宝马（中国）研发中心于2018年5月15日正式落户北京。这是宝马在中国的第三个研发中心，也是其在德国以外的最大研发中心。宝马目前在中国拥有包括北京中心、上海中心和沈阳中心在内的三个研发中心。根据角色定位和分工的不同，北京中心该研发中心负责策略的制定、客户需求化管理、车辆的测试与认证、及本土化研究等。上海研发中心主要负责创新技术、创意设计的研究与数字化的应用。沈阳研发中心毗邻动力电池中心，主要负责新能源车型的整车开发，量产车型的质量把控及本土化生产支持等。北京研发中心占地面积超过2.6万平米，总投资人民币2亿元。北京研发中心将着重于对宝马车型，包括新能源车型、混动车型，智能车型和下一代高效引擎进行车型认证和在线诊断，研发新能源车型核心部件和自动驾驶技术。5月14日，宝马正式获得由上海市智能网联汽车道路测试推进工作小组颁发的上海市智能网联自动驾驶测试牌照。由此，宝马成为首家在中国获得自动驾驶路试许可牌照的国际整车制造商，标志着宝马面向科技公司转型的过程中取得了重要的进展。
Beijing gets largest BMW R&D center outside of Germany
German luxury vehicle brand BMW officially opened a R&D center in Beijing on May 15. This is the third BMW's R&D center in China, also the company's largest R&D center aside from its German headquarter.
BMW currently owns three R&D centers in China, including the Beijing center, the Shanghai center and the Shenyang center. Based on a clear division of roles and responsibilities, the Beijing center will be responsible for the strategies formulation, consumer demands’ management, vehicle testing and verification as well as the product localization R&D. Shanghai center is mainly in charge of the technological innovation, innovative design research and the application of digitalization. Moreover, the Shenyang center, in the vicinity of a power battery center, focuses on NEV (new energy vehicles) development, production vehicle qualification control, etc.
Reportedly, the Beijing R&D center, covering an area of over 26,000 square meters, involves an investment of RMB 200 million in total. It will be dedicated to the verification and on-line diagnosis of whole series of BMW's models, including NEVs, hybrid vehicles, intelligent vehicles and the next-generation high-efficiency engines, and the R&D of core parts in NEV and self-driving area.
On May 14, BMW obtained two license plates for the ICV (intelligent-connected vehicle) road test from Shanghai municipal government, becoming the first multinational automaker that is allowed to test ICV on roads, according to official WeChat account of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information.