Injury Research International: BMW of North America announces partnership with US Injury Research Centre.

Munich. BMW of North America announced a partnership with the prestigious
William Lehman Injury Research Center at the University of Miami/Jackson
Memorial Medical Centre to create a nationwide, multidisciplinary Accident
Research Project (ARP), which will partner BMW's esteemed engineers with trauma
experts in the medical field. Together, the teams will conduct biomechanical
accident analyses that will aid in the determination of the cause of injuries
in crashes. Their findings will in turn be used to develop new safety features
in future BMW cars.

"BMW is proud to fund this collaboration with the William Lehman Injury
Research Center and the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Centre and
to underscore our commitment to safety," said Tom Purves, President of BMW of
North America. "BMW already features the highest standard of active and
passive safety features. This project will allow us to raise the bar even
higher."

"More young adult lives are lost each year to trauma than to disease in the
U.S.," said Dr. Jeffrey Augenstein, Director of the Ryder Trauma Centre, which
houses the William Lehman Injury Research Centre (WLIRC). "This study of real
world crashes will directly translate into safety features and information that
will save more lives. We are thrilled to partner with BMW for the venture."

BMW first saw the impact of using real world accident analysis to refine
product design three decades ago in Germany. In1976, the Bavarian police began
reporting severe accidents involving BMWs to the carmaker and continue to do so
today. BMW used the information provided by the police to upgrade safety
features in its vehicles.

Today, BMW takes another stride forward in improving and creating
state-of-the-art safety technology by using real world accident research from
U.S. roadways. This project takes a multi-disciplinary approach pairing BMW's
engineering prowess with the medical trauma expertise of the UM/Jackson Ryder
Trauma Centre. BMW and the trauma centre will dispatch a team to inspect
damaged vehicles after an accident and then through an accident reconstruction
and a biomechanic evaluation of the injuries, the real world performance of the
vehicle will be discussed. The results will be constantly fed to various
development departments for further enhancements in the design of BMWs.

"To supplement safety development by analyzing real world car accidents is a
sophisticated approach to safety, but it gives us the most effective tools to
make a safer product when it counts most - in a real world accident." said
Peter Baur, Head of the Accident Research Program in the U.S. "While a great
knowledge base is available from our research in Germany, we decided to conduct
intense research in the U.S. as well considering the differences in the traffic
environments."

Advancement of Head Protection.
BMW already has dramatic proof of the value of accident research. In 1997, BMW
was the first car manufacturer to invent the Head Protection System (HPS) based
on their accident research. The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS)
recently published a study stating that head protection systems with torso side
airbags reduces death on nearside side-impact crashes by 37% and side airbags
without head protection by 26%. BMW's HPS is just one of many advancements
that the company has offered its customers first. It is a key example of how
the carmaker's real world research has affected safety implementation in all
BMWs.