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 colour are lengthy gone for many “common” vehicles, however fancy manufacturers and particular fashions (Corvette, anybody?) provide bespoke colours. BMW provides a program referred to as BMW Individual 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 unit 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 singular division of BMW M that focuses on creating particular and bespoke BMW automobiles 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 treatment instances, relying on the particular components and options of every particular colour.” They’re utilized in a separate manufacturing course of that eschews automated labor for handbook. You may count on to attend roughly 8-12 weeks on 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 depends on the mannequin and colour.

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