GREER -- BMW Manufacturing Co. unveiled on Friday the 1 millionth vehicle it has built at the plant and announced there is no finish line in sight for the company and its employees.

The Z4 M roadster, a rich Interlagos blue with champagne leather interior, will be placed in the plant so employees can celebrate; then it will be moved to the Zentrum for display in BMW's Mobile Tradition Collection.

Also on display in front of the Zentrum on Friday was the very first car made at the plant -- a 318i sedan signed by all 600 or so of the employees then working at BMW.

The milestone car, unveiled by Clemens Schmitz-Justen, president of BMW Manufacturing and three people who were among the plant's first hires, is among the 400,000 roadsters and coupes built at the Greer plant. Also, nearly 600,000 X5 sports activity vehicles have been assembled here. In addition, a few 3 Series sedans were built initially.

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Chris Jackson, who has been with BMW since Jan. 4, 1994, said he came to BMW because he wanted to build a career. He's done that while helping build all the models made at BMW -- the 3 Series sedan, the Z3 roadster, the Z4 family of cars and the X5.

"It's been very exciting," he said. "I heard they were coming. I needed a change. I needed some security. I knew after six months that I had made the right choice. We knew it couldn't fail."

BMW's achievement of the million-vehicle mark in production indicates the "sustainable future" of the plant, Schmitz-Justen said.

"It's not often in this industry that a plant is exclusive home to a car," he said. "When our associates see the Z3, Z4 or X5 anywhere in the world, they immediately know we built it right here."

That knowledge creates a strong bond with customers and "elevates what we do here in the factory. Our associates see the faces of these customers when they build a car."

Winkie Seay, the 15th person hired and now assistant to the vice president of the paint department, said, "It's unbelievable we have reached this milestone. It's always an exciting place to be."

When she first heard BMW was coming, she knew it was the place for her.

"I love cars. My husband has a 1935 car he is in the process of restoring," she said. "Cars are my life. I said, 'That would be my dream to go to BMW.'"

She's never been sorry.

"It absolutely was the right decision," she said. "It will be the last job I have."

Bob Nitto, vice president of corporate affairs, acknowledged BMW's debt to former Gov. Carroll Campbell, who was instrumental in bringing the company to South Carolina.

"We know we would not likely be here if not for the efforts of Gov. Campbell," he said.

After the celebration, Iris Campbell, the governor's widow, said she is pleased with BMW's progress and she expects it to "keep expanding for a long time."

"I know Carroll's smiling down and excited about this," she said. "He had two sons, but this was his baby. We're proud to be a part of it."

Schmitz-Justen said BMW has done more than build cars.

"We started construction of the plant in the spring of 1993 and we have not stopped building a day since then," he said.

The plant has increased from 1.2 million square feet to 2.4 million square feet. Also, over a long Christmas break, BMW converted the plant from two assembly lines to a single combined line to increase flexibility. Production again began on Jan. 9, with employees building the X5, an updated Z4 and the Z4 M.

The new Z4s will show up in dealer showrooms "very soon," he said.

Also, production of the Z4 coupe and Z4 M coupe will begin in late spring and should be in showrooms during the summer.

"Judging by the reception so far, the coupe is going to be a very hot car," he said.

Gov. Mark Sanford said BMW is important to South Carolina for intangible as well as financial reasons.

"Thank you very much for the ways you remind us in South Carolina of the importance of pioneering," he said.

It was a pioneer act to build in the United States, and BMW is continuing its pioneering ways by building a facility in India, an uncharted land for the company.

Also, "you remind us of the absolute necessity of change. Innovation is change embraced," he said.

Schmitz-Justen said that BMW took a chance when it introduced the Z3 roadster, built at the Greer plant. It was BMW's first roadster since the mid-1930s.

"We didn't have really any idea of what to expect of this car," he said. But "the Z3 has become not only the most successful BMW roadster of all time, but a cultural icon of the '90s."

BMW roadsters, which are in the genes of the company, command an emotional response from drivers "on the driving and handling side," he said.

Over the years from the Z3 to the X5 and now the Z4, "the technology has changed dramatically," Jackson said. "The Z3 was mostly built manually. As the new models came, robotics and technology increased."

U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett said that through the years BMW has built relationships with its employees, its suppliers, its customers and the state.

"It's a relationship that has turned into a love affair," he said.