If there's one thing the new BMW M3 and M4 don't want for, it's attention. For various reasons, they're impossible not to notice, whether that's because of Sao Paulo Yellow paint, those gigantic quad exhausts or, you know, the bit at the other end. From next year though, BMW will introduce the option of an even bolder look, thanks to a new paint process. Just in time for the Touring...
Though EcoPaintJet Pro has many worthy benefits - saving huge amounts of time in energy in the paint shop (up to 2,000 tonnes of carbon a year) - the main point of interest is the paint possibilities. The new process, being trialled at the Dingolfing factory, negates the requirement for manual masking when it comes to bespoke paintwork, with the paint jets (doing away with electrostatics) able to apply two different colours with absolute precision.
So as well as saving BMW time and money and benefitting the planet, it means the buyer has carte blanche to specify any colour combination they so wish. Which is more than a little worrying given how some recent BMWs have looked in the standard palette. "It will now be possible to paint every exterior component - offering customers virtually limitless options for individualisation", reads the release on EcoPaintJet Pro.
To mark this significant development, BMW is showcasing the process with 19 M4s that it's going to keep for its own fleet as part of the pilot programme. The one seen so far is as subtle as you might expect for an M4 showing off personalisation possibilities, lurid orange contrasted with black 'M4' accents on the roof, bonnet, and boot. It's a remarkable feat of robotics and engineering (BMW has had some help from Durr on the project) as well as being one of the most garish colour combinations ever. Swings and roundabouts, isn't it. But EcoPaintJet Pro is happening, BMW likely next year. So get your thinking hats on for the best (or worst) colour combinations possible - sounds like BMW will accept any request...
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