BMW Zentrum — Attraction in Duncan

I visited on 3/6/24. Our tour guide was wonderful. She was very knowledgeable and was able to answer all of my questions. The tour did not seem rushed and we were able to see many facets of vehicle assembly (excl drivetrain, mechanicals, interior), especially fit and finish.

The museum was compact, but comprehensive. I wish they had some additional motorcycles on display; there were only four and I hoped the display would include adventure bikes. Maybe they didn't feature more because they aren't produced there? (Hey, BMW, they don't take up a lot of room!)

The biggest miss was the gift shop. I wouldn't be so harsh had I not previously toured the Munich plant (Sept. 2016) and experienced that store. Munich's store was nothing short of phenomenal. Reasonally priced, custom-made goods, with European flair and design. I previously purchased a black "BMW Welt" women's fitted v-neck t-shirt with cool, unusual graphics and made with thick cotton, a "BMW Welt" rollerball pen, a blue "BMW Motorrad Motorsport" women's fitted v-neck t-shirt (again, thick cotton with white and red sleeves and a BMW logo appliquéd patch, a silkscreened image on the other sleeve and "BMW Motorrad Motorsport" larger and written down the back, on the reverse). What the Greer, SC facility did have was two light pink women's shirts that I wouldn't be caught dead wearing (one was a polo shirt).

I saw nothing with "BMW Zentrum" on it. Instead what I found was typical American apparel with overinflated prices. I was interested in purchasing items for my three young grandchildren. There was nothing I could find to purchase for them! Two boys and a girl, ages 7, 4, and 2! My son always asks me to purchase books from where I visit for them. I purchased "Greenville, SC" books for them at O.P. Taylor's Toy Store in DT Greenville.

I also wanted to purchase a book about the facility. There were no books, postcards, coloring books, children's books, or any reading material for that matter! During my visit I walked through the store three times to make sure there wasn't anything I missed. Nope. This facility has been open for 20 years! What gives?

The gentleman working behind the counter in the Isetta Cafe made a perfect, European cappuccino! Bravo.

Addendum (2/6/2025): The other day, my grandson was wearing one of the items I bought at the Munich museum gift store in September of 2016. I am adding them to my photos so someone at BMW can see the difference in items offered in the Greer...

Purely on customer service approach at front desk. We bought a tour the night before due to being in the area for a couple of days. Now granted, we were 15 minutes late, but we saw the people that were in the tour standing at the other side of the room, while they said, we were too late and we couldn't go. The tour stated that it didnt start until 915 and we were there at 9. For future reference, say the tour starts at 845am. Also seeing other reviews saying the same thing shows that you do not care about your clients. They said they could reschedule us. But their next tour was already full and my husband had business meetings. So I asked if we were able to get a refund because we had traffic issues coming from our hotel in clemson. She said, no, no refund, and also commented on our shoes. "As we can't do it anyway, because we did not wear closed toed shoes". We have close toed shoes inside of our car that wouldn't have been a problem. Yes we didn't read the email. That was our fault but the situation could have been handled differently. I have been in customer service industry for a very long time. And the way that she held the conversation and dealt with our complex situation was unprofessional, and a bad look on BMW. She was a "manager" apparently which also took me aback. Maybe some in depth professional training needs to be done at this facility. I know people have their off days but that is a great way to detur customers from even wanting to go back for future visits. Rude unprofessional and disrespectful. We didnt care about the 50$. Though nickel and diming your potential customers is also a wrong approach...I cared about how we were treated. You will not be getting my business again and I do...

I had a very interesting visit. My X5 50i M Sport SAV was made here and I wanted to see how a SAV is made. The 2-hour factory tour was well worth it. We were split into 4 groups of around 10. Bill, our group guide, was very informative and shared a lot of “behind the scenes” information. The whole facility was HUGE. It has its own emergency, security and medical services. We got to tour two of the three main buildings (the bodyshop and the final assembly). We didn’t get the chance to see the body paint building. The day I visited, they were building X3 and X4 SAVs. I was very impressed at how a SAV was being built. Starting from sheets of aluminum and steel all the way to putting the tires on and the SAV taking it’s first baby steps out of the facility for delivery. The completed SAVs are then parked under hail tents, or get loaded to the delivery trucks or to the auto train cars. There is a railway inside the facility which connects it to the shipping port in Charleston for the vehicles to be shipped to 125 markets worldwide. Majority of the body assembly is done by the KUKA robots and with the associates doing quality inspections and the final assembly (installing engine, carpets, seats, dashboard, etc). All the vehicles built were already paid for. BMW doesn’t mass produce. This particular facility only manufactures the X SAVs, hence the large X symbol in front of the museum. I suggest you visit the museum first before going to the tour. After the tour, you get a cookie. All the associates we met along the way were friendly. To the left back side of the facility is the Performance Center where you can sign up for a class and get to drive however you want a BMW model of your choice. Sign up fee...