BMW Builds 5,000,000th Vehicle in the U.S.

Not all automakers last for more than a hundred years in the business, and certainly not all of them manage to roll out millions of vehicles.

This year, BMW is celebrating the 5,000,000th vehicle it has built in the United States, an X5 M Competition set to be part of the automaker’s historic collection.

The model was built at BMW’s Spartanburg factory, which has been running for more than 25 years. It opened when the company started production of the 3 Series in 1995.

The first model that made it to the assembly line of the Spartanburg facility was the Z3 Roadster in 1995, while the X5 joined four years later. In 2002, the Z4 replaced the Z3, while the X6 arrived in 2007. The last Z car assembled in the Spartanburg manufacturing plant was rolled out in August 2008, essentially making the factory exclusive to the X series. In 2010, the X3 entered production, followed by the X4 in 2014 and the flagship X7 model in 2018.

The X5 M Competition was built on June 4 with a Toronto Red Metallic finish and rides on two-tone 21-22-inch wheels. It also features a Silverstone Full Merino Leather upholstery.

The X5 M, however, is not a heading to a customer. Instead, it will remain at the factory and will be displayed as a remembrance of the milestone.

The BMW X5 M Competition joins other major accomplishments by the automaker in its South Carolina plant. Over the years, the company started celebrating its million milestone production vehicles, beginning with the 1,000,000th BMW built on February 28, 2006: the Z4 M Roadster.

The X5 M Competiton is ninth on the list that also includes an X6 xDrive35i, X3 xDrive35i, X5 xDrive50i, another X5 M, an X4 xDrive20i, X3 xDrive M40i, and X7 xDrive40.

Throughout BMW’s history, the company has invested over $10.6 billion in the Spartanburg facility. The factory currently employs 11,000 workers who are in charge of building SUVs for the brand’s global market. About 70% of their production has been exported between 2010 and 2018.