BMW is offering Brooklyn residents another way to get around without owning a car. On Tuesday, the German automaker announced that it has brought its car-sharing operation ReachNow to the borough, spreading 250 "free-floating" cars on streets from Greenpoint and Williamsburg in the north down to Sunset Park in the south. The "home area" also includes portions of Borough Park, Crown Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Bushwick.

Users who sign up for the service will locate the cars via the ReachNow app within the designated home area, and must find a parking spot within that area when the ride is done. The service, which debuted in Seattle in April, costs 49 cents a minute (30 cents while the car is parked). The charges include gas and insurance.

For users who want a longer drive, the price is capped at $50 for up to three hours, and $80 for up to 12 hours.

BMW also said it will start a "Fleet Solutions" service in New York—offering cars that will remain on-site for the exclusive use of residents. It will launch at the Solaire, in Battery Park City, in December.

The one-way car-sharing concept, in which users pick up and drop off rentals anywhere within the home area—has already been proven workable in Brooklyn. Car2go, operated by BMW competitor Daimler AG, launched in the city's most populous borough in late 2014 and expanded to Queens a year later. The company has 550 of its two-seater Smart cars parked on city streets, and 51,000 members in New York.

Though one-way car-sharing competes with round-trip services such as Zipcar, ReachNow will face off directly against Car2Go. Daimler's service charges 41 cents a minute, or a little less than ReachNow for cars in motion, but BMW's operation is more upscale: The models include the BMW 3 Series and the Mini Clubman (a larger version of the Mini Cooper)—vehicles with a sophisticated look that can seat five.

BMW also has ambitions to add a variety of services. Next month in Seattle it will begin offering cars, with drivers, that are personalized for the user, down to the music and air temperature.

But Car2Go comes out ahead when it's time to find parking: The Smart Car is only 106 inches long. The Mini Clubman is 168 inches, and the BMW 3 Series starts at 179 inches.