The problem, say BMW brass, is that for too long it has perhaps overemphasized the brand as the paragon of performance driving. BMW, indelibly etched in performance-car enthusiasts' psyches as "The Ultimate Driving Machine" in ads for 33 years, is showing a different plume of feathers in a new ad campaign, the first from its new U.S. ad agency GSD&M of Austin, Tex. Rather than horsepower and curve-hugging handling, it's ballyhooing its design prowess and financial independence.

In one ad, for example, it asserts that BMW's designers and engineers answer only to BMW, while cheekily reminding readers that Volvo and Jaguar are owned by Ford (F), that Audi is but a unit of Volkswagen (the People's Car), and that its nemesis, Mercedes-Benz, is all merged up with -- gasp! -- Chrysler.

COOL BUT INHUMAN? In another ad, it brazenly spotlights the rear end of its 7 Series flagship sedan, the very design element that was lampooned by journalists in 2001 when the car debuted. But since then, Toyota (TM) and even Mercedes have copied the so-called bustle-like "Bangle Butt," named for BMW chief designer Chris Bangle. The headline: "Not taking risks is risky." With pitches like these, the Bavarian carmaker hopes to curry favor with the "creative class" in America that, the theory goes, values independent thinking and design and the kind of risk taking that watered-down, conglomerated companies can't afford.

Pitney says the brand's problem, if it has one, isn't showing up in sales yet, but that the challenge is obvious. "We're entering new product segments all the time, and we can't afford to not be on the shopping lists of this many people," he says. About the new direction of the campaign, Pitney says the company isn't initiating a makeover. But there are dimensions of BMW's brand story that clearly need to be communicated better, he says. "People think we have a cool persona as a brand, but say we lack humanity," says Pitney. Call the campaign preventive maintenance,