THE HIRE - THE ACCLAIMED FILM SERIES BY BMW - WILL END A FOUR AND A HALF YEAR INTERNET RUN OCTOBER 21ST

Woodcliff Lake, NJ, October 11, 2005...BMW announced today that its
award-winning internet short-film series, The Hire, will end its
internet run on October 21, 2005. The debut of the first two films
inThe Hire series was online in 2001. The third film entitled,
"The Follow," by Wong Kar Wai, made its debut at the Cannes
Film Festival in May 2001 to international acclaim. The Hire was one of
the leading examples of convergence in the media industry - an
unprecedented, groundbreaking effort. In total, eight films were
created in the series. And, since its debut, The Hire has received
more than 100 million film views. BMW took its place alongside the
major movie studios with the production of The Hire short-film series
on the internet, bringing together high-level talent from a number of
diverse fields - a synergistic effort that crossed and pushed
boundaries. Key producers included David Fincher, Ridley and Tony
Scott. Other prominent directors that made up the dream team included
John Frankenheimer, Ang Lee, Wong Kar-Wai, Guy Ritchie, Alejandro
González Iñárritu, John Woo, Joe Carnahan. The
Hire has been showered with praise. The New York Times said, "The
BMW films tingle with zest," while Time Magazine added, "It
surely deserves the attention of discerning movie watchers." In
2002, the Cannes International Advertising Festival awarded The Hire
with the Cyber Lion Grand Prix prize. Additional accolades include the
"Best Excuse for Broadband" award at WIRED Magazine's third
annual Rave Awards in 2001 and the 2002 Los Angeles International Short
Film Festival's "Best Action Short" award, which was given to
director John Woo for Hostage, the sixth film in The Hire. In 2003, The
Hire series was inducted into the permanent collection of the Museum of
Modern Art (MOMA). BMW took its non-traditional approach one step
further by creating DVDs of the films, and distributing them in a
targeted fashion at no cost to key audiences. One of BMW's first
forays into this arena was the distribution of The Hire Season One DVD
with issues of Vanity Fair magazine. This distribution helped create
additional buzz for the film within a key audience. The full DVD
collection (with all eight films) was unveiled at The Palais des
Festival during the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. DVD distribution was
just one of the non-traditional ways in which BMW reached out to its
essential alpha groups. BMW was also one of the first companies to
partner with TIVO on a project such as The Hire. In another innovative
move, BMW also created its own The Hire cable TV channel. "What
began as a "big idea" grew into a cutting edge,
first-of-its-kind entertainment event that was unprecedented in our
industry," said Jack Pitney, Vice President Marketing for BMW of
North America. "We are proud that The Hire had more than 100
million film views." Jack adds, "BMW prides itself in
creating innovative, high-impact marketing initiatives.  We
continually evaluate the effectiveness and value of each element while
we simultaneously strive to search for new and fresh avenues to open
communication channels with consumers.  While today we may be
talking about the end of The Hire, you can be sure that BMW is working
on new approaches to bring the brand to life in innovative ways."
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, the MINI brand, and the ROLLS-ROYCE brand of Motor
Cars; DesignworksUSA, an industrial design firm 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 Z4 Roadster and X5 Sports
Activity Vehicles. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in
the U.S. through networks of 340 BMW passenger car centers, 327 BMW
Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 148 BMW motorcycle retailers, 80 MINI
passenger car dealers, and 25 ROLLS-ROYCE Motor Car dealers. BMW (US)
Holding Corp., the BMW Group's sales headquarters for North, Central
and South America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.