WATERCONE against the Global Drinking Water Problem

Munich. Careful, conscientious and conservative use of resources has top
priority for all BMW Group associates. And this philosophy bears fruit, going
far beyond the car market alone: BMW designer Stephan Augustin has for the
first time implemented a well-known principle for generating water in order to
effectively face the global problem of providing an adequate amount of water
suitable for drinking. Although more than 70 per cent of the surface of the
earth is covered by water, only a very small share of the world's water supply
can actually be used as drinking water - less than 1 per cent, tobe precise.
Another factor is that broad sectors of the world population lack access to
pure drinking water for ecological, economic, geographical or political
reasons. According to UNESCO statistics, up to 7 billion people will suffer
this plight by the year 2050.

A promising possible solution is now offered by a product allowing virtually
anybody to generate drinking water independently, at low cost, and in a mobile
application - the WATERCONE. Yesterday Stephan Augustin received the IF Design
Award, one of the world's most coveted design prizes, for the WATERCONE, which
had already won an award in the Design for Europe Contest in October 2002.
Stephan Augustin, a BMW designer, has also been nominated for an award at the
Third World Water Forum of the World Water Council (WWC) to be held in Kyoto
from 16 - 23 March 2003.

How WATERCONE works: Light and hard-wearing, WATERCONE, with its solid outer
skin, is able to float on water or rest securely on moist ground almost
everywhere. With the sun shining on WATERCONE, water evaporates beneath the
cone and condenses on the inside surface. Water droplets created in this way
then gather in a drain rail, allowing the user either to conveniently pour the
water out through the hole at the tip of WATERCONE or drink the water right
away. This condensation process automatically purifies the water in a
single-stage distillation procedure.

WATERCONE is also able to recover drinking water from salt water or
contaminated water sources.

Stephan Augustin, in focusing on the functional design of WATERCONE, has
followed practical requirements, tests in BMW's wind tunnel proving that
WATERCONE is able to withstand wind speeds of up to 55 km/h without a problem,
making it largely resistant to wind and weather.

The result: With an evaporation volume of 8.8 ltr/m2 equal to the average
energy of solar irradiation in Casablanca, WATERCONE provides 1.0 - 1.4 litres
of pure water within 24 hours. The efficiency of the system depends on the
ground area covered by WATERCONE, the diameter of the cone varying from 60 - 80
cm, depending on the model.

Simple and robust: Efficient implementation of a well-known principle for the
first time
Whilst the function principle has already been known for a long time, WATERCONE
is the first practical application for efficient use of this principle, since
WATERCONE may be produced industrially at very low cost and in large numbers.

WATERCONE is very light and robust, with a service life of 3 - 5 years.
Contrary to former attempts using tent-like plastic film structures highly
exposed to wind and cracks and complicated to erect, WATERCONE is easy and
practical in use.

An important prerequisite for its efficient use is that WATERCONE can be built
at low cost also in developing countries, and does not require sophisticated
production facilities. The high-tech Makrolon® synthetic material 100 per cent
recyclable and therefore fully compatible with the environment is supplied by
Bayer Polymers, a Division of Bayer AG.

Makrolon® is used on a very broad scale in BMW car headlights, CDs, solar
modules, glasses/correction lenses, as well as roof structures. Further
advantages of this synthetic material are its enormous strength and resistance
to fractures as well as excellent transparency.

Zeltec Engineering GmbH, a German company in Cologne also active in the
construction of prototypes and small model series for the automotive industry,
is making the first series of WATERCONE prototypes made of Makrolon®.
Zeltec also has the licence for production and sale of this important new
product with such a great potential for humanity.

BMW designer Stephan Augustin was able to integrate these two partners into his
network thanks to their positive cooperation in other regular activities, thus
preparing WATERCONE as quickly as possible for the struggle against the
shortage of drinking water. And last but not least, the project has also
received financial support of the Hans Sauer Foundation
(www.hanssauerstiftung.de).

Stepan Augustin and his partners intend to transfer licences to third parties,
ensuring that WATERCONE, which is protected by a patent, can be manufactured
locally in the areas involved at low cost. For precisely this is a significant
objective from an ethical, ecological and economic point of view, allowing
governments and help organisations to deploy WATERCONE at low cost and make it
available to people in need.

"I was already aware of the basic function principle behind WATERCONE. But
regrettably there was no industrially built product so far allowing us to use
this principle ideally with all its features. So I decided to commit my talent
and professional know-how, creating a functional design which will render
people a humanitarian service", says Stephan Augustin.

The BMW Group's commitment to sustainability going far beyond the borders of
the Company
The subject of water plays a key role in the quest of the BMW Group to ensure
ongoing mobility in harmony with nature: As part of its CleanEnergy strategy,
BMW uses hydrogen recovered in an absolutely clean process through solar energy
and water as the energy supply for driving test cars. This allows CO2-free
transport throughout the entire energy chain all the way to the exhaust
tailpipe of the automobile.

The future of CleanEnergy has already begun, the BMW Group clearly
demonstrating on the 2001 and 2002 CleanEnergy WorldTour that BMW's hydrogen
cars (the BMW 750 hL) are fit for the road the world over. In the meantime
BMW's fleet of hydrogen cars has successfully covered more than 170,000
kilometres.

Concientious use of precious water is likewise one of the firm commitments of
the BMW Group's worldwide production network: As early as in 1997 the BMW Group
became the first car maker in the world to use powder clear paint at BMW's
Dingolfing Plant, thus applying a dry substance which does not consume any
water or leave behind any effluent. And wherever water is required in
production, complete, self-contained water circuits serve to reduce the
absolute consumption of water at BMW Group plants to a level far below the
average figure in the car industry.

The key to success in this context is thinking beyond frontiers. Only if we are
willing to leave the beaten track and enter into new partnerships will we
create real innovations. This applies on a large scale with the CleanEnergy
Project involving numerous partners in industry and politics and on a "small"
scale with initiatives such as WATERCONE.

For further information on WATERCONE, see the internet under www.watercone.com