The BMW Group’s Hams Hall engine manufacturing plant near Birmingham is celebrating the production of its five-millionth engine. For more than 18 years, the plant has been assembling award-winning three- and four-cylinder petrol engines for a number of BMW and Mini models.

Hams Hall-built engines are now supplied for a growing number of plug-in hybrid vehicles, including the successful BMW i8 Coupe and BMW i8 Roadster.

For the fifth consecutive year the plug-in hybrid drive system of the BMW i8 has topped its category at the International Engine of the Year Awards, and the car remains the most widely sold plug-in hybrid sports car world-wide.

Other engines from the plant power the Mini – currently celebrating its 60th year – as well as a line-up of ‘X’ vehicles and flagship performance models.

Plant director Bernd Gress said: “We are delighted to be celebrating our five-millionth engine.

“Our dedicated team works hard to ensure that every one of those engines has been built to the highest standards of quality.”

Engines roll off the production line at the rate of one a minute, destined for plants across the world.

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

This enables the plant to produce engines with many different specifications, including engines for higher-performance models like the BMW i8, the Mini JCW and the all-new BMW 1 Series flagship model, — the M135i.

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

The plant’s output was over 375,000 engines in 2018, representing 13% of all UK engine production, and around 1.5 million components were machined.