For reasons that still remain unclear, BMW chose to drop its hugely successful ‘The Ultimate Driving Machine’ slogan and replace it with the new ‘JOY’ campaign when it launched its latest generation Z4 Roadster last year. In fairness, BMW never formally stated that it was completely abandoning the slogan, which has run on many of the automaker’s ads during the past 35 years or so, but nevertheless it has been missed in recent times.

Well, now it’s back. On the latest ad for the 2011 BMW 5-Series, ‘Refuel’, the famous tagline is played in the last few seconds. The ad features the new 5-Series driving down a deserted road when suddenly a refueling plane flies overhead--not to refuel the car, but to top up the driver’s coffee.

While we can’t confirm that The Ultimate Driving Machine slogan is back, we do know that BMW ended a five-year partnership with ad agency GSD&M Idea City late last year.

Watch this space.

[5Post via World Car Fans]