Largest MINI Gathering in the United States Sees Preview of The Italian Job Movie

Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey May 20th, 2003 ... Over 500 MINI fans gathered in
250 MINIs at the Paramount Pictures Studios lot in Los Angeles, California last
night to see an exclusive preview screening of The Italian Job.

MINIs of all shapes, sizes and colors from across the United States came to the
famous "blue sky" studio lot to make up an elite crowd that saw the new film in
a unique MINI-only setting. Attendees had the film's sound piped into their
cars via radio and were served In & Out Burgers and popcorn in true drive-in
style. The partisan crowd cheered wildly when the three Minis, in red, white
and blue made their entrance and then took the film to its pulsating finale.

Jack Pitney, general manager of MINI USA said, "There has been quite a bit of
buzz surrounding MINI's starring role in the upcoming film "The Italian Job"
and we were delighted to have MINI fans attend the special MINI-only screening."

MINI, the 2003 North American Car of the Year, joins a stellar cast that
includes Mark Wahlberg, Edward Norton, Charlize Theron, Jason Statham, Seth
Green, Mos Def and Donald Sutherland in Paramount Pictures' film, "The Italian
Job" opening nationwide May 30th. A contemporary adaptation of the 1969
classic, which starred Michael Caine, Noel Coward and Benny Hill, this updated
version of "The Italian Job", directed by Mr. F. Gary Gray, pays homage to the
original film and adds a modernized twist.

In "The Italian Job" mastermind thief Charlie Croker (Mark Wahlberg) pulls off
an amazing gold bullion heist from a heavily guarded palazzo in Venice, Italy,
only to be double-crossed by one of his crew. Seeking revenge, Charlie
recruits Stella (Charlize Theron), a beautiful nerves-of-steel safecracker, and
along with his former gang, follows the backstabber to California where they
plan to re-steal the gold by manipulating traffic signals and creating havoc on
the streets of Los Angeles.

Inspired by the use of the original Mini Cooper, the new movie showcases MINI
throughout the film, proving the vehicle's agility as the three cars maneuver
through traffic, careen down stairs, weave through subway tunnels and race down
sidewalks as only MINI can.

BMW Group In America
BMW of North America has been present in the United States since 1975. Since
then, the BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales
and financial service organizations for the BMW and MINI brands and Rolls-Royce
Motor Cars; DesignworksUSA, an industrial design firm in California; a
technology office in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the
country. BMW Manufacturing Corp. 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 car, 327 BMW Sports
Activity Vehicle, 148 BMW Motorcycle retailers, and 70 MINI dealers. BMW (US)
Holding Corp., the BMW Group's 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 http://www.bmwusa.com http://www.bmwmotorcycles.com and
http://www.miniusa.com
# # #

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.

# # #