I’m a fan of special-order colours. Ever see a Chevy ordered in Pontiac’s Verdoro Inexperienced? Or an Oldsmobile ordered in Dodge’s Plum Loopy? I’ve, and it’s considerably neat to see. The day of paying further for a non-production coloration are lengthy gone for many “common” automobiles, however fancy manufacturers and particular fashions (Corvette, anybody?) provide bespoke colours. BMW affords a program referred to as BMW Particular person for drivers who want “expressive and unique” paint colours and finishes, and now this system has been expanded to incorporate the controversially styled 644-hp XM plug-in hybrid “Sports activities Exercise Automobile.”

The German model’s 29 year-old manufacturing facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina (really in close by Greer) has “flexibility within the portray course of,” so Bimmers constructed within the Palmetto State — XM and in any other case — have the choice for particular paint finishes.

Initially restricted to BMW M fashions, “BMW Particular person is a novel division of BMW M that focuses on creating particular and bespoke BMW autos for nearly any new BMW. There’s a palette of over 165 customized exterior paint colours and 4 completely different finishes: non-metallics, metallics, Pearl Impact tones, and matte BMW Frozen finishes. “Inside every of those finishes, there are much more distinctive therapies that require a number of coats or prolonged remedy instances, relying on the particular components and options of every particular coloration.” They’re utilized in a separate manufacturing course of that eschews automated labor for guide. You may anticipate to attend roughly 8-12 weeks to your distinctive BMW.

BMW received’t deal with simply any swatch you submit, although we suspect a number of the extra prestigious fashions might have extra flexibility in that regard. Pricing relies on the mannequin and coloration.

This text, written by Diego Rosenberg, was initially printed on ClassicCars.com, an editorial companion of Motor Authority.