I don't know about you, but I'm NOT one to obsess over waxing my car. In fact, I find it a pain in the... Well, BMW may have something here for meâa never-wax paint surface. However, there are several catches here, one being a "matte" finish...
Not sure how that will go over with the shiny car set?
Snippet: BMW says it wants to be first but has to overcome many problems, from applying the paint in factories to preserving it against everything from sap and tar to fingerprints.
"Surfaces on the vehicle turn to sculpture with this paint," Z4 Coupe project manager Timo Gobel says.
He gave the update at the preview of the Z4 Coupe in Portugal. BMW displayed a bodyshell with the same matt finish as the Frankfurt car.
"It is a big technical challenge," Gobel says. "There are many changes necessary, from the factory paintshop to caring for the finish.
"We have no idea yet on how we will be able to repair it."
Not too long ago I was at a motorcycle dealer that had a bike on display with a matte paint finish. The bike had a few gloss accents to set it off. I thought it was gorgeous looking, and was captivated by the matte finish, as this was the first time I had seen it applied to a complete vehicle. ...And, no, it didn't look like a primer coat...
As a side note, graphic designers often use a combination of spot gloss and spot dull varnishes on brochures. The visual result can be stunning, and really looks very classy. This is sort of the appearance I'm assuming BMW is striving for.
Snippet: BMW says it wants to be first but has to overcome many problems, from applying the paint in factories to preserving it against everything from sap and tar to fingerprints.
"Surfaces on the vehicle turn to sculpture with this paint," Z4 Coupe project manager Timo Gobel says.
He gave the update at the preview of the Z4 Coupe in Portugal. BMW displayed a bodyshell with the same matt finish as the Frankfurt car.
"It is a big technical challenge," Gobel says. "There are many changes necessary, from the factory paintshop to caring for the finish.
"We have no idea yet on how we will be able to repair it."
Not too long ago I was at a motorcycle dealer that had a bike on display with a matte paint finish. The bike had a few gloss accents to set it off. I thought it was gorgeous looking, and was captivated by the matte finish, as this was the first time I had seen it applied to a complete vehicle. ...And, no, it didn't look like a primer coat...
As a side note, graphic designers often use a combination of spot gloss and spot dull varnishes on brochures. The visual result can be stunning, and really looks very classy. This is sort of the appearance I'm assuming BMW is striving for.
thecheat says:
01:07 PM, 06/12/06
...
ateixeira says:
11:19 AM, 06/13/06
As low-maintenance as this sounds, I don't think it will ever take off.
People buy new cars for that glossy brand-new paint look. Dealers go out of their way to wash their cars often, some times every day, to capitalize on that effect.
Sorry, but a matte black panel looks like it a cheap repair panel that was never re-finished. The only people that would want the primer look are those that would custom paint over it anyway.
jerrywimer says:
05:03 AM, 06/14/06
I've been trying to imagine how you'd go about properly cleaning a car with this finish ever since BMW had the show car with it on display. For the life of me I can't see it being a good thing despite removing the need to wax the car. Mainly because every other flat painted surface I've ever seen is an absolute nightmare to get certain substances off of, due to the sort of "rough" feel that the surface has. Besides old oxidized cars, think about the flat painted interiors of houses after a child's splashed catsup on it..
rsholland says:
06:00 AM, 06/14/06
The only thing I can think of maybe if it had some sort of (matte) Teflon coating?