BMW says its virtual factory turns almost four weeks of physical collision checks into three days

June 11, 2025 — BMW said a collision check for a new model that "previously required almost four weeks of real testing" now takes three days to simulate in its Virtual Factory. The carmaker projects that the system will cut production planning costs by up to 30 percent. Here's what happened, what it cost, and what went wrong.

Cost and outcome (as of June 11, 2025)

Outcome: "What now takes just three days to simulate virtually previously required almost four weeks of real testing." (BMW Group, June 17, 2025)
Cost: Forecast, not result: "the BMW Group's Virtual Factory is projected to reduce production planning costs by up to 30 percent." BMW gave no spending figure for the system. (BMW Group, June 17, 2025)
Scale: Digital twins of "over 30 production sites," used to bring "more than 40 new or updated vehicles" into production by 2027. (BMW Group, June 17, 2025)

What the old check cost

BMW said it will integrate more than 40 new or updated vehicles into global production by 2027, and that "this will first be done virtually to ensure immediate stability at the plants." ASSEMBLY reported the same plan, saying it would ensure "plant readiness from day one."

For every launch, BMW must verify that a new body fits the production line "and does not collide with its surroundings at any point." (BMW Group, June 17, 2025)

"In the past, a real vehicle body had to be manually guided through the production lines – often over several weekends – to identify potential collisions," BMW said. "In the paint shop, this process sometimes required completely emptying and cleaning the dip coating tanks where vehicle bodies are submerged for priming. The costs and time investment for this were enormous." (BMW Group, June 17, 2025)

Now the check uses construction data combined with 3D scans, and "the movement and rotation of a vehicle through the production lines are precisely simulated, allowing the system to automatically check for possible collisions." (BMW Group, June 17, 2025)

How the twin is built

BMW links "building data, equipment data, logistics data, vehicle data and even 3D simulation of manual work processes" into digital twins of all its plants. Simulations run in real time in an "industrial 3D metaverse application based on NVIDIA Omniverse," so planners can optimize layouts, robotics and logistics virtually. (BMW Group, June 17, 2025)

ASSEMBLY reported that BMW also uses the system for human simulation in ergonomic evaluations and automated mapping for intelligent transport systems, and that it is adding AI-driven assistants.

BMW said that "what once required several weeks of real-world modifications and testing can now be precisely simulated," and that its Virtual Factory "is continuously expanding to incorporate generative and agentic AI functionalities and assistants." (BMW Group, June 17, 2025)

An example: a plant started in software

BMW's newest plant shows the approach end to end. BMW said Plant Debrecen in Hungary had its "virtual start of production" in March 2023, which "allowed every operation to be tested in advance," and that every body-shop process was simulated to find "the perfect position for each of the nearly 1,000 robots." (BMW Group, Sept. 30, 2025)

The same release said BMW uses "identical tools and presses at every site worldwide," so it can optimise capacity across the network, use the same press tools in different plants and train staff across sites. (BMW Group, Sept. 30, 2025)

What went wrong

The 30% is a projection. BMW says the Virtual Factory "is projected to" cut planning costs by up to 30%; it reports no realized savings. (BMW Group, June 17, 2025)
No cost of the system. BMW gives no figure for what building and maintaining 30+ plant twins costs. (BMW Group, June 17, 2025)
Secondary source repeats BMW. ASSEMBLY's figures restate BMW's; they are not independently measured. (ASSEMBLY)
What we don't know yet: realized planning-cost savings, and how often virtual checks miss a real collision.

Our follow-up question for BMW Group

What planning-cost savings has the Virtual Factory delivered so far, against the up-to-30% projection?

Sources

BMW Group, “BMW Group Scales Virtual Factory,” June 17, 2025 (release first issued June 11, 2025). visit-bmwgroup.com
ASSEMBLY (Jennifer Pierce), “BMW Scales Virtual Factory with Accelerated Computing, Digital Twins, and AI,” June 11, 2025. assemblymag.com
BMW Group, “BMW Group Plant Debrecen to launch series production of the BMW iX3,” Sept. 30, 2025. bmwgroup.com

Disclosure: [not in copy] Editor placeholder