The new Aeroacoustic and E-Engine Center (AEZ) starts operations at the BMW Group's Research and Innovation Center (FIZ). The building consists of two halves: In addition to a multifunctional part with workshop, testing and measurement equipment as well as a prototype for high-voltage batteries and inverters, the AEZ is home to a technically unique wind tunnel. With a length of almost 100 m, a height of 45 m and a width of 25 m, it is the world's largest vertical acoustic wind tunnel and at the same time the quietest.

Teaser for the BMW Group E-Drive Production Competence Centre, Dingolfing

An eye-catching light installation will mark this milestone of the BMW Group on the road to the mobility of the future and the famous “Four-Cylinder” in the north of Munich, will be transformed into a battery.

The BMW Group is industrialising its Virtual Factory, with production planners continuously scaling applications in the digital twins of over 30 production sites to accelerate production planning worldwide. What once required several weeks of real-world modifications and testing can now be precisely simulated in the BMW Group's Virtual Factory.

For every launch, it is essential to verify that the new product fits on the production line and does not collide with its surroundings at any point. In the BMW Group's Virtual Factory, the collision check is digital, automated and fast, using construction data combined with 3D scans. The movement and rotation of a vehicle through the production lines are precisely simulated, allowing the system to automatically check for possible collisions. What now takes just three days to simulate virtually previously required almost four weeks of real testing.