BMW TO PARTICIPATE IN RESEARCH PROJECT WITH HYDROGEN-POWERED 7 SERIES CARS

US Department of Energy approves Hydrogen fuel demonstration project

Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, April 27, 2004. The U. S. Department of Energy
today awarded a grant to a partnership, which includes BMW and is led by Air
Products and Chemicals, Inc., for a combined research project titled Controlled
Hydrogen Fleet and Infrastructure Demonstration Project. The goal of the
project is to study hydrogen as a fuel in real-world driving conditions. This
5-year program will use Federal funds, as well as donations from partnership
members, to finance construction and testing of 24 hydrogen filling stations in
California. Due to the nature of the project, the stations will vary from using
renewable resources such as wind power to using a hydrogen pipeline. Some
stations will be fixed; others will be relocatable.

Partnership members Toyota, Honda and Nissan will contribute a total of 65
fuel-cell powered vehicles to the project. BMW, as the leader in hydrogen
internal combustion engines will provide up to 15 7 Series cars, the only test
vehicles using proven internal-combustion engines.

The BMW Group has been engaged in the research and development of liquid
hydrogen technology for over 20 years based on the belief that automobiles in
the future will not be powered by fossil fuels as they are today, noted BMW of
North Americas Karl-Heinz Ziwica, Vice-President Engineering U.S. Our research
has demonstrated that hydrogen is completely viable as a fuel and the
technology exists to advance its use in vehicles with internal combustion
engines or with fuel cells. However, the more challenging step to the
realization of hydrogen-powered vehicles is the development of a supporting
infrastructure of fueling stations and service facilities. This requires the
cooperation of a significant group of partners and BMW is honored to be a part
of the group brought together by the DOE.

DOE should be applauded for initiating this far-reaching developmntal project
to sustain the world?s energy supply, said Chris Sutton, VP and General Manager
of EPI at Air Products. This is the first significant funding at the national
level since President Bushs stated goal of supporting establishment of a
hydrogen economy. On behalf of the entire project team, we are all excited
about this opportunity to take a leadership role in the continuing development
and commercialization of the global hydrogen economy. This is a step toward the
goal of having all key entities work together to solve important and critical
issues and direct resources to gain real-world experience on fueling stations
and feedback on vehicle infrastructure and hydrogen delivery technologies.

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, 76 MINI
passenger car dealers, and 25 ROLLS-ROYCE Motor Car dealers. BMW (US) Holding
Corp., the BMW Groups sales headquarters for North, Central and South America,
is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

Information about BMW Group products is available to consumers via the Internet
at:

www.bmwusa.com
www.bmwmotorradusa.com
www.miniusa.com
www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com

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Journalist note: Information about the BMW Group and its products is available
to journalists on-line at the BMW Group PressClub at the following address:
www.press.bmwgroup.com.

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