Going to be in London in a couple of months (Bloomsbury section) and considering touring the Oxford plant.

Would appreciate feedback on whether you need to schedule it ahead of time and if so, how; best way to get there; and any other information that might be helpful.

 

If you dig around a little on here, you'll find the contact info for making tour reservations .

I went in Sept 2004 with some friends from DC Metro MINIs and it was fun. We rented RHD MINIs and stayed at a good motel very close - almost across the street from the plant although I don't remember the name of it offhand.

On the tour, they shuttle you around on a bus and you see mostly the beginning and the end of the process as they show you a video for the paint process instead of taking you right to it because it is proprietary but very interesting. We saw the spot welding of the chassis, mating of the body and chassis (cool ), wiring, the installation of the interior pieces, glass, wheels, tires, etc. Then we saw them topped with fluids and driven off the line, final quality checks done.

We were also taken to an area next to the tour waiting area that contained a bunch of brand new classic Minis and a couple of prototype new MINIs .

The tour area itself had on display the 3 new MINIs from The Italian Job and Union Jack MINI from Austin Powers Goldmember. The 1st gen convertible had just started production at the time so that was nice seeing it at the beginning, although I had seen them arrive at my local dealer a few days before I left for the UK.

There is a small charge for the tour........at least there was when I went, which went directly to one of MINI's charities for children .

I would recommend booking well in advance, if you can! The tours fill quickly and I believe, now, they are only doing them during the week and not on the weekend also.

 

There's a few threads about this. The easiest way to get there is to drive, take the A40/M40/A40 and turn left at the Headington roundabout. If you don't have a car (sensible if you're in London), you can take the train from Paddington station. Easiest way to get from the Oxford station to the plant is a Taxi.

The plant tour is interesting. We booked ahead of time.

 

Easiest way in if you go by car is WB on the M40. Take the A40 exit, just past Milton Common. Continue WB on the A40 to the A4142 Roundabout, take the first left in the roundabout for SB A4142. Follow the A4142 into Cowley, plant and tour is on the left. Can't miss it, it's huge. Follow the tour signs towards the Chili Red Mini hanging on the wall.

 

Are reservations needed ahead of time?

 

Yep, by email or phone call...

http://www.bmweducation.co.uk/coFact...T_TOURS_V3.pdf

 

We went in July '05, the summer of all the bombings , in fact we spend a very long time park on one of England's longest parking lots (M5) due to all the problems caused that day. The tour was AWESOME and is a MUST for anyone interested in MINI. We called the day before and got right on the list. I have to admit, we missed the morning tour due to the traffic but walked around Oxford while we waited for the afternoon tour. We were the only non owners on the tour, the following February we got our Checkmate .

 

...and Oxford is a lovely town to explore on foot as well. So budget some time in for that! You may as well, if you're going to be near Oxford anyways.