The Bavarians seem to have glanced outside of Earth for inspiration on this one. The new one-off 850i Night Sky is BMW's latest iteration out of its bag of surprises featuring actual meteoric elements inside.
The German manufacturer revealed the special moniker on Thursday last week when Earth was treated to its first meteor shower of 2019. The designers at Munich have added the extraterrestrial element from the meteors in the centre console's trim plate, start-stop ignition button and the car's gear selector and a touch controller for the iDrive system.
Honestly, we think that is an impressive change of pace from typical materials used on the panel. Supplementing the spacey vibe further inside the cabin are the illuminated constellations of stars on the centre console along patterns that embodies the exterior vents and mirrors.
The pattern called Widmanst¤tten depicts ice-crystals which are naturally found on meteorites when iron properties make contact with acidic components. Interestingly, the process cannot be reproduced on Earth. However, the German carmaker has mimicked the design in the head stitched headliner, seats, brake callipers, front splitters, and elsewhere.
The company has also fit the 850i Night Sky with 3D-printed units that are 30 per cent lighter compared to its traditional counterparts. It also claims that the reduced unsprung mass helps with better dynamics and comfort in the new model.
The paint job on the Night Sky is laborious with an initial non-metallic black colour which is applied on the exterior before a coat in San Marino Blue metallic shade. Post this, three layers of clear coat are applied to finish the on-off hue for incredible depth.
We are not yet clear, if the car was commissioned by one of the company's customers or if BMW Individual Manufacturer simply wanted to add one in its portfolio. As a result, we don't have a hint on the pricing yet. However, we do expect it to be somewhere.........out of this world.
The German manufacturer revealed the special moniker on Thursday last week when Earth was treated to its first meteor shower of 2019. The designers at Munich have added the extraterrestrial element from the meteors in the centre console's trim plate, start-stop ignition button and the car's gear selector and a touch controller for the iDrive system.
Honestly, we think that is an impressive change of pace from typical materials used on the panel. Supplementing the spacey vibe further inside the cabin are the illuminated constellations of stars on the centre console along patterns that embodies the exterior vents and mirrors.
The pattern called Widmanst¤tten depicts ice-crystals which are naturally found on meteorites when iron properties make contact with acidic components. Interestingly, the process cannot be reproduced on Earth. However, the German carmaker has mimicked the design in the head stitched headliner, seats, brake callipers, front splitters, and elsewhere.
The company has also fit the 850i Night Sky with 3D-printed units that are 30 per cent lighter compared to its traditional counterparts. It also claims that the reduced unsprung mass helps with better dynamics and comfort in the new model.
The paint job on the Night Sky is laborious with an initial non-metallic black colour which is applied on the exterior before a coat in San Marino Blue metallic shade. Post this, three layers of clear coat are applied to finish the on-off hue for incredible depth.
We are not yet clear, if the car was commissioned by one of the company's customers or if BMW Individual Manufacturer simply wanted to add one in its portfolio. As a result, we don't have a hint on the pricing yet. However, we do expect it to be somewhere.........out of this world.
