I want to know what is build in Germany and/or South Africa and what is assembled here in the US in reference to a 2008 335i. I want to decide if the one I ordered that is comming from SA will be the same quality as the one build in Germany.

Nothing is assembled in the USA.


I think the perception is that German built are better. But I'd bet they have some pretty well built cars everywhere since they would be managed by BMW.

Try searching my friend and you will find the answer. This topic has been discussed already.

P.S. Don't get the idea that BMW made in Germany will have better quality than BMWs made in US and/or South Africa. It depends on the quality control and the person who is checking the cars before it leaves the plant site.

X3, X5 and X6 models are made in the US. Not sure if the Z models are still made there too. They are also expanding the Spartanburg factory, check this out:
http://www.worldcarfans.com/9080311.008/bmw-invests-heavily-in-spartanburg-plant-us

No e9x are assembled in the US. And you can't influence where your car comes from, but you can tell after it is built by decoding the VIN, check this thread out:
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=873490

X3, X5 and X6 models are made in the US. Not sure if the Z models are still made there too. They are also expanding the Spartanburg factory, check this out:
http://www.worldcarfans.com/9080311.008/bmw-invests-heavily-in-spartanburg-plant-us

No e9x are assembled in the US. And you can't influence where your car comes from, but you can tell after it is built by decoding the VIN, check this thread out:
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=873490

Correct and the next Z car will be moved back to Germany. 2010ish.

SA Built cars generally have fewer quality control issues historically.

SA Built cars generally have fewer quality control issues historically.
Not a very long history though ;)

SA builds mostly right-wheel driving cars for UK and alikes. You should be safe.

(just to complete the list, the X3 is done in Austria and will move to the US in 2010. Hopefully there will be a new X1 to keep Austria working)

SA builds mostly right-wheel driving cars for UK and alikes. You should be safe.

Not a very long history though ;)

That's not really true. Many E90 328's (and E90 and E46 325's before them going back 7+ years) come to the US from SA.

No e9x are assembled in the US. And you can't influence where your car comes from, but you can tell after it is built by decoding the VIN, check this thread out:
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=873490

Actually you can influence it. Cars from SA have a different order code and the dealer specifically orders one or the other (although they may have a specific allocation for each).

That's not really true. Many E90 328's (and E90 and E46 325's before them going back 7+ years) come to the US from SA.
Still wouldn't put 7 years and history in the same sentence, but it could be my age.

Not sure about SA but USA built cars are just fine. My old Acura kinda proved that point. It was a very good car and it was built in Ohio. It was more american than many American cars, like Chevys. It's my oppinion that the company's leadership and engineering is much more important to the overal quality rather than the guy who actually puts the cars together. GM, Ford and Chrysler love to put the blame on their workers for the poor quality. But if you look across the street and the Honda plant you get much better cars from about the same type of auto workers. Go to Oshawa, Ontario and see it for yourself. So based on these observations, I wouldn't discriminate against a car built in one area vs. one built in another area but rather look at the company running the show.

The factory window sticker lists origins of manufacture on the upper right-hand side.

My car was built in Germany and the transmission was manufactured in France.

The factory window sticker lists origins of manufacture on the upper right-hand side.

My car was built in Germany and the transmission was manufactured in France.
They don't tell you the exact factory though, but as I mention above your VIN contains that info.

Still wouldn't put 7 years and history in the same sentence, but it could be my age.

Are you saying that 7 years is not enough to establish a level of manufacturing quality?

Are you saying that 7 years is not enough to establish a level of manufacturing quality?
Hell no, I don't even think the length the factory has been there even reflects on the quality level, since the Germans seem to know how to manage to keep quality even outside of the homeland. I am just saying that quoting so called "historic" figures is probably misleading since the sample size for the SA factory compared to some of the German factories is not proportional. In short, can we say SA quality is GOOD, yeah why not. Can we say it is better than the German factories bases on statistical data? Well I wouldn't necessarily agree unless the sampling size can be seen for both and is valid to pass judgment. Either way this is somewhat of a useless back and forth discussion, they seem to be both good enough, so who cares.

..What is build in Germany.. assembly in USA?..

Brush up on the grammatical skills