25 years of BMW Plant Steyr - an ongoing success story

Munich. BMW Motoren GmbH in Steyr, Upper Austria today marks the completion of
the plant's biggest expansion stage to date, while at the same time celebrating
the 25th anniversary of its founding. This BMW manufacturing site, which opened
in the Upper Austrian town of Steyr in 1979, thus has two very special reasons
to celebrate: with the completion of development stage number seven and a total
investment of some 500 million euros, the plant's largest extension now goes on
stream, while the establishment of the manufacturing plant 25 years ago marked
the beginning of an Austrian success story.

25 years under the banner of success.
BMW Plant Steyr looks back on a remarkable development since its beginnings in
1979. In all, the BMW Group has invested more than 2.6 billion euros in the
site since its founding. The number of employees has grown to more than 2,600
and turnover in 2003 totalled 1.86 billion euros, making the site one of
Austria's largest industrial enterprises. "Today the plant is the biggest
engine factory of the entire BMW Group and the development centre for our
diesel engines. Its significance should not be taken for granted, nor should it
be seen as a 'self-seller'. There is no success without commitment, performance
and professionalism - least of all in the motor industry," emphasized Dr
Norbert Reithofer, Member of the Board of BMW AG responsible for production, on
the occasion of these two major milestones in the evolution of BMW Plant Steyr.

Biggest development stage goes on stream.
With the largest individual expansion stage in the history of the plant, the
facility increases its floorspace by a third. The overall investment for this
seventh development stage runs to around 500 million euros. At its core is a
new, 37,000 m2 production hall housing state-of-the-art manufacturing
technology. So-called flexible workstations will for the first time guarantee
the highest possible product and capacity flexibility in volume manufacturing.

Strong "hearts" from Steyr.
The "M" for "Motoren" in the BMW brand name already indicates that engines play
a central role in the Sheer Driving Pleasure for which BMW stands. Today, some
60 percent of all new BMW cars have a "heart" from Steyr implanted in them.
Around 7.8 million engines have come out of the Steyr plant to date. In 2003
alone, engine production totalled some 600,000 units. The proportion of diesel
engines in the plant's product mix was 58 percent last year. "We anticipate
that this number will rise further," notes Dr Werner Adelberger, Managing
Director of BMW Motoren GmbH, on production trends at Steyr.

New BMW six-cylinder petrol engine.
An all-new BMW high-tech power unit - a three-litre six-cylinder petrol engine
- is currently being manufactured using the highly flexible production
facilities and a new assembly line. The introduction of magnesium-aluminium
composite technology marks a milestone in modern engine design, making the
crankcase of the new engine by far the lightest six-cylinder crankcase for a
volume-production engine worldwide. With its new six-cylinder petrol unit, BMW
is consolidating its role as the leading manufacturer of straight-six engines
for cars.

New diesel powerpack with multi-stage turbocharging.
Next to the new six-cylinder petrol unit, a further highlight from the Steyr
engine plant is the new BMW diesel with twin-turbo technology, which goes into
production this autumn in the BMW 535d. This technology featuring multi-stage
turbocharging will make its production car debut and drive the performance of
the powerful BMW six-cylinder diesel up to 272 bhp and 560 Nm.

Ongoing success story.
"Plant Steyr has an excellent command of BMW's product complexity while at the
same time being able to respond flexibly to the individual demands of an
exacting premium market. These are very important success factors," says head
of production Dr Reithofer. The latest development stage VII further upgrades
the Austrian site. It ensures that the BMW engine plant in Steyr is well
equipped to continue along the successful path it has taken so far. Playing a
significant role in this is also the diesel engine, which in recent years has
made a positively triumphant advance. In western Europe alone, the percentage
of diesel engines in new BMW cars rose from 36 in the year 2000 to around 50
percent in 2003. During the same period, Plant Steyr has increased its diesel
engine production by around 46 percent. "We expect the importance of the diesel
engine in the premium segment to rise further," states Dr Reithofer. Plant
Steyr is and will continue to be a key part of BMW's global production network
with its total of 23 sites in four continents.