• by Karl Greenberg , April 16, 2008

The high-test wars are heating up in the luxury area of the car market. Both BMW and Mercedes-Benz are launching new versions of high-performance cars in their respective entry cars, 3-Series and C-Class. Mercedes this year is introducing its first-ever AMG version of the C-Class, while BMW has rolled out its fourth-generation M3.

BMW is touting the souped-up M3 with a new TV and Web campaign that focuses on the car's engine. The effort includes a new TV spot by Austin, Texas-based GSD&M, Bimmer's AOR of a year and a half. The new ad will tout the car by showing off its engine. The 30-second television spot is running on cable networks. BMW says the agency created the spot, which shows the engine of the car, without computer graphics or special effects.

The new TV spot adds slo-mo dramatics to the mechanics of engine performance by focusing on the firing of only one of the car's cylinders. The television spot will run on national cable networks and programs over a two-week period, including Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report"; AMC's "Mad Men"; CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360"; MSNBC's "Countdown with Keith Olberman"; and CNBC's "Closing Bell," "Squawk Box" and "Mad Money."

The spot shows the combustion cycle from inside the cylinder. Voiceover says "8,400 revolutions per minute. The first-ever production V8 BMW M3."

There are also 18 print executions for the coupe, sedan and convertible that show the cars against a black backdrop from various angles. They say things like "Hold onto your umlauts," and "At 8,400 rpm, you'll wonder if that sound is coming from it or you," and "Breaks every barrier but sound." Magazine ads have run in business magazines like Forbes, Fortune, The Economist, Wired, men's lifestyle magazines and auto buff magazines.

The effort includes a meta-video about how GSD&M shot the spot in Belgium. The video shows how the agency took three M3 engines and did open-heart surgery to reveal the cylinders, with producers of the spot talking about the process. The spot and video are on BMW's consumer site.