I am a fan of colors that can be ordered separately. Have you seen Chevy in Pontiac Verdoro Green? Or an Oldsmobile ordered in Dodge’s Plum Crazy? I have it and it’s kind of nice to see. The days of paying extra for non-production colors are long gone for most “regular” cars, but fancy brands and specialty models (Corvette, anyone?) offer custom colors. BMW is the so-called BMW individual for drivers who want ‘expressive and exclusive’ paint colors and finishes, and now the program has expanded to include the controversial styling 644 hp XM plug-in hybrid “Sports car.”
The German brand’s 29-year-old factory in Spartanburg, South Carolina (actually in nearby Greer) has “flexibility in the paint process,” giving Palmetto State-built Bimmers — XM and elsewhere — the option of special paint jobs.
Originally limited to BMW M models, “BMW Individual is a unique division of BMW M focused on creating special and customized BMW vehicles for almost every new BMW. The palette includes more than 165 unique exterior paints and four different finishes: non-metallic, metallic, Pearl Effect tones and matte BMW Frozen finishes. “Each of these finishes comes with even more unique treatments that require multiple coats or longer curing times, depending on the ingredients and properties of each particular color.” They are applied in a separate manufacturing process that avoids automated manual work. You will need to wait approximately 8-12 weeks for your custom BMW.
BMW does not handle any submitted color swatches, although we suspect some of the more prestigious models have more flexibility in this regard. The price depends on the type and color.
This article was originally written by Diego Rosenberg published on ClassicCars.comis an editorial partner at Motor Authority.
