BMW 02 Series - a cult car turns 35 For BMW, the sixties was a time for venturing into new automotive territory. The 02 Series was a key player in this strategy.

Munich, Germany, December 4, 2001... Before being designated the 02, the BMW
1600 made its first public appearance in front of Munich's opera house in March
1966 on the occasion of BMW's 50th birthday. Delivering 85 bhp, 12.6 mkp of
torque at 3000 rpm, a zero to 100 km/h (62 mph) acceleration time of 13.3 sec
and a top speed of 160 km/h (99 mph), the BMW 1600 was right on the pulse of
the time.

After the difficult years of reconstruction following World War II and the
threatened sale of the company at the end of the 1950s, it was initially the
BMW 700 and then, above all, the BMW 1500 - launched in 1962 as the first car
of the so-called "New Class" - which pointed the way forward for the company.
Market research suggested there was considerable growth potential in compact,
sporty, medium-range saloons. The four-door BMW 1500 saloon fitted the bill.

When the BMW 700 Series was discontinued in 1965, it left a gap to be filled by
a two-door car. The 1600 wasn't merely a successor model - it utterly redefined
this market segment. As the advertisements of the time put it, this was a car
that was "modern, compact, dynamic, sporty, offering a wide range of features,
and striking for its consistency of style and technology".

Clearly, then, this was a car which drew on values that had already crucially
defined BMW's image before the war. At DM 8,650 the BMW 1600 was priced well
below the level of the New Class and thus had its appeal for a broad category
of buyers. The BMW 1600 was a typical driver's car, "a sports car in a Sunday
suit", as one journalist aptly described it. Its low waistline and large
windows gave it an airy, transparent appearance, while the engine and chassis
proved hard to match in this class. It came as no surprise that the 1600 was
not only voted best compact saloon of the year, but saw over 13,000 units
manufactured in its debut year.

It was the dawning of a new era. The Beatles were at the height of their
career, Cassius "I am the greatest" Clay had mesmerized the sporting world, and
the race between the Americans and Russians to land on the moon was on.
It was the perfect time for a car with the agility and dynamism of the BMW 1600
to come onto the scene. But it was also a car to whet the appetite for more. No
sooner had the commercial tuners begun souping up the latest model when the BMW
manufacturers took matters in hand again and, in 1967, launched a version which
had been boosted to 105 bhp: the 1600 ti. Weighing just 960 kg, it delivered
true sports car performance.

Naturally enough, it also provided the perfect prerequisites for motor racing.
And so it was no great surprise when the 02 Series frequently proved unbeatable
in virtually all the car racing disciplines during the '60s and '70s. This is
borne out by numerous German and European titles in saloon car racing, as well
as victories in airfield events, classic circuit races, endurance events and
rally racing, achieved by both BMW works teams and customer teams. Helping the
BMW 02 to win these racing laurels were such legendary drivers as Hubert Hahne,
Dieter Quester, Klaus Ludwig, Harald Ertl and Hans-Joachim Stuck.

The designation 02 Series accompanied the launch of the BMW 2002 in 1968 to
distinguish it from the four-door models of the New Class, the last digit
indicating the number of doors. The model names of subsequent cars were to
follow this example. A wide range of engine and chassis variants - from the
1502 to the 2002 turbo, from two-door saloons and convertibles with or without
rollover hoops, all the way to the first Touring model - complemented the range
of this highly popular series which, by 1977, was to notch up a total
production run of 825,000 units.

Ultimately, the resounding success of subsequent generations of the 3 Series
was thus also rooted in the virtues of the 02 Series, which played such a key
role in defining the BMW brand image and became a cult car for a large body of
fans.

This was reason enough for BMW Group Mobile Tradition to place the 02 Series at
the centre of its activities for 2002. This model range will be the focus of
the BMW Group stand at the world's biggest classic car fair, the Techno
Classica in Essen, which takes place from 4 to 7 April 2002. The 02 will also
be making its appearance in a number of motoring events, such as the "Silvretta
Classic" and the "2000 km through Germany", both to be staged in July 2002.

In this connection, we would like to draw your attention once more to the
publication "The BMW 02 Series - The Cult Car" from the "Profiles" series,
which is due to be reissued next year. We will be informing you of this in a
separate mailing in due course.

For questions please contact:

Corporate Communications

Joerg-Dieter Huebner, AK-21, Technology Communications, Heritage
Telephone: (+49 89 )382 27797, Fax: (+49 89) 382 27563

Dr Tobias Nickel, AK-21Technology Communications
Telephone: (+49 89) 382 27072, Fax: (+49 89) 382 27563

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