CELEBRATION OF LIFE - THE LIFE BALL MINI 2007 DESIGNED BY MARIO TESTINO EXPLODE WITH JOIE DE VIVRE

First public appearance on 26 May 2007 on the red carpet in front of Vienna
City Hall.

Vienna / Munich. "Celebration of Life" - the Life Ball celebrates life and
brings together people from all levels of society. With this guiding concept in
mind, star and fashion photographer Mario Testino has exclusively designed a
MINI Cooper for the 15th Life Ball anniversary.

"It's been the first opportunity for me to design a car, therefore a great
challenge. I found it really challenging to apply a photograph to an object
full of different shapes and curves, to exploit a photo in a 3D way", said
Testino.

The bonnet and roof of the black MINI Cooper are decorated with explosions of
fireworks in a black night sky - finished with gold and glitter effects. He
explains his choice of design as follows: "I feel that the fireworks are a
celebration of life, by choosing the fireworks theme I wanted to convey a very
positive message as the whole work against AIDS reflects that life is a
valuable thing worth fighting for."

A sophisticated process has been used on the MINI chrome parts, such as the
radiator grille or the door handles, and the tyre rims to give them a shiny
black finish. Another unmistakeable detail is the special "Mario Testino"
badges on the outside of the vehicle and special entry bars on the driver and
passenger side.

Mario Testino talks about his commitment to Life Ball: "I am a great admirer of
those people who dedicate so much of their lives to other people and to
charitable causes. It makes me very happy to know that the Life Ball is such a
success and I am thrilled to contribute in any manner to its success. I chose
Aids benefit as one of the main charity causes to support since a good friend
of mine died of Aids years ago."

At its first public appearance, Testino will be driving "his" MINI himself -
along the red carpet at the start of the grand opening show - through a shower
of fireworks, of course!

This unique MINI will be auctioned on eBay (www.ebay.at) worldwide from 31 May
to 10 June 2007. Proceeds will go to the Life Ball, as they do every year.

High resolution photographic material of the Life Ball MINI 2007 by Mario
Testino can be downloaded from the BMW Group Press Club at
www.press.bmwgroup.com.

For further questions please contact:

Corporate Communications

Giuseppe Faranna, BMW Group, PR Programme MINI und BMW
Telefon: +49 (0)89 382- 51735, Fax: +49 (0)89 382- 28017

Holger Lapp, BMW Group, Leiter Public Relations
Telefon: +49 (0)89 382- 17700, Fax: +49 (0)89 382- 28017

Media Website: www.press.bmwgroup.com
e-mail: presse@bmw.de