GREER -- Despite a few bugs, BMW Manufacturing Co.'s $75 million investment in a single assembly line capable of handling a mix of all the plant's vehicles is a big success, according to the automaker.

"The new line will allow us to build all our production units in one continuous line," said Bobby Hitt, manager of public relations. "All the new automation has worked perfectly. Some smaller things didn't work, but we've smoothed all that out."

Two BMW employees, both of whom worked on a single assembly line when BMW built the 3 Series sports sedan, and the Z3 roadster in 1996, said they believe the single line will be an advantage for the plant.

"Going back to one line will be more efficient," said Trinity Paxton, who works on a wiring harness team. Building more than one style of vehicle "makes the ergonomics easier and the day more exciting."

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David Bright, a robotic technician on the glass installation team, said the process is now more automatic and robotic than it was on the double line.

"All our systems and technology are new," he said. The change "gives us more freedom to do other things."

The plant still is in a ramp-up phase, which is expected to continue through the end of March or into early April, Hitt said.

During the week of Feb. 13, BMW Manufacturing produced 1,741 X5 SUVs and 758 Z4 roadsters -- or about 500 vehicles a day. During the month of January, production totaled 3,377 X5s and 1,402 roadsters. During all of 2005, employees built 104,986 X5s and 19,830 Z4s.

"Changing models is hard. Changing models, introducing new models and changing the manufacturing system is just Herculean," Hitt said. "Our goal now is to mature our processes and get them stable. We will meet our production requirements for this year."

BMW's Greer plant, currently building the X5, Z4 and Z4 M models, will add the Z4 coupe and Z4 M coupe this spring for a summer launch, Hitt said.

"The luxury roadster segment has had difficult times in the past several years," he said. "The Z4 is leading the segment, but the whole segment is down. We believe roadsters are an essential part of our mix in who we are as a company."

Also, Hitt expects a new X5 model to begin production the end of 2006 or in early 2007. The vehicle is in its sixth year of a seven-year life cycle. The plant also anticipates building a new crossover model in early 2008, he said.

Because of the new model launches on the way, the BMW plant will be closed to tours for most of the year, Hitt said.

New technology, new manufacturing processes and new products are important not only to BMW but to the Upstate and South Carolina, he said.

"This means we're healthy. We're here for a long time," he said.

To get ready for the changes, BMW spent time before and after the construction of the new line training its production line employees to build both Z4s and X5s. The plant now employs 4,500 workers, including both production and support staff.

If the plant were remaining static, the increasing productivity and its effect on employment "would be a relative concern," he said. "We're not staying static," considering all the new models coming in the new few years.

"In terms of volume, this plant will not go down except as a result of market forces," he said. "We don't change our work force up or down in the short term. Our goal is stability of the work force."

Several years ago, the plant had about 4,700 employees. That number has dropped slowly over the past couple of years through attrition, he said.

"Because of the efficiency we've achieved, we don't have to replace associates one for one," said Bunny Richardson, plant spokeswoman.

Although BMW's work force would grow because of market demands, "we will not see another huge ramp-up in the next 10 years like we did in the past 10," Hitt said.

In fact, the largest growth associated with BMW will probably come from parts suppliers as BMW continues to work more closely with them to integrate the supply chain. The suppliers will actually become "co-manufacturers" of the BMW vehicle, he said.

"They know more about their systems than we do," he said.

In the past few months, five new suppliers have announced South Carolina operations to serve BMW. Four of those facilities are in the Upstate and one is in the Pee Dee region, a first for a BMW supplier, Hitt said.

The new suppliers are Benteler Automotive, Duncan; Intier, Spartanburg; Magna Donnelly, Duncan; LSP Automotive, Union; and PWG USA, Aynor.

South Carolina now has 48 BMW suppliers, and 39 of those came to the state to supply the carmaker, Richardson said.

BMW's investment of more than $2 billion in South Carolina has helped created more than 16,650 jobs in the state at its plant and at its suppliers. A University of South Carolina study in 2002 said that for every job created at the plant, nearly three more jobs are created throughout the state.

As BMW partners with its suppliers to integrate systems, Clemson University's International Center for Automotive Research "is a key component of this. Where will people come from who understand the integration of systems? ICAR," Hitt said.

As vehicles become more complex, equipment in the vehicle provides more signals, he said. The systems have to be integrated so the most important signals are the ones heard first -- the safety signals over the comfort signals.

"A car can't afford to lock up" as a computer does at times, he said.

BMW's growth, supplier growth and ICAR "brings a whole new dimension to South Carolina," he said.