| BMW South Africa | |
| Type: | Subsidiary |
| Foundation: | 1975 |
| Location: | Rosslyn, South Africa |
| Industry: | Automotive |
| Parent: | BMW |
BMW South Africa (Pty) Ltd. is an automobile manufacturer based in Rosslyn, South Africa. The company is part of the BMW group.
As early as 1929, the first BMW motorcycle was imported to South Africa by a private individual. The first cars of the brand in 1952 was a BMW 501.[1]
However, the assembly of BMW automobiles did not begin until 1968 by Praetor Monteerders in Rosslyn. The company also assembled Jeep models.[2] In 1970, BMW bought shares in Praetor Monteerders to completely take it over in 1975, thus establishing BMW South Africa, and was also the first BMW plant outside of Germany.
After an investment of 3.5 billion rand at the beginning of the new millennium, the Rosslyn plant was regarded as the most modern automobile plant in the southern hemisphere.[3]
In 2006, the BMW Group in South Africa had the largest market share outside Germany, with 7.8% (2006). This figure subsequently dropped to about 3% in 2023.
In 2011, around three quarters of production was exported.[4] The production was limited to the 3 series.[5]
The first models produced were the BMW 1800 SA (from 1968) or 2000 SA (from 1969) derived from the Glas 1700.[6] First, the assembly took place from complete knock down (CKD) kits, which were sent to the production facilities to South Africa.[7] In 1973, the optically revised models 1804 and 2004 followed, which were only built for one year.[8]
From 1974, the BMW 5 Series was produced in South Africa from CKD kits.[9] The original 5 series was produced until 1985, after which the interior and the engines of the new series E28 were received from 1982. The new series E28 was also replaced later than in Germany (1989) by the series E34, which was the last 5 Series produced in South Africa. The BMW 530MLE in 1976 was the second car that BMW’s fledgling M division produced, and it was designed to compete in South Africa's Modified Production Series instead of the regular E12 528i. 100 homologated road cars had to be produced by BMW South Africa under the regulations, with 105 to 110 of these eventually being sold to the public.[10]
Production of the uniquely South African E23 BMW 745i began in 1983. The vehicle was powered by the 3.5-liter M88 engine of the BMW M1 and at the time was the fastest BMW 7 in the world.[11] By 1986, 192 vehicles of this type were manufactured.[12]
The E30 BMW 333i with the 6 cylinder 3.2 litre M30B32 engine was produced from 1986 (according to another source 1985 to 1987) and was uniquely offered in South Africa in lieu of the left-hand drive only 4 cylinder M3 of other markets. Development was done in collaboration with Alpina and the vehicle shared many components with the Alpina B6. 204 to 215 vehicles were built.[13] Another designation called the 325is was also only made for the South African market.[10]
South African BMW 3 Series models have also been exported to Australia since 1994 and to other countries since 1999. After the take over of the Rover Group, the marketing and producing of Land Rover vehicles began.
Since 2018, the X3 (G01) series has been manufactured in Rosslyn (in addition to the production in Spartanburg). At the same time, the production of the 3 series ended after 1,191,604 units and five model generations.[5]
BMW models have already been named Car of the Year by the South African Motor Journalists Association (SAGMJ) seven times.[14]