World Premiere of the BMW 760Li High Security and BMW 330i Security at Geneva Motor Show

Based on the top-of-the-range 760Li 12-cylinder, this fourth generation of BMW security vehicles complying with bulletproof standard B6/B7 meets the highest and most demanding security requirements.

On the same occasion BMW also presented the 330i Security as a protection vehicle complying with the B4 bulletproof standard. From September 2003 the 8-cylinder BMW 745Li will also be available as a High Security model.

The BMW 760Li High Security meets the requirements of the German Federal Crime Office for security vehicles used by the German Government (B6/B7). It is therefore able to withstand even attacks with explosives or bullets of the armour-breaking 7.62x54R API calibre often used by terrorist organisations. To meet this supreme standard, the 760Li High Security has gone through elaborate firing and other tests conducted by a German bullet and firing inspection authority.

Integrated steel armouring of the passenger cell forms the actual "shell" of BMW's High Security and Security cars. For the first time, in the new BMW 760Li High Security, this shell is of two layers of special steel, a hard outer and a particularly tough inner layer.

"In contrast to production cars retrofitted with security features, the special features on BMW's Security cars are built by the most highly skilled craftsmen and are integrated in the car right from the beginning," said Robert Zarzour, Regional Manager Diplomatic Cars, BMW Group Middle East.

High security vehicles such as the BMW 760Li High Security effectively prevent attacks and attempts at the occupants' lives. Primarily, therefore, they are used to protect representatives of the state and government as well as high-ranking industrialists, mainly in industrialised countries in the West, in the Middle East, and in the countries of the former Soviet Union.

Security cars in the B4 category, on the other hand, such as the BMW 330i Security, offer protection primarily against attempts at theft and robbery as well as other kinds of criminal action such as carjacking. Accordingly, the armour on the BMW 330i Security is able to withstand calibre .44 magnum revolver ammunition as well as bullets fired from other handheld weapons.

BMW customers purchasing a Security or High Security car obviously attach great significance to absolute discretion. Precisely this is why BMWs of this kind hardly differ at first sight from their regular production counterparts.

"Another important point is the comprehensive service provided the world over. This service includes BMW's own pool of approximately 40 High Security and 100 Security cars made available to the customer at short notice and at nearly any location," added Zarzour.