Video of making the BMW 3i - it's glued together!

Alan_uk

A2OC Donor
I've just watched a youtube video of the making of the BMW 3i - in 4 parts, it must be an hour long.

In parts fascinating but equally frustrating to watch. There is some commentary in the first few minutes at the US plant where they make the fibre. But then it switches to Germany and there is no more commentary. Often it's hard to work out what is going on, which part of the vehicle is being made, and where the component ends and the gig starts. Sometimes they labour the production stage (e.g. robots painting the same panels in various colours) and then they speed op the motion as if to catch up!

There were 2 surprising aspect to me.

1. How slow the process was. Often robots slowly positioned the components into place at a work station, the particular job done in a few seconds, and then the robots slowly removed the part and moved it to the next stage. This was particularly so on making the space frame. Compared this to the Audi A2 videos where (from memory) the frame is made a one work station by numerous robots welding the pressed / extruded aluminium shapes together. Maybe this is something to do with the fact that the space frame in the 3i is carbon fibre.

2. How much glue is used. All the components of the space frame seemed to be glued together and then heated. The subframe / chassis is it seems aluminium and runs the whole length of the car with the middle section a box holding all the lithium batteries. Then the space frame is lowered on top and again appears to be glued on! Next the roof is glued on and then the plastic panels and the doors are attached.

So, when a 3i gets damaged how the heck is it going to be repaired if its glued together? **

Part 1 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt1k3BLN7pw

** This article
http://www.dailytech.com/Carbon+Fiber+to+Lower+BMW+i3+Repair+Insurance+Costs/article33918.htm
quotes BMW states "BMW said the i3 will have lower repair and insurance costs ........... as the damage stays local to that one spot." Hmm, yes for small prangs to the plastic panels but not big prangs.

The article goes on to say carbon fibre " gives a "very low" insurance system." but how does this stack up with the fact that the i3 packs 170 bhp and can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in less than 8 seconds! Article is followed by lots of comments on the ease of repairing carbon fibre parts.

Article here on the controversy within BMW and the industry of going for expensive fibre and how it is made and used:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-14/bmw-makes-lone-shift-to-carbon-fiber-to-gain-auto-edge.html

PS within 4 minutes of adding this post google has indexed it! A2OC must be seen as an important and active website :)
 
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Interesting car, not so interesting manufacturing process for the workforce. Man did they look bored.

Regarding the gluing, our very own A2s are glued together.
 
Saw a chassis in munich there isnt much to it but was a dark brown and sounded hollow.
The whole thing reminds me of an a2 bulked up and marketed properly.
 
Boeing are also making claims of how easy carbon fibre is to repair and how hard it is to damage.
They have been on a round the world roadshow with a hold door and a hammer challenging people to break it.
I understand that BMW and Boeing were sharing knowledge on carbon fibre repair techniques and such these days.

However, and this is a big however, they stopped the wing stress test before the wing broke (something they have never avoided with a aluminium wing) due to the problems and risks involved with a high stress fracture of carbon fibre and the debris and sharp shards it creates!

The other issue is that guaranteeing the strength/performance of a repaired panel is much tougher than with metal.

John
 
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