Employees at BMW Group’s Hams Hall engine manufacturing plant, near Birmingham, UK, are celebrating production of the five millionth engine.

The plant, opened 18 years ago, currently builds three and four-cylinder petrol engines used in BMW and Mini models final assembled in Cowley, UK, across Europe and in the US.

Contributing to the company’s electrified strategy, Hams Hall-built engines are supplied for a growing number of plug-in hybrid vehicles, including the BMW i8 Coupe and Roadster.

Other engines from the plant power Mini models plus the BMW branded X series of crossovers, built in the US.

“We are delighted to be celebrating our five millionth engine,” said plant director, Bernd Gress.

Engines roll off the automated production line every minute.

A second assembly facility at the plant, developed over the last six years, operates at a more sedate pace, as its engines are hand-built.

This enables the plant to be highly flexible in producing many different types of engine specifications, including motors for higher performance models, like the BMW i8, Mini JCW and the flagship of the recently redesigned 1 Series line, the M135i.

Key engine components – cylinder blocks, heads and crankshafts – are also machined at the plant for Hams Hall-built engines, as well as being supplied to other BMW group engine manufacturing plants.

Annual engine production was over 375,000 in 2018, or 13% of UK engine manufacturing while around 1.5m components are machined each year.