BMW straight six-cylinder engine with Twin Turbo defends its title of "International Engine of the Year".

Munich / Stuttgart. With six awards for five engines gained at this year's
"International Engine of the Year Awards", BMW has successfully defended its
position as the world's leading manufacturer of efficient high-performance
power units. For the second time in succession, the 3-litre straight six engine
with Twin Turbo and High Precision Injection has won the overall ranking in
this most significant international engine competition. The 225 kW/306 bhp
engine employed in the BMW 3 Series, the BMW 1 Series Coupe and Convertible, as
well as in the new BMW X6, also has repeated last year's victory in the 2.5 to
3-litre engine category.

Only one engine had previously ever succeeded in repeating overall victory at
the "International Engine of the Year Awards": the 5-litre V10 high-revving
power unit employed in the models BMW M5, BMW M5 Touring, BMW M6 Coupe and BMW
M6 Convertible received first prize in 2005 and 2006. This year the 373 kW/507
bhp high-end power unit won the Above 4-litre category. The BMW M GmbH was
successful in positioning a further winner: the 309 kW/420 bhp V8 engine
boasted by the new BMW M3 won the category for engines in the 3 to 4 litre
category. Furthermore, the 2-litre four-cylinder diesel with Variable Twin
Turbo employed in the BMW 123d received the award for "Best New Engine" of the
2008. And the 1.6-litre four cylinder with Twin Scroll Turbocharger and direct
petrol injection employed in the MINI Cooper S managed to repeat last year's
win in the engine class 1.4 to 1.8 litres.

For the first time in the history of the competition, the title "Best New
Engine of the Year" has been awarded to a diesel engine. The 150 kW/204 bhp
four-cylinder diesel with Variable Twin Turbo has earned this award due to a
unique relation between performance and efficiency. As the world's first
full-aluminium diesel power unit it delivers a specific output of more than 100
bhp per litre of displacement. At the same time it facilitates in the BMW 123d
an average fuel consumption of 5.2 litres per 100 km in an EU test cycle and a
CO2 emission level of 138 grams per km. This renders it a fine example of the
consistent realisation of the BMW EfficientDynamics development strategy.

With its current win of six trophies, the BMW Group continues to impressively
dominate the engine competition which has been held now for ten years. The
repeated success of the straight six engine with Twin Turbo is already the
sixth overall victory for the company since the foundation of the
"International Engine of the Year Awards" in 1999. The bandwidth of the BMW
Group's currently successful engines is also remarkable. They range from the
128 kW/175 bhp four cylinder of the MINI Cooper S to the two high-revving power
units produced by the BMW M GmbH.

The "International Engine of the Year Award" has been presented since 1999 by
an international jury consisting of highly prominent car journalists. This year
the team of experts comprises 65 top journalists from 32 nations which include
the USA, Japan, China, Russia, India, Germany, France, New Zealand, Korea and
South Africa and, this year, Romania and Poland. Prizes are awarded for eleven
categories as well to the winner of the overall rating. The award ceremony will
be held on 7th May during the "Engine Expo 2008" in Stuttgart.