BMW Group Hams Hall Plant Celebrates 25 Years of Engine Production

BMW Group reports its Hams Hall engine plant marks 25 years, with over 7.6 million engines built for BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce, including hybrid drivetrains.

The BMW Group plant in Hams Hall, UK, has marked 25 years of series engine production, underlining its long-standing role within the company’s global manufacturing network. Located near Birmingham, the facility has produced more than 7.6 million engines since production began in 2001, supplying BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce plants around the world.

Today, Hams Hall manufactures a broad range of petrol engines, from three- and four-cylinder units to high-performance V8 engines. A special position is held by the V12 engine for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, which is assembled exclusively at Hams Hall in a dedicated, bespoke process carried out by specially trained engineers before final delivery to Goodwood.

The plant is a central element of BMW Group’s technology-open approach, supporting multiple powertrain concepts in parallel. Alongside conventional internal combustion engines, Hams Hall also supplies drivetrains for plug-in hybrid models, providing flexibility for vehicle production sites across the global network.

Sustainability has become an increasingly important part of the plant’s development. According to BMW Group, Hams Hall has achieved a 61% reduction in energy consumption per engine compared with its first full year of production. At the same time, overall site energy demand has remained stable despite higher output volumes. The plant now sources 100% of its externally purchased electricity from renewable energy and continues to reduce its use of natural gas.

Digitalisation is another pillar of the site’s transformation. The Hams Hall team is systematically implementing the principles of BMW iFACTORY, combining efficiency, sustainability and digital technologies. A visible symbol of this shift is SpOTTO, an autonomous robotic dog introduced in 2024. Equipped with visual, thermal and acoustic sensors, SpOTTO patrols the plant, supports maintenance activities and feeds data into the facility’s fully connected digital twin.

This digital twin operates on three levels: a complete 3D representation of the plant, a continuously updated data layer drawing information from equipment, IT systems and SpOTTO, and an application layer where dedicated tools support tasks such as production planning and quality assurance. Together, these elements help increase transparency and enable more proactive process optimisation.

Over the past 25 years, BMW Group Plant Hams Hall has evolved from a newly launched engine facility into a cornerstone of the company’s powertrain production. From pioneering large-scale Valvetronic production in the early 2000s to adding V8 and V12 engines in 2022, the site has consistently expanded its capabilities. With its strong focus on digitalisation, energy efficiency and flexibility, Hams Hall appears well positioned to remain a vital part of BMW Group’s production strategy in the years ahead.