What does a mechanical engineer do

FINALLY, I decided I want to goto college for mechanical engineering. My dream is to be an engineer for BMW. Obviously Ill design the mechanical aspects but will I play a part in the specific design of the body or does someone else do that? Also will I physically be building at any point or will I be in front of a computer all day? Thanks

The answers to your questions really depend on the practices of the company you end up with. As a MecE, yes you will be involved in of the mechanical parts, but the scope will vary widely. If you work for a smaller firm, you could be designing a wide variety of components, since they have a smaller staff and likely a smaller product line. If you work for a large company, like BMW, you may end up focusing on just one type of component, for example gear boxes. You should also know that in many industries, including automotive, many times your design work will consist of choosing parts from other manufacturers that you can combine to get the end result desired by your company. You asked specifically about designing the car body, so I'm assuming you're interested in designing the look of the car in addition to the internal components. In large companies, unfortunately, this is seldom the work of the engineers. You would likely be consulted once some concepts have been generated since aerodynamics are part of mechanical engineering, and you'd likely have the opportunity to tweak the design as it progressed, but you probably wouldn't get the chance to completely create a body design. Finally, it's been my experience that mechanical engineering is one of the most hands on forms of engineering. Most mechanical engineers work at the fabrication locations, so there is ample opportunity to head to the floor and get your hands dirty, whether on production parts, prototypes, or testing.

Mechanical engineers are involved in the design of all of the parts of an automobile. It is important to understand though that car companies do not design all components of the vehicle. Most are designed and manufactured by vendors.