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BMW DIESEL FINISHES 4th OVERALL IN 25 HOUR ENDURANCE RACE

Willows, California...The No. 33 Team Car and Driver / BMW Diesel 335d finished fourth overall and third in the ES class in the December 2-3 25 Hours of Thunderhill in Willows, Calif. The first of two BMW diesel-powered cars ever raced in North America completed 655 laps of the 3.0-mile Thunderhill Raceway Park road course in the world's longest sports car endurance race. The driver lineup consisted of racing professionals Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand along with Car and Driver editorial staff members Csaba Csere, Larry Webster, Mark Gillies and Tony Swan. Martin Birkmann, Motorsports Manager for BMW of North America and Auston Harris also drove.

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Roy Oliemuller
BMW Group

Car and Driver Magazine Entry Has Successful Debut

Willows, California...The No. 33 Team Car and Driver / BMW Diesel 335d finished
fourth overall and third in the ES class in the December 2-3 25 Hours of
Thunderhill in Willows, Calif. The first of two BMW diesel-powered cars ever
raced in North America completed 655 laps of the 3.0-mile Thunderhill Raceway
Park road course in the world's longest sports car endurance race. The driver
lineup consisted of racing professionals Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand along with
Car and Driver editorial staff members Csaba Csere, Larry Webster, Mark Gillies
and Tony Swan. Martin Birkmann, Motorsports Manager for BMW of North America
and Auston Harris also drove.

Car and Driver editor Tony Swan commented "we were solidly impressed by the
performance potential of the new BMW turbo diesel engines."

The No. 34 BMW 335d finished 32nd overall and eighth in class after suffering
mechanical problems early in the race that necessitated an engine change.

The cars were pre-production models and were prepared for the race by Marshall
Pruett Motorsports Engineering in San Jose, California. MPME has worked with
Car and Driver on their last two 25 Hour programs.

Only days before the race, on November 28th, BMW of North America announced
plans to launch its performance-oriented and efficient diesel engines in the
United States in 2008. The model designations and specifications of the BMW
diesel vehicles for the US will be announced at a later point in time.

The engines which are known in Europe for their unique synthesis of dynamic
performance and low fuel consumption will be made available for the US, the
strongest-performing single BMW market in the world.

The diesel models for the US are an integral part of the EfficientDynamics
corporate strategy which integrates a combination of short-term, mid-term and
long-term measures for the continued reduction of fuel consumption and
emissions while at the same time enhancing the performance and driving
characteristics which are such a hallmark of the BMW brand.

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