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BMW can look back on 20 years of research activities on hydrogen propulsion systems. Hydrogen fuel is the only means of offering pure driving pleasure on the basis of a sustainable energy loop. As the hydrogen era is still quite a while away the BMW Energy Strategy „Via Natural Gas to Hydrogen” has been developed. The first step was to build series-production compressed natural gas (CNG) cars back in 1995. By switching to liquefied natural gas (LNG) not only is the cruising range tripled but technologically the final stepping-stone is reached in preparing the way for liquefied hydrogen. BMW's automotive and drive technology for hydrogen is now available and ready to move out of the laboratory on to the road. At Munich Airport a BMW „Clean Energy” car is already providing shuttle services. Its fuel is supplied by the world's first public filling station for liquefied hydrogen.

The Magnetic Forming Process is more than ever a very promising technology for light weight vehicle production. To support the development of further applications BMW Group has proven the ability of a standard FEM program to predict the process and the functional parameters of magnetically formed joints satisfactorily.

The SI-engine has a disadvantage in fuel economy compared with a DI-Diesel engine. One of the major effects is the throttle-driven load control with its pumping losses. The main target is to reduce these losses in the thermodynamic process with a throttle-free load control. BMW has developed fully variable valve trains as a possible technical solution to realise a load control by regulating the valve lift and the closing time of the inlet valve. The essential variability can be achieved by fully variable mechanical valve trains or mechatronic systems both showing a robust running behavior in emissions and cyclic fluctuations. The camshaft driven mechanical system is based on the technology of the BMW Double-VANOS system. An additional variability makes it possible to shift the valve lift continuously in order to control the valve closing. The highest variability is given by a system with each valve being controlled seperatly.

The first application in which the fuel cell will find a market in the passenger car is as an “electrochemical battery” serving the purpose the fuel cell can do best: To generate electricity for the electrical power bus with a high degree of efficiency. Such a fuel cell referred to as an APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) exceeds the power output and endurance of a battery and is able not only to supply power to all conventional electrical power-consuming items in the car, but also to provide new functions such as air conditioning when the car is at a standstill. In the long run, indeed, the fuel cell may even be able to replace the electrical alternator.