Proves Why You Should Always Pick the Manual". www.roadandtrack.com. 11 August 2016. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
25. "FAQ E60 + E61 M5". www.bmwmregistry.com. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
26. "Engines". www.metricmechanic.com. Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
27. "BMW N52 and N53 24 Valve Six Cylinder Engines". www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 October 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
28. "BMW's N52 versus N53 – what are we missing?". www.paultan.org. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
29. "FAQ E36 M3 3.0". www.bmwmregistry.com. Archived from the original on 2 December 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
30. "BMW S52 Engine". www.mywikimotors.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2017.

External links

• Factory website
• BMW USA