DOW JONES SUSTAINABILITY GLOBAL INDEX CHOOSES BMW AS TOP AUTO COMPANY IN ITS FIRST ENVIRONMENTAL INDEX

New York, New York, December 22, 1999. The BMW Group achieved the highest
rating of any automotive company in the first-ever Dow Jones Sustainability
Global Index, which recognizes worldwide corporate management responsibility
for the environment, social and environmental sustainability, corporate culture
leadership, technology leadership, personal management/human resources, and
productivity and growth. The index combines the economic, environmental and
social record of each company and compares it to the industry average. BMW's
performance surpassed all other manufacturers in its category in the benchmark
criteria tested by the Index for environmental sustainability.
"BMW Group has always been very conscious and innovative about finding ways to
sustain and protect the environment in all aspects of our operations. Being
included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Global Index reaffirms our position as
global automotive leader in preserving and sustaining the environment, which
makes us very proud," said Manfred Heller, Director of Environmental
Protection, BMW Group, and a noted biologist.
The Index, conducted by Swiss SAM (Sustainability Asset Management), includes
over 200 environmentally-superior corporations from 22 countries. Along with
Deutsche Telekom, BMW Group is the only other German company listed among the
industry leaders on the DJSGI; more than 2000 top-performing public companies
from 68 industry sectors around the world were researched and evaluated for
superior performance.

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IS A GUIDING PRINCIPLE IN COMPANY'S MANUFACTURING

Appearing in New York on December 2nd, 1999 as the featured speaker during a
roundtable workshop sponsored by the Herbert Quandt Foundation, Mr. Heller
detailed the company's continued commitment to the environment. Addressing an
elite group of regional environmental leaders at the New York Botanical Garden,
Heller outlined BMW's aggressive actions in establishing innovative
programs-such as the recycling of parts and vehicles at the end of the life
cycle, waste management and reduction, and water-borne and powdered paint
technology-designed to set the standard for the automotive industry.
BMW's commitment to the environment is evidenced by the following initiatives
undertaken by the company:

* BMW gives priority when selecting materials most suitable for recycling,
selecting products according to weight-efficient construction principles, with
the aim of reducing fuel consumption and exhaust emissions. In addition, BMW
operates the world's only Recycling and Dismantling Center, capable of
recycling vehicles at the end of their useful life. Re-use of components has
been a mandatory part of all component design drawing since 1982, as well.

* To reduce production-plant emissions, BMW plants are outfitted with catalysts
for oxidation and oxides of nitrogen, similar to those used on BMW vehicle
exhaust systems.

* In the BMW Group's only U.S. manufacturing facility - located in Spartanburg,
South Carolina - the company began its operations in 1994 as the first U.S.
automobile plant to apply a water-borne primer-surfacer. Combined with
extensive use of pollution control technology, this enables the plant to have
the lowest level of air emissions in the U.S. automobile industry.

* Transferring water-borne paint technology to South Africa despite the fact
that there were no suppliers and no legislative requirement to do so. BMW has
set the environmental standard for automotive manufacturing in South Africa.

* The historic creation of the Environmental Control Circle, a steering
committee responsible for recommending BMW's environmental strategy. The Circle
reports directly to the BMW Board and is made up of representatives from the
fields of environmental protection and transport.

* BMW became the first automotive manufacturer to integrate an environmental
management system with the British International Standard BS 8800 for Worker
and Health Safety. The standard was implemented in the South African facility.

FIRST CAR MANUFACTURER WORLDWIDE TO HOLD AN ENVIRONMENTAL CERTIFICATE FOR
PRODUCTION FACILITIES

Taking a pioneering role in its approach to environmental protection is nothing
new to the BMW Group. "BMW has in the past and will continue in the future to
be as innovative and dynamic in the way we view and act on our environment as
we are with all our products. We plan to implement more than the expected
principles of Agenda 21 as a testament to our commitment to sustain the
environment," said Mr. Heller during his address. To further support the
company's commitment, he discussed the BMW Group's recent eco-certification of
the Rosslyn plant (South Africa) on 16 October 1999 on the basis of the
international standard ISO 14001. All manufacturing plants of the Group now
produce to the strictest environmental directives. This makes the BMW Group the
first car manufacturer worldwide to hold an environment certificate for all
production facilities separately and on site. Furthermore, the Rosslyn plant is
the first auto manufacturing facility in South Africa to hold a plant-wide
certification to ISO 14001.
In addition to this certificate for environmentally compatible production, the
Rosslyn plant will again receive international awards for quality standard in
its production operations to ISO 9002 and, for the first time, a certificate
for the safety and health system which meets British Standard 8800. This makes
BMW South Africa the first auto plant worldwide to have an integrated
management system for environmental protection, industrial safety, health care
and quality. Thus, every production facility of the BMW Group around the world
boasts the highest standards of environmental protection, quality and
industrial safety.

CELEBRATING A YEAR OF ISO 14001 CERTIFICATION IN THE UNITED STATES

The Spartanburg, S.C. facility recently celebrated its first anniversary of
certification to the ISO 14001 Standard. This was marked by a successful
external surveillance audit last August of the plant's Environmental Management
System. In addition, this facility is acknowledged as an environmental leader
in the state of South Carolina, receiving recognition such as the Governor's
Pollution Prevention Award, the Carolina Recycling Association's Award,
certification in the Wildlife and Industry Together (WAIT) Program, and
membership in the elite Environmental Excellence Program. As evidenced in the
plant's biennial Environmental Report to the public, the key to the success of
the environmental programs is the commitment and involvement of 3000+
Associates at BMW Manufacturing Corp.

BMW IN AMERICA

BMW entered the U.S. market in 1975. Since then, the company has grown to
include marketing, sales and financial service organizations in the United
States; a South Carolina manufacturing operation; a design firm in California;
a technology office in Palo Alto and various other operations throughout the
country. BMW is represented in the U.S. through a network of more than 340
automobile and 160 motorcycle retailers. BMW (US) Holding Corp., the Group's
headquarters for North, Central and South America, is located in Woodcliff
Lake, New Jersey.
Information about BMW products is available to consumers via the World Wide Web
on the BMW homepage. The address is: http://www.bmwusa.com.
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.