That AE CGI is correct it will look stunning. I especially like this kidney grille.

Filming in Australia begins this weekend.

If the E85 production ends next month and E89 comes as 2010 model, that means no 2009 Z4, right?

Good morning or should I just say G'day .
welcome to Day one.

Weather looks good , possible thunderstorm later Hopefully I expect to get particular obscured sky shots with dark clouds for some really intense arty shots .

The car is finished in Ozone Silver a new color that will feature with the Z4 as will Mineral White which is also here , Ideally we have a great disguise for the car - plastic foil covers that completely cover the whole of the car with a space cut out for the driver to position the car before the covers come off.

Overall it's a busy day ahead.

So that's Two cars , Two trailers , catering truck , Three X5 support vehicles , Gyroscope mounted camera SUV , Fixed sidecar camera to superbike , Two camera mounted helicopters , Mobile communication truck , Actors trailers. Security .

The countdown to sunrise has begun. But first where is the nearest Starbucks in Sydney?

Why is all the filming done in Australia?

^ no ambulance?

Strange thing. With all that Red-Bull you drink, you can easily shoot somebody

A very good question.

In the past BMW usually did most of the filming & shooting in South Africa.

Today they do it in Australia & New Zealand, but also on Iceland and Canary Islands.

Of course other locations are used as well ... eg. Munich, Valencia, NYC, LA, Miramas, Dubai etc.


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My guess:

New Zealand offers a perfect scenery for the most intense media material - due its diverse nature, and great architecture. Also the authorities are very cooperative, and friendly to the filming crews. Australia also offers some great architecture in their main cities such as Sydney or Melbourne - and it's just there beside New Zealand. Some financial reason ... And I guess the weather is friendly & more stable then in eg. Europe, USA, etc.

Why not filming in RSA anymore (especially Cape Town)? Perhaps due security reasons ... I don't know. Or the issues with authorities (hard to get various permissions neded for filming) etc. Or many other carmakers discovered RSA as a great filming location, and BMW decided to move elsewhere - to some not so crowded place.

Go New Zealand. I need to carry around a camera, maybe I'll encounter a new BMW in the midst of photoshoot.

Before I go to sleep I answer for you.

Why Australia?

Simply because we have a great new sports car and Australia has great roads and scenery to accompany an iconic debut like the new Z4.
we fell in love with Australia with the 7er but of course we were here for the original 2004 1er shoot in Melbourne too.
Australia is a great country , great people , great logistics and for great ideas to be accomodated in regarding to our proposals.

Tomorrow we film on the Great Ocean Road and logistically that is going to give us some dynamic looking shots especially from ariel view as well as that scenery.

We do go to Cape Town after we go to New Zealand , Ideally we stay away for the high security areas of Southern Africa and stick to the more populated tourist areas. Of course we do have security with us in south Africa but we have never had any armed altercations.
After South Africa we are at Lanzerotte and then Portugal and back at BMW Welt in Munich. Whilst we are overlooking our shots we will then do some alternative shots in the autumn in the run up to the launch before the close of 2008.

I quite think a closed Z4 charging along a US backroad in the Fall all those fallen golden leaves blown away by the dynamics and speed of the Z4 could be interesting.

South Africa is indeed becoming the mecca for new car launches , The SL Black series was filmed their as was the Audi Q5 , Currently according to our representitives in SA Audi , Mercedes-Benz , Ford , Volkswagen are all there or due to be there quite soon.

Again it all comes down to the Worlds Greatest Roads and most of the time they are not just outside your window.

Of course some areas do not even involve the car .