Factory Tour question

[CachacoF80]

All,

I'm picking up my car in Munich in about a week time and am scheduled to attend to factory tour. I understand it takes 1-2 hours.

I'm recovering from a back injury and my back doesn't like it when I stand for prolonged periods of time. My question for those who have attended the tour: do you recall if there are "rest stops" along the way? The occasional bench / seat?

Otherwise I think I'll plan on taking one of those portable / telescopic chairs just in case.

Thanks for any input.

[Thescout13]

Originally Posted by CachacoF80

All,

I'm picking up my car in Munich in about a week time and am scheduled to attend to factory tour. I understand it takes 1-2 hours.

I'm recovering from a back injury and my back doesn't like it when I stand for prolonged periods of time. My question for those who have attended the tour: do you recall if there are "rest stops" along the way? The occasional bench / seat?

Otherwise I think I'll plan on taking one of.thoae portable / telescopic chairs just in case.

Thanks for any input.

No real rest stops along the way besides just standing in place for a moment or two. You can rent a wheelchair for the tour which helps those with mobility issues immensely. I would call the Welt directly for the most up to date info re renting wheelchairs. Someone in our group did it during our tour.

[CachacoF80]

Originally Posted by Thescout13

No real rest stops along the way besides just standing in place for a moment or two. You can rent a wheelchair for the tour which helps those with mobility issues immensely. I would call the Welt directly for the most up to date info re renting wheelchairs. Someone in our group did it during our tour.

Got it, that's helpful. I need to keep on moving do wheelchairs is a little extreme but something to consider.

How long was the tour?

[Thescout13]

Originally Posted by CachacoF80

Got it, that's helpful. I need to keep on moving do wheelchairs is a little extreme but something to consider.

How long was the tour?

About 2 hours or so, depends on how fast people walk. Was awesome tho, can't miss it.

[CachacoF80]

OK, seems like one of those Travel chairs is the way to go then to be safe.

Backs are no joke!

[KevinM]

Ours took 2 hours to the minute. We certainly paused for a few minutes while the guide talked but no breaks. Agree that the tour is a must!

[CachacoF80]

Very unfortunate update. I just got an email from BMW saying the tour was canceled on the date of delivery. I was really looking forward to it.

So: change plans a bit and scrap Nurburgring to accommodate visit to the factory? Or scrap factory, do the Ring and come back some other time to factory?

[Thescout13]

Originally Posted by CachacoF80

Very unfortunate update. I just got an email from BMW saying the tour was canceled on the date of delivery. I was really looking forward to it.

So: change plans a bit and scrap Nurburgring to accommodate visit to the factory? Or scrap factory, do the Ring and come back some other time to factory?

Unless you were doing a ring taxi, given this — Crashed on Nurburgring during tourist ride. BMW ED insurance HDI denies claim https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1508604, I would skip the ring and do the tour personally. It's up to you though, some people care more about the Ring than a factory tour. If it was me, factory tour over Ring every time.

[CachacoF80]

Ring Taxi indeed...seems like risk of driving your own car is not really worth it for ten minutes of fun.

I guess I'm debating where am I more likely to return in the near future.

[CachacoF80]

Alternatively, I could scrap most of the Alpenstrasse and make it to factory tour next day. Thoughts?

[Thescout13]

Originally Posted by CachacoF80

Alternatively, I could scrap most of the Alpenstrasse and make it to factory tour next day. Thoughts?

That's hard. Again, just me, it would be factory tour and the Alpine road. The Ring is special, but not as special as the other two. My wife and I's favorite parts of our ED was driving through the Alps and the time at the factory/Welt.

[zorrro]

Originally Posted by CachacoF80

Very unfortunate update. I just got an email from BMW saying the tour was canceled on the date of delivery. I was really looking forward to it.

So: change plans a bit and scrap Nurburgring to accommodate visit to the factory? Or scrap factory, do the Ring and come back some other time to factory?

Wow that is really last-minute - what was the reason? Sorry to hear about that. We pick up car and do tour tomorrow morning before heading to rainy Salzburg so fingers crossed!

[CachacoF80]

Originally Posted by zorrro

Wow that is really last-minute - what was the reason? Sorry to hear about that. We pick up car and do tour tomorrow morning before heading to rainy Salzburg so fingers crossed!

Due to a production closedown there will be no BMW Plant Tours offered on the 29th of June 2018 and also on the 02nd of July 2018.

We are sorry to inform you that we have cancelled your tour through the BMW Plant at 11:45 a.m.

[Nikolas]

Go do the Grossglockner and spend a night in Zell am See. You will not be disappointed!

It's only about 2.5 hour drive south of Munich.

[TXSoxFan]

Its too late now, but just mentioning this for others who may come along.

We did our paperwork on Saturday of our ED a couple of weeks ago. Because they did not have the factory tour available (they are only offered M-F), they offered us a guided tour of the Welt. It included some interesting info on the origin/building of the Welt, more in depth info on all of the brands, and a trip in the back to see a video and be able to see the storage area for the cars. Not nearly as cool as the factory tour, but worth the 45 minutes or so.

[ff1600]

Did the same last October. The view of car storage was quite interesting.

[SD ///M4]

Originally Posted by CASoxFan

Its too late now, but just mentioning this for others who may come along.

We did our paperwork on Saturday of our ED a couple of weeks ago. Because they did not have the factory tour available (they are only offered M-F), they offered us a guided tour of the Welt. It included some interesting info on the origin/building of the Welt, more in depth info on all of the brands, and a trip in the back to see a video and be able to see the storage area for the cars. Not nearly as cool as the factory tour, but worth the 45 minutes or so.

We have that tour scheduled for our upcoming trip as well as a tour of BMW Classic. Our #CentennialMTour group did that tour in 2016, but unfortunately, I caught my wife's conjunctivitis (pinkeye) and so we made another trip to Klinikum Schwabing, a local hospital to see the ophthalmologist (Augenartz) and we missed the Welt Tour.

We also have a tour of BMW Classic scheduled. Our group also visited BMW Classic in May 2016, about 4 months before it was open to the public. They were working hard to get everything ready for their public opening but we got a sneak peak. It will be interesting to visit it now that they've been open for nearly two years and we'll get full access to everything. For anyone considering a tour of BMW Classic you'll have to plan ahead as their only English tour is on Monday at 15:30.

[Atomicchicken]

Originally Posted by SD ///M4

We have that tour scheduled for our upcoming trip as well as a tour of BMW Classic. Our #CentennialMTour group did that tour in 2016, but unfortunately, I caught my wife's conjunctivitis (pinkeye) and so we made another trip to Klinikum Schwabing, a local hospital to see the ophthalmologist (Augenartz) and we missed the Welt Tour.

We also have a tour of BMW Classic scheduled. Our group also visited BMW Classic in May 2016, about 4 months before it was open to the public. They were working hard to get everything ready for their public opening but we got a sneak peak. It will be interesting to visit it now that they've been open for nearly two years and we'll get full access to everything. For anyone considering a tour of BMW Classic you'll have to plan ahead as their only English tour is on Monday at 15:30.

What is the difference between the BMW Classic and the BMW Museum? They seem similar other than the guided tour.

[SD ///M4]

Originally Posted by Atomicchicken

What is the difference between the BMW Classic and the BMW Museum? They seem similar other than the guided tour.

The BMW Museum is a museum, BMW Classic is a actually a restoration shop, along with a display area.

BMW Museum is what you think of when you think of a museum, with historical archives of everything BMW, including historic cars starting with the Dixie, motorcycles, race cars, etc., along with the data about the items. Cars in the museum are on display, and pretty much stay there permanently, except special exhibits, like the BMW Art Cars which tend to rotate in and out. I was fortunate to see the special exhibit of all BMW Art Cars on my first visit in 2011, except for the Jeff Koons E92 M3 GT car, which was elsewhere. In May 2016, they had it on a special display by itself, and i was fortunate to see it not only there, but at Monterey Car week later that year, at Laguna Seca for BMW CCA Oktoberfest.

BMW Classic is where you can have your classic BMW restored, by factory technicians using factory parts, retooled and recreated if necessary. It also serves as a repository for classical vehicles that BMW takes to various events, like Pebble Beach, and many other Concours d'Elegance. When we got a sneak peek during our #CentennialMTour in 2016, they were not yet open to the public, but we had a tour through the restoration shop, the library which houses thousands of BMW brochures, marketing materials, and manuals, and also of the garage where they house many historic BMWs.

The BMW Museum is a purpose-built museum building, while BMW Classic is actually the very first building which BMW occupied when they manufactured airplane engines. They sold the building decades ago and just a few years ago were able to repurchase the building and moved BMW Classic into the building: https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/globa...ip?language=en

Think of them as two overlapping circles, with some common elements and some elements unique to each location. I'm eager to see the final result. Looking at the pictures on their website, it has become far more than what we saw in 2016: https://www.bmwgroup-classic.com/en/building.html

Here's a group photo that we took in front of BMW Classic in May 2016, they day before our group delivery:

[Atomicchicken]

Thanks for summarizing the difference. I guess the next question is....is BMW Classic worth going to? I guess it's nice to see what is being restored but it seems that most of what's on display in the Classic is the same as in the museum?