THAT TIME BMW CHANGED AUTOMOBILE ADVERTISING - 2001'S STAR FEATURING THE E39 M5 WAS PURE CLASS.
While I do everything I can to avoid adverts these days, including paying subscriptions to skip ads on a bunch of websites I frequent, I’m still 100 % certain that modern adverts just aren't as cool as ones from 15 - 20 years ago. Someone may just wanna prove me wrong, or at least try to, but before that happens, it has to be better than the series of adverts BMW made in the early 2000s called The Hire. They were directed by famed filmmaker Guy Ritchie, and that should tell you all you need to know. Within that series was ‘Star’, basically a cinematic advert for the then-new BMW E39 M5 and it starred Madonna (Guy’s wife at the time) and British actor Clive Owen. The M5 was the star of the show though, and it’s probably thanks to the memories of this advert that the E39 M5 remains my absolute favourite version to this day. Besides the most amazing body shape designed by Ulf Weidhase, it featured a normally aspirated 5.0 litre V8 that was rated at a rather healthy 294 kW with 500 Nm of torque that was sent to the rear wheels. In the right spec, it was mated to a 6-speed manual transmission which made it ridiculously fun to drive and capable of hanging the rear out for as long as the road or the tyres allow. Added to that is the best V8 BMW soundtrack to date. I would say it’s the best-sounding M5 but sadly that horrid-looking Bangle-designed M5 takes that title thanks to having that glorious V10 under the hood. It was a sizeable thing and weighed a smidge shy of 1,700 kg, but it was still capable of a decent 0-100 km/h measured in at just 5.3 seconds and it had an electronically-limited top speed of 250 km/h. I’ve been in a handful of these and all of them clocked higher than that on the GPS. They retailed for around R530,000 in 2002/3, which is what you’d probably pay for a nice and clean low mileage one these days.
In Star, Owen’s character is that of a hired driver tasked with transporting Madonna to her destination, and her character is a typical pop star diva. Fed up with her diva behaviour, the driver decides to teach her a lesson, taking her on a spirited drive through city streets, all while showing off the BMW M5's speed and handling. The fact that Madonna played an exaggerated, unflattering version of herself was one of the film’s highlights and her character’s bratty behaviour made the pay-off all the sweeter by driving recklessly. At the time many car ads relied on CGI or overly stylized effects, but in ‘Star’ there was a real BMW M5 being driven at 10/10th on real streets - all filmed brilliantly. Ritchie's signature fast-paced editing, humour, and love for gritty action are evident and in line with his other stellar work like ’Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ and ‘Snatch’ - two of the coolest movies of the time. Owen’s portrayal of the cool, collected driver became iconic, and there were even rumours that it could be developed into a feature-length film or series, but they slept on the idea and Jason Statham’s Transporter series hit screens a year later in 2002. ‘The Hire’ series, including ‘Star,’ set the stage for how brands could use cinematic storytelling in advertising. It inspired other companies to think bigger and use more creative formats in their campaigns. The series won several awards and is still considered one of the greatest car advertising campaigns of all time. Like I said, you can argue this, but I doubt you could produce a recent advert that’s anywhere close to being this damn good.
Take a look at this absolutely amazing BMW advert from way back in 2001 that's thankfully been digitally remastered by the crew at SecondWind so that you can view it in 4k quality. Interestingly enough, BMW doesn't have the original hosted anywhere. Make a plan BMW!: BMW Films "Star" (Remastered in 4K) S01E04 | SecondWind
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News Short Movie Cinematic Advertising SXdrv M5 E39 M5 Clive Owen Madonna Guy Ritchie Star The Hire BMW