Sime Darby Auto Engineering assembly plant produces engines for BMW Group in Kulim
Sitting on a six acre site, the factory has a built-up area of 8500 square metres, with an investment value of RM132million by Sime Darby Auto Engineering.
SDAE will supply five engine variants to BMW Group starting with the B48 four-cylinder 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine which began production in April this year. Production for the B47 four-cylinder 2.0-litre turbo diesel will be added in June followed by the B38 1.5-litre 3-cylinder petrol engine in August. There will also be plug-in hybrid electric variants of the 2.0-litre petrol and the 1.5-litre petrol engines.
The facility has the newest innovations for engine assembly including EST tightening equipment, Dosing and Bonding Technology (Dobo Tech), engine engraving and engine oil filling. All engines built at the plant will be subjected to the same rigorous testing as the engines built at other BMW plants around the world with test machines for hydraulic valve play compensation and leak tests as well as hot and cold testing. All engines undergo cold testing while 35% are randomly selected for hot testing. BMW currently build engines in Munich, Steyr, Hams Hall (UK), China, India, Thailand and now Malaysia.
The plant will produce 10,000 engines a year on a single shift with the capability of 20,000 engines a year. All engines are destined for the BMW-Mini cars currently produced at Kulim where Sime Darby Motors assembles BMW and Mini cars in a joint-venture with BMW Group Malaysia. The new facility has created 60 additional jobs in the area, Kulim Hi-Tech park. In the first quarter of 2018, BMW, Mini and BMW Motorrad delivered 3000 vehicles in Malaysia.
