BMW’s new factory in Debrecen, Hungary is set to kick off pre-series production by the end of this year. Meanwhile, the paint shop is already up and running. It’s the first of its kind within the BMW Group to completely do away with fossil fuels. The high-tech facility can paint as many as 30 bodies every hour in an entirely automated process. Should the need arise, the output can be increased.
No, those panels don’t belong to the Neue Klasse iX3 that’ll enter series production in 2025 at BMW Plant Debrecen. In the meantime, BMW is doing trial runs of its three-story paint shop by using iX1 bodies. We’ll remind you that the electric crossover is assembled in Regensburg, Germany. There are no plans to build this smaller SUV in Hungary where only the next-generation iX3 has been confirmed thus far.
The paint shop spans 33,000 square meters and uses hot water heated at 65 degrees Celsius (149 degrees Fahrenheit) rather than the usual 90-120 degrees Celsius (194-248 degrees Fahrenheit). The water is used to supply the hall ventilation systems that provide a temperature of 22 degrees Celsius (71.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in the spray booths. Humidity has been set at 60-65%. The spray booth uses up to 90% recirculating air as only 10% has to be temperature controlled and humidified.
The whole BMW Plant Debrecen site will cover more than 400 hectares and is going to have an annual production capacity of 150,000 cars. It’ll become the company’s first carbon-neutral assembly factory and will include a battery assembly facility. The latter will put together Gen6 packs with round cells, which promise a 20% boost in energy density compared to Gen5 prismatic cells.
The BMW Plant Debrecen has been in the works since June 2022 when the foundation stone was laid. More than €2 billion are being invested in the site, including the aforementioned battery assembly site. Additional models beyond the iX3 have not been announced, but we’ve been hearing reports of an iX4. It would make sense to build the electric crossover-coupe at the same site. The swoopy derivative is expected to arrive after 2026.
Source: BMW
