Martha Stewart Customizes Her Own BMW X3

WOODCLIFF LAKE, New Jersey — Oprah snagged headlines last month with her teaser of the 2012 Volkswagen Beetle. Now Martha Stewart has gotten into the automotive act with a customized BMW X3 that she showed off on her Hallmark Channel TV show on Tuesday.

BMW is heavily promoting the tie-in with the self-made billionaire who has been called "America's No. 1 Working Mom." It said in a statement that Stewart "accepted BMW's invitation to design her dream BMW X3 using BMW's 'Dream It. Build It. Drive It.' program."

It isn't clear whether Martha's BMW is a freebie given for promotional reasons. Using the BMW configurator, the X3 with the same details chosen by the domestic doyenne — a "sparkling Bronze Metallic exterior," "Sand Beige Nevada Leather interior" and "Fineline Wave Wood Interior Trim" — costs at least $43,925, including a $875 destination charge.

Stewart and her crew recently filmed the production of her BMW X3. She also test-drove the SUV on the company's track in Spartanburg, South Carolina. BMW said Stewart's viewers will be eligible to win their own BMW X3, but details were not available at this point.

The BMW X3 show segment was sandwiched in between recipes for "party-perfect" onion dip and Christmas rum punch.

The BMW tie-in with Martha Stewart is a curious one from a marketing standpoint, given that the Los Angeles Times recently reported that "she appears to be at a make-or-break point." Stewart's company lost $14 million in 2009 and her TV ratings on the Hallmark Channel are described as "abysmal." The Times noted that the first month of her new show "average fewer than 200,000 viewers — less than half the audience of reruns of The Golden Girls."

Inside Line says: At least we didn't have to endure scenes of Francesca and Sharkey, Stewart's ubiquitous French bulldogs, in the backseat. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent