Big-budget blockbusters rely on product placement (or just like to use well-known brands) to drive up revenues and prestige, and the latest “Mission: Impossible” movie is no exception—it features a lot of BMWs; the Bavarian automaker has been a longtime partner of the series. Interestingly, because the shooting was reportedly interrupted by the pandemic, they used both LCI and pre-LCI versions of a certain model, and they probably hoped you didn’t notice. But we did. Let’s take a look at all the BMWs that make an appearance in “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One”.
F90 BMW M5
The BMW that’s the focus of the biggest car chase appears to be an F90 M5 (the one you see without doors at one point). It doesn’t have M5 badging, though, and you can see in the interior shots that the selector for the automatic transmission is clearly from an M5, not the regular 5 Series. However, they seem to go back and forth to a non-M model, possibly an M pack G30 540i; they seem to have used pre- and post-LCI versions of the car interchangeably.
Most viewers wouldn’t notice these inconsistencies, but if you know your BMWs, it certainly takes something away from the movie. Any car enthusiast who watched the movie would definitely classify this as a goof. One thing that makes us question whether this was an official collaboration between the people who made the movie and BMW is the fact that the M badges are mostly covered (even the illuminated ones on the headrests). Even the BMW script can be seen missing from the roundel logo in the shots that show a closeup of the stylized blue-and-white propeller.
G20 BMW 3 Series
They also used what appears to be a pre-LCI G20 3 Series as an Italian police car. It looks like an M340i, but it could very well be a lower-power version with the M340i body kit. It is seen during one of the movie’s car chases, but it’s also used as a camera car with a big crane stuck to its roof to show the vehicle’s interior during the chase. This vehicle crashes at the end of the chase.
BMW iX
Since it’s a recent movie, it’s not surprising that it features EVs, namely the BMW iX, the brand’s technological flagship and the closest vehicle in its current range to the upcoming Neue Klasse series of models. In the movie, the iX is driven both on and off paved roads, and it actually looks really good driven on the limit, sliding around on grass and cobblestones.
BMW G 310 GS
The last BMW we noticed was from the Motorrad motorcycle division. It’s a 2020 G310 GS painted in Italian police colors, which, like the M340i cop car, looks really good with the light blue livery and law enforcement graphics.
F11 BMW 5 Series Touring
Oh, and there was actually one more BMW that we spotted in one of the shots, although it was just a computer-generated prop: a 2012 BMW F11 (5 Series Touring) in silver, which you can see parked in one of the chase scenes along with other evidently CGI vehicles.
The star car in this particular movie wasn’t a BMW, though. It was a classic Fiat 500 finished in yellow that was modified for much-improved performance. You can even see it doing donuts in the movie, and what’s most impressive about it is that all the shots feature the movie’s lead actor, Tom Cruise, and not a stunt double; he can be seen in the driver’s seat of the crazy little Fiat as it snakes its way down the narrow streets of Rome, where the movie was shot.
