Road and Driver

Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – August 29, 2010…Bill Auberlen and Tommy Milner drove the No. 92 M3 GT to a third-place GT class finish in today’s Grand Prix of Mosport. The race was red-flagged with 29 minutes remaining following a crash by a GTC car requiring extensive repairs to the track-side barriers.

The eighth-consecutive podium finish by the BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team this season keeps BMW firmly in the hunt for the Manufacturer’s championship, only dropping one point from the lead. The title will be decided at the season finale, Petit Le Mans, on October 2.

Joey Hand and Dirk Müller were forced to retire the No. 90 M3 GT following a collision by Müller on lap 48, just after one hour of the race was complete.

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Jim O’Donnell, President of BMW of North America, to Host Teen Driving School to Kick Off the 2010 BMW Championship in Chicago

• Group 1 Automotive partners with BMW sponsoring fundraiser for the Evans Scholars Foundation
• Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana BMW Centers to contribute $3 for every mile driven by participating teens
• BMW to launch its “DRIVE IT HOME – DON’T TXT & DRIVE” campaign

Woodcliff Lake, NJ – August 30, 2010… Today BMW announced Jim O’Donnell, President of BMW of North America, LLC, will host a special Teen Driving School on September 7, 2010 at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, Illinois to kick off the 2010 BMW Championship. The tournament features 70 of the world’s top professional golfers competing in the third leg of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. Group 1 Automotive, owner of 15 BMW and MINI dealerships nationwide, is partnering with BMW to sponsor the fundraiser for the Evans Scholars Foundation, which provides full university tuition and housing grants to deserving young caddies.

Like the BMW Championship, all proceeds from the Teen Driving School will be donated to the Evans Scholars Foundation. The Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana BMW Centers will contribute $3 for every mile driven by participating teens during the event.

Evans Scholars and Chicago area teens will participate in Teen Driving School – BMW’s road safety program designed to help young people learn how to be safer, more informed drivers. A PGA TOUR player will also attend the driving event, during which BMW will launch its “DRIVE IT HOME – DON’T TXT & DRIVE” campaign to build awareness that texting while driving is one of the most dangerous actions a person can do behind the wheel.

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CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED: AN EXHILARATINGLY SAVVY IDEA

There are many reasons for getting another vehicle. Your child is college-bound – or about to enter the working world. Perhaps you need something larger with room for a baby seat. Or you’ve earned that “fun car.” Whatever the reason, it’s always a good time to consider a Certified Pre-Owned BMW.

Every CPO BMW is a recent model with less than 60,000 miles. In order to be Certified, it is first thoroughly inspected by factory-trained BMW technicians, ensuring it meets the highest quality and performance standards. If anything needs to be fixed, it is. In fact, many CPO BMW models look and feel so good, you’ll swear they’re new.

Every CPO BMW is covered by the Certified Pre-Owned BMW Warranty, one ofthe industry’s best,¹ and comes with two more years of unlimited-mileage BMW Roadside Assistance.² It’s also backed by a nationwide network of BMW centers.

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Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – August 22, 2010… Proving once again that the BMW M3 knows the way to victory lane at Road America, the BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team won the ultra-competitive American Le Mans Series GT class for the second consecutive year at the classic Road America circuit.

No. 90 BMW M3 GT drivers Joey Hand and Dirk Müller completed 66 laps of the 4.0-mile circuit in today’s two-hour-and-forty-five-minute American Le Mans Series race, winning by 2.6 seconds. The outstanding result gives BMW a six-point lead in the all-important Manufacturer point standings. Hand and Müller move up to a tie for second in Driver points before the last two races of the season.

The day did not have such a good outcome for teammates Bill Auberlen and Tommy Milner. Auberlen made a strong start in the No. 92 M3 GT, moving quickly up two positions from his P8 grid start. Unfortunately, on lap 8, only 20 minutes into the race, he became victim of a slowing prototype in the “Kink” and was hit hard from behind, just after shifting to sixth gear. The result was a high-energy crash at the fastest part of the track, which appears to have terminally damaged the No. 92 chassis, but luckily caused Auberlen no serious injuries. The car was retired from the race. Tommy Milner did not race and neither driver will score points. However, thanks to their consistent performance this season, he and Auberlen only drop to fourth in driver standings.

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Like every BMW since the 2003 model year, all 2011 models include maintenance for 4 years or 50,000 miles with BMW Ultimate Service™

Woodcliff Lake, NJ – August 13, 2010…BMW remains steadfast in its commitment to including maintenance on every new BMW sold or leased in the U.S. Beginning with the 2003 model year every new BMW includes maintenance for 4 years or 50,000 miles.

“Our customers tell us they find real value in the program, so our commitment to it has never wavered. As a customer, you are essentially responsible for fuel, tires and insurance. We take care of the rest.” said Jim O’Donnell, President and CEO of BMW of North America, LLC. “It has also been instrumental in helping us to build the most successful Certified Pre-Owned business in the U.S. by ensuring that our dealers have a consistent source of high-quality pre-owned BMWs to offer.”

Thanks to BMW Ultimate Service, fully 98 percent of all new BMWs receive all warranty repairs and scheduled maintenance from an authorized BMW center during the program period. The consistent supply of high-quality pre-owned vehicles has enabled BMW and its dealers to build BMW Certified Pre-Owned into the most successful program of its kind in the U.S. BMW Certified Pre-Owned sales reached a record 114,423 in 2009. The success of the program has continued into 2010. YTD CPO sales as of July were 98,795, a 5.9 percent increase over the same period last year.

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PGA TOUR PLAYER LUKE DONALD APPEARS AT WRIGLEY FIELD TO BUILD EXCITEMENT FOR 2010 BMW CHAMPIONSHIP

Chicago, Illinois – August 18, 2010… PGA Tour player Luke Donald made a special appearance today at Wrigley Field – home of the Chicago Cubs baseball team – to build excitement for the 2010 BMW Championship, which will kick off Thursday, September 9 at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club in Lemont, Illinois. Donald threw out the ceremonial first pitch of the Chicago Cubs game and participated in the 7^th-inning singing of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”

The BMW Championship features 70 of the world’s top professional golfers and is the third leg in the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedExCup. All proceeds from the 2010 BMW Championship will once again benefit the Evans Scholars Foundation, one of the United States’ largest privately funded college scholarship programs, providing full university tuition and housing grants to deserving young caddies. Since BMW became a presenting sponsor of the tournament in 2007, the BMW Championship has raised a total of $7.3 million for the Evans Scholars Foundation.

BMW Group In America
BMW of North America, LLC has been present in the United States since 1975. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003. The BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial service organizations for the BMW brand of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, the MINI brand, and the Rolls-Royce brand of Motor Cars; DesignworksUSA, a strategic design consultancy in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the country. BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is part of BMW Group’s global manufacturing network and is the exclusive manufacturing plant for all X5 Sports Activity Vehicles and X6 Sports Activity Coupes. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 338 BMW passenger car centers, 336 BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 143 BMW motorcycle retailers, 94 MINI passenger car dealers, and 31 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers. BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group’s sales headquarters for North America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

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Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – August 3, 2010…The August 7th Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge begins a grueling month of American Le Mans Series competition for the BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team. Facing Mid-Ohio, Road America , and Mosport International Raceway, the next four weeks may well determine who wins the ALMS GT championship .

Following BMW’s second double-podium finish of the season at Lime Rock Park on July 24th (reaching seven podium finishes for the season) BMW is only one point shy of the Manufacturer Points lead. Co-drivers Bill Auberlen and Tommy Milner (No. 92) are second in Driver Points, while Joey Hand and Dirk Müller (No. 90) are in a four-way tie for third.

A number of technical updates have been made since last summer, details of which may be found here .

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1. Why electromobility?

The world, and with it the sphere of individual mobility, is in a state of environmental, economic and social upheaval. Global developments such as climate change and dwindling resources are encouraging many people to act with greater social responsibility and aspire to a more aware and sustainable lifestyle.

The basic premises for individual mobility are changing.

The advancing greenhouse effect and finite resources have made it a key priority to reduce CO2 emissions significantly and quickly, to drive forward the switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, and to increase the efficiency of all energy consumption. The governments of various countries have recognised this too and are responding with ambitious fleet legislation and the promotion of zero-emission vehicles.

In addition, growing urbanisation can be observed across the globe. Half of the world’s population already lives in cities and the numbers are rising daily. Cities are drawing in urban inhabitants like a magnet, resulting in more and more people living together in increasingly confined spaces. Along with the cities, the challenges are growing too: altered infrastructures, lack of space and environmental pollution demand new solutions for mobility.

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5 Series Receives Highest Rating of “Good” for Frontal Offset, Roof Strength, Side Impact and Rear Crash Protection in IIHS Tests

Woodcliff Lake, NJ – July 29, 2010… BMW of North America today announced that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) declared the 2011 BMW 5 Series Sedan a 2010 Top Safety Pick. The new 5 Series earned the top rating of “Good” based on its performance in each of the Institute’s crash tests.

Receiving the 2010 Top Safety Pick for the 2011 BMW 5 Series Sedan is one of numerous awards BMW has earned from the IIHS over the years. In fact, as a result of tests conducted in 2008, the 2009 BMW 3 Series Sedan, as well as the X3 and X5 Sports Activity Vehicles® earned the IIHS Top Safety Pick.

“Safety has long been a priority for BMW, so earning a Top Safety Pick from IIHS means a great deal,” said Jim O’Donnell, president of BMW of North America, LLC. “The press has praised the car, and our consumers have eagerly awaited its arrival in showrooms. This award demonstrates that we left no stone unturned in the development of the all-new 2011 5 Series Sedan.”

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Partnership Includes Support of USA Bobsled & Skeleton, US Speedskating, USA Swimming, USA Track & Field

Woodcliff Lake, NJ – July 26, 2010… BMW Group announced today it will be the Official Mobility Partner of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) from now through 2016. BMW Group will also be the Official Mobility Partner of four National Governing Bodies (NGBs): USA Bobsled & Skeleton, US Speedskating, USA Swimming and USA Track & Field.

Jack Pitney, Vice President of Marketing for BMW of North America, USOC Chief Marketing Officer Lisa Baird and short track speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno, the most decorated U.S. winter Olympian of all time, were all in New York City to make the partnership announcement.

This multi-million dollar agreement goes beyond financial support to also provide the USOC with fundraising opportunities and the four individual NGBs with BMW Group technical expertise. BMW Group will use its experts, deep technology base and facilities to help the Olympic and Paralympic Teams improve their training and performance. An example of this has been the company’s work with BMW ORACLE Racing to improve its performance. BMW Group’s expertise in light weight construction and aerodynamics helped the BMW Oracle Racing Team design a technically advanced yacht that won the America’s Cup sailing competition this year.

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