cowley mini factory tours

Mini Plant Oxford tour

Mini cars are assembled at the Plant Oxford factory complex in the southeastern suburb of Cowley and it is possible to take a tour of the facility to see Minis being made.

Minis are made at three plants in the UK. Engines are made at Plant Hams Hall, the body pressings and sub-assembly is done at Plant Swindon and it all comes together at Plant Oxford where the body shell production, final assembly and painting takes place. Up to 1,000 cars roll off the production line at Plant Oxford every day and it is the only one of these plants where you can take a guided tour.

A visit is highly recommended if you own a Mini or if you simply love seeing how things are made. It is also worth a visit if you’re spending a few days in Oxford and can’t stomach the thought of visiting yet another college.

What to see on the factory tour

Visitors to Plant Oxford start off at the Visitor Centre, which has a small exhibition about the history of the Mini.

It is a very well structured tour that shows the entire production process from start to finish. First, you see robots building the body of the car and then you get to see the individual components being added to the car before watching the finished cars roll off the production line.

Visiting Mini Plant Oxford

Mini Plant Oxford is in Cowley, around 5.2km (3¼ miles) southeast of Oxford city centre. Tours depart from the Mini Visitor Centre on Horspath Road just off the Eastern By-Pass Road.

The Visitor Centre has an exhibition space as well as a gift shop that sells Mini-themed merchandise.

It is best to pre-book your tour as group sizes are limited to a maximum of 15 people on each tour. It is best to book at least six to eight weeks in advance if there is a specific date that you want to visit.

There is the option of either the basic tour or the family tour. The basic tour should suit most people; however, the family tour is more suitable if you have children as the production process is explained in a more age-appropriate way on this tour.

Children younger than 14 cannot take the tour and children aged 14–17 must be accompanied by an adult at a ratio of two children to each adult.

Although you can take photos in the museum area of the visitor centre it is not possible to take photos (or video) in the factory and you’re required to place your phones and cameras in a locker prior to taking the tour.

The plant tour is now wheelchair accessible, however, you will need your own transport as the tour moves between different buildings on the plant and the shuttle bus is not wheelchair accessible.

Tours run for 90 minutes but you should allow a little longer for the entire experience. It is recommended that you get there around 15 minutes before the start of your tour and allow time to look at the museum inside the visitor centre after the tour.

Tours are running again

Please see our Website: www.visit-bmwgroup.com/en - Tours are running again in Oxford.

5 August 2022

Are you scheduling tours yet!

We have been patiently waiting to have the tour of your plant. We will only be in Oxford a few more months. Are you scheduling the tours yet? We sure hope so! Thank you!

5 July 2022

When can we visit your Cowley production facility. My wife is on her third Mini now, and still has the ''Mini Purse'' from 2003, although we are just having a new zip fitted. My wife is 74 this year, and it would be great for her, if I could bring her to Cowley as a surprise. I am 75 this year, still driving, and for a Main Dealer, so please let me know when I can bring her. We live in Grimsby, North East Linolnshire, near Cleethorpes, and I would love to bring her to your facility, to see what goes on. She has had a lot of bad health recently, nearly at deaths door, but is recovering vey well, so could you let me know if I can bring her, sometime this year. Many thanks Brian Ford.

25 April 2022

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OXFORD MINI PLANT OXFORD TOURS BAG TOP AWARD.

• MINI Plant Oxford tour receives ‘Best Told Story’ accolade from VisitEngland
• Award recognises attractions that ‘go the extra mile to provide a high quality day out’
• Record 21,000 visitors came to see how MINIs are made in 2017

MINI Plant Oxford has received a top visitor attraction award from the official national tourism agency for England.

The plant, which builds more than 1,000 MINIs each day, has been recognised by VisitEngland with a ‘Best Told Story Accolade’ for its factory tour, which gives visitors a behind the scenes look at how this iconic British car is made.

With a dedicated team of tour guides, MINI Plant Oxford welcomed well over 21,000 visitors from all over the world last year to see how a new car is built here every 67 seconds. The VisitEngland accolade builds on the TripAdvisor ‘Certificate of Excellence’ awarded to the team in September.

In November the plant’s tour was recognised with a VisitEngland ‘Quality Rose Marque’ - a sign that the MINI Plant Oxford tour has been independently assessed and meets the high standards that visitors expect. Tours of MINI Plant Oxford run Monday to Friday and last just over two hours. There is a maximum of 15 people per group and the minimum age is 10 years old.

For full details and booking information please go to www.visit-mini.com

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Mini Plant Oxford Factory Tour

Oxford is the birthplace of the Mini and the centre of its production. Hundreds of Mini motorcars, manufactured to the specifications individually chosen by customers, leave the factory each day. Here you can see behind the scenes at this vast factory and view this iconic car being manufactured.

Restrictions

• Photography and filming on the tour is prohibited. Cameras and mobile phones may not be used and can be placed in lockers.
• Closed shoes must be worn for safety reasons. No sandles or shoes where parts of the feet are exposed.
• All tour participants must be at least 14 years of age. Visitors under 16 years of age must be accompanied by an adult.
• Wheelchair users are welcome on the tour and must bring their own wheelchair.
• People with heart pacemakers or insulin pumps will have to skip a couple of stations on the tour due to the presence of electromagnetic radiation.
• No pets or animals are permitted on the factory tour.
• Closed shoes should be worn.

The Mini car factory is located in the south east of Oxford, about 8km (5 miles) from the city centre. Click the map pin icon to view the location on a map.

Visitors should arrive 10 or 15 minutes before the start of the tour. For further details, including tour times, information about the reduced price ticket category and to book a tour, click the "More info" button below.

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Mini Plant Oxford Tour

Book a Mini Plant Oxford Tour to look behind the scenes to see how MINIs are made at MINI Plant Oxford. Tours run on Mondays to Fridays from 9.00am to 4.00pm and last for around 2 hours.

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Description

Oxford is the birthplace of the Mini and the centre of its production. The plant was founded in 1913 and has been in constant production ever since, making it one of the oldest car plants in the world.

It was the birthplace of the original Mini in 1959 and came into BMW Group ownership in 1994. The new MINI was launched at the plant in 2001, and the first electric MINI was produced there in 2020.

But despite being one of the oldest car plants in the world, it is also one of the most modern car factories in the UK. Up to 1,000 cars roll off the production line daily at this site. And as many as 4,500 employees work here to assemble the British cult car.

Take a tour and experience the most exciting elements of car production, from the bodyshop, where pressed steel panels are welded or bonded together with the help of 1,200 robots, to the final assembly halls where the finished MINI comes together.

The tour takes around 2 hours to complete, and you are free to visit the museum before and after your slot.

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Mini Plant Oxford

Go behind the scenes of the factory making one of the UK’s most iconic cars Tour the Mini car production plant in Oxford together with an expert Extend your experience with the MINI Racing Challenge!   

Visit the MINI Plant in the beautiful city of Oxford, England.  Experience the amazing almost clinical environment in which some of the world’s most famous small vehicles are manufactured.  Venture behind the scenes at the Mini’s historic birthplace and heart of its modern day production.

MINI PLANT OXFORD FACTORY TOUR

Optional extension – mini racing challenge.

Get behind the wheel. Go head to head with your friends or colleagues in a modern MINI race car or a classic Mini in state of the art racing simulators . Nothing brings people together quicker than the thrill and exhilaration of racing around legendary tracks and circuits. Who will make it to the podium?

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Mini Oxford (UK) Plant Tours

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MINI Plant Oxford Tour - BMW Group iFACTORY EXPERIENCE

Thanks, have a tour booked for next week. Really looking forward to it, shame about the no photos rule although I gather it is allowed in the little museum/display? How is the parking there?  

It's huge parking, look for gate 7, it's easy to miss. Enjoy your visit.  

Thanks for the tip just booked  

We have done this twice, once in 2011 and again in 2019. It’s fascinating and would regard it as essential for anyone who wants an insight into how connected our world has become. God knows how they are coping with Brexit but they are and it hasn’t made their job easier. The plant in 2019 was far more automated and slicker than it was in 2011.  

Done it would do it again. Amazing  

Attachments

Wow shops gone then. It was great.  

We did all get a genuine MINI factory rivet though as a souvenir 😄  

Did the factory tour Friday afternoon ,truly amazing to witness first hand . Had watched the videos on you tube while we were waiting the 6 months for our new JCW but seeing the robots in action in body in white and then the associates on the assembly line was incredible . How everything comes together from so many Countries and Sites “just in time “ to produce a new shiny Mini was mind blowing .Would highly recommend it . Special praise and thanks to the guides Nigel and Ian  

My Mini electric was built about October 5. Did you see an all black Mini Electric with the steering Wheel in the correct side of the car? 😉 it would be a huge coincidence. Visiting the factory is still on my to do list👍🏻  

Ha ,although vast majority of cars being built had the steering wheel set for export 😀  

I have booked on a tour at the end of the month. Very excited!  

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