For example, recycled methane gas drawn from the Palmetto Landfill site nearby now provides 25 per cent of the factory's power needs. In fact, the project recovers sufficient energy to heat the equivalent of 15,000 homes per year.

The use of this methane reduces carbon dioxide emissions across the plant by the equivalent of driving 105 million miles per year or more than 4,000 times around the earth.

In addition to this, the BMW Information Technology Research Centre based at Clemson University in Greenville, South Carolina, opened in Summer 2005. The 84,000 sq. ft. building is equipped with six secure research zones and is used by the technicians and engineers of the future to look at a host of ways of streamlining manufacturing and car design processes.
More information on BMW's Spartanburg facility can be obtained from visiting www.bmwusfactory.com
 

BMW Performance Centre

Situated adjacent to the Spartanburg factory, the BMW Performance Centre offers owners and potential BMW buyers the chance to fully exploit a car's potential in a safe environment while also further honing their driving skills. Built in 1998, the US$12.5 million (approximately Pounds Sterling 7 million) centre has proved popular with regular customers and thrill seekers alike by offering a range of driving courses in most of the BMW model range. Courses range from a one day introductory driving course for 15 to 18-year-olds costing US$400 (approximately Pounds Sterling 225) to a two and half day BMW M car course for experienced drivers for US$3,650 (approximately Pounds Sterling 2,100).

More information is available by visiting the BMW Performance Centre website at www.bmwusa.com/bmwexperience/PerformanceCenter



4. The BMW 1 Series

Featuring the world's lightest production six-cylinder petrol engine in its comprehensive range, the BMW 1 Series is dynamically the benchmark sports hatch on the market. Offered with a choice of four petrol powerplants and two diesels, the 1 Series model range marks the entry-point into the BMW brand and introduces BMW's trademark dynamic driving experience to whole new range of customers. In fact more than 70 per cent of 1 Series buyers since its launch 2004 launch have been conquest purchases from competitor models.

Launched in September 2004, the 1 Series was an instant hit with buyers in the UK. In the four months of its inaugural year 7,437 were sold. In 2005, its first full year, 22,022 found UK homes. To put this achievement in perspective these figures represent 19.7 per cent of all BMW car sales in the UK - a significant proportion for a model range that didn't exist two years ago.

The flagship of the 1 Series range is the 265hp BMW 130i offered in either SE or M Sport guises. Powered by an aluminium and magnesium alloy engine that uses BMW's unique VANOS and VALVETRONIC induction systems, the 130i can accelerate from zero to 62mph in 6.1seconds - a time that a just a few years ago was akin to that of high performance sports car - before going on to an electronically limited top speed of 155mph. It also happens to be the most powerful engine ever to appear in a production compact segment car.

For drivers who want to balance the performance of a BMW with improved economy, five other engine sizes are available. With its four-cylinder engine built at BMW's Hams Hall engine plant in Warwickshire*, the BMW 116i offers nearly 38mpg on the combined cycle, but with the same dynamic handling attributes as the 130i courtesy of its 50:50 weight distribution and rear-wheel-drive configuration. An insurance group rating of just 10 makes cost of ownership a tempting proposition as the most recent sales figures prove. For 2006 the 116i accounts for 36 per cent of all 1 Series sales making it currently the most popular 1 Series.

For buyers wanting slightly more performance, two further four-cylinder petrol models are offered - the BMW 118i and the BMW 120i. Using the same 1,995cc engine, but with different outputs, these cars come with five different trim options - Standard, ES, SE, Sport and M Sport.

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