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Case Studies

BMW - New engine plant, Hams Hall

Rolton Group worked in partnership with BMW as consultants to provide engineering skills for the development of a new £400 million manufacturing new facility that won a Civic Trust Award.

At the time of its completion, BMW Hams Hall was the most modern engine manufacturing facility in the world. The site covers more than 21 hectares acres with an additional 13 hectares set aside for further expansion. The floor space of the facility alone is more than ten hectares.

The plant was developed to facilitate the production of a four-cylinder petrol engine using valvetronic technology to bring new standards in environmental awareness, fuel economy, power and refinement. Today, all BMW four-cylinder petrol engines are built at Plant Hams Hall, which currently employs 680 people. Hams Hall delivers engines to BMW plants in Munich, Regensburg and Leipzig (Germany), Rosslyn (South Africa) and Spartanburg (USA) as well as MSF (Magna Steyr Fahrzeug) in Graz (Austria). Engines from Hams Hall are used in the BMW 1 Series, 3 Series, Z4 Roadster and X3 model ranges. The facility has recently been extended in conjunction with Rolton Group to provide additional space for the assembly of the MINI engine.

A particular aspiration of the client for the facility was for it to have an absolute minimum of oil mist, except in the trench areas where the scavenging filtration system was to be installed. The design team therefore assessed the conditions and came up with specific solutions to this well-known and often unaddressed issue. This resulted in a mixture of ventilation systems including specialist plant exhausts, control panel ventilation and a displacement system which encouraged any hot or oil-laden air to rise up to be extracted safely away


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