2008 BMW M3 Earns Popular Mechanics' 2008 Automotive Excellence Award

ALL-NEW 2008 BMW M3 EARNS POPULAR MECHANICS' 2008 AUTOMOTIVE EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR PERFORMANCE

2008 BMW M3 Praised for its Elegant and Powerful Performance at Comfort Level Unmatched by Many Cars

Woodcliff Lake, NJ - BMW of North America today announced that its all-new 2008 BMW M3 has won Popular Mechanics' 2008 Automotive Excellence Award in the performance category. Martin Birkmann, BMW M Series Brand Manager, accepted the honor on behalf of BMW at the award reception, which was held today at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

"We are thrilled that the 2008 BMW M3 has won this year's Automotive Excellence Award for performance," said Tom Purves, Chairman and CEO, BMW (US) Holding Corp. "BMW is dedicated to engineering vehicles that provide consumers with the ultimate driving experience and superior performance, so it is especially gratifying that the 2008 BMW M3 has won the award in the performance category. It just adds to the already incredible level of excitement and anticipation building around the launch of the M3 this spring."

The all-new 2008 M3 Coupe and M3 Sedan-which made their North American debuts earlier today at the auto show-arrive at dealerships in spring 2008 and will feature the first V8 in a series-production BMW M3. They will also feature driver-adjustable settings for crucial dynamic controls encompassing engine response, steering, damping and stability (with an available steering-wheel-mounted "MDrive" button to store the preferences.) The vehicles also offer a sport-oriented interior, which can be optimized to the driver's desires.

In its December 2007 article about the Awards, Popular Mechanics automotive editors praise the 2008 BMW M3 as "..one of the few performance cars that can triumph at weekend track days and still carry four friends in perfect comfort and luxury to an evening movie…The M3 is elegant and powerful, and it does its job at a comfort level not many cars can match."

Each year, to determine the winners of the Popular Mechanics Automotive Excellence Awards, the magazine's editors drive more than 100 of the newest cars, trucks and sport-utility vehicles, amassing well over 100,000 miles in the process. Through their experiences on extended test drives around the world, instrumented comparison tests and longer-term evaluations, the auto team nominates a list of vehicles in each category. Those selections are put to a vote and the top vote getters in each category win an Automotive Excellence Award.