White Vs. Silver - which is dirtier?

[SCMike]

I'm the type that washes my car once every 3 or 4 months, whether it needs it or not (said he, donning his flamesuit). I've had a string of silver cars recently (but never a white one), and they have been great in hiding the dirt, always look clean until I see the change upon washing them.

So my question for those who have owned BOTH silver AND white cars, does white do as well as silver in hiding your royal piggishness?

I'm not looking for any anal-retentive lectures - I do AR on my collector's cars, but my DDs are simply for driving fun, which the 135i will be in spades.
:wink:

[larryn]

Get the TiAg, Alpine White shows dirt a lot more than the silver.

[atr_hugo]

White doesn't work as well - road dust is generally grayish, so it blends better with the gray in silver. But white doesn't ever get as dirty as black.

All bets are off with snow and slush though - nothing looks good (maybe except a Saab ; -) after it's been driven on snowy roads.

[Khobin~]

Originally Posted by atr_hugo

White doesn't work as well - road dust is generally grayish, so it blends better with the gray in silver. But white doesn't ever get as dirty as black.

All bets are off with snow and slush though - nothing looks good (maybe except a Saab ; -) after it's been driven on snowy roads.

Actually, we used to own a 2001 Alero in what I called "granny gold" that even in winter hid the dirt like you wouldn't believe.

[atr_hugo]

'Granny Gold', I like it - Honda called it 'Heather Mist', it may be what BMW calls Cashmere Silver. My daughter calls it OWL, for 'Old White Lady'. ; -)

[Miata13]

Originally Posted by SCMike

I'm the type that washes my car once every 3 or 4 months, whether it needs it or not (said he, donning his flamesuit). I've had a string of silver cars recently (but never a white one), and they have been great in hiding the dirt, always look clean until I see the change upon washing them.

So my question for those who have owned BOTH silver AND white cars, does white do as well as silver in hiding your royal piggishness?

I'm not looking for any anal-retentive lectures - I do AR on my collector's cars, but my DDs are simply for driving fun, which the 135i will be in spades.
:wink:

I've had both silver and white vehicles..and until I had a white one, would have thought it'd show more dirt that it did in reality. Still...silver tops them all for looking "good" the longest.

Counter to the white/silver discussion is that I've also found dark colored cars when clean and waxed etc., look superior in my opinion to light colored vehicles.

Sounds like you have the best of both worlds..DD as well as collector cars...as a DD I'd go for silver...silver/black interior just is a nice combination..both outside and inside will look good most of the time.

Rick

[ChrisK]

Silver shows nothing. In my opinion it's the best for hiding dirt.

[Luvmybmw]

Originally Posted by chriskurn

Silver shows nothing. In my opinion it's the best for hiding dirt.

Agree 100% I had a 330i Titanium Silver and it never looked 'dirty'

[Ty Vil]

Silver is definitely cleaner than white!

How far do you live from your BMW Center? Most do courtesy washes...

[bimmerfile]

I have a TiAg Z4 and it is the best for not showing dirt - far better than any white car I've previously owned...

[gocal73]

Currently own a Bronzit 90 325i and two Artic Silver BMW's. The Artic Silver cars always looks clean. But, the Bronzit is amazing when it comes to hiding dirt. For those unfamiliar with Bronzit, during the mid-80's to 1990 it was one of BMW's most popular colors. It is officially metallic beige. But it looks like silver with a gold tint. It's not as gold as Cashmere Silver appears to be. It totally hides dirt and looks good doing it. If they brought that color back, i'd buy it!

As for AW, it's one of the best BMW colors ever but it shows dirt. Like black and red, I enjoy looking at the color - on someone else's car.:smile:

[bozola]

The best colors for not showing dirt...look rather unimpressive when all cleaned up. The only downside.

[dmboone25]

Originally Posted by Ty Vil

Silver is definitely cleaner than white!

How far do you live from your BMW Center? Most do courtesy washes...

+1 on the Silver.


-10000000 on the courtesy washes. Most of the time, I know they do a decent job. However, once in a while, they can, oh drop the wash mitt on the ground, not rinse it out, then proceed to put 5 identical scratches on your hood with the rock that was just picked up. Which happened to me. Buffing and wet sanding couldn't hide it. Had to be repainted....

It was my own fault for letting them touch it--at least if I make the mark, I only have myself to be pissed at....

[Nixon]

White will also be much harder to get back to looking 100% clean once you get around to cleaning it.

I owned a grey 325is (not exactly the same a silver, but close) and a white 535i at the same time. When I finally got around to washing the cars, I would generally wash them both at the same time. The grey one would look clean after just a spray wash. But I found I had to follow the spray wand with some hand washing on my white BMW to make it look totally clean up close.

With that said, I loved the white way more than the grey or silver. White is so sweet on most BMW's. I would put up with the extra hand cleaning if I were making the choice for myself.

[JAMS 135]

I have been waffling between white and silver for the past couple of weeks, to the point where my salesman is starting to think I'm schizophrenic. I am set on coral red but can't seem to come to terms with the exterior. It would have been so much easier if they had just allowed Le Mans blue!

[Dave]

Definitely silver my silver Sti never looked dirty but everyone has silver!

[ChrisK]

We have a new problem....

Almost everyone on this board is getting AW :drinking:

[larryn]

Originally Posted by chriskurn

We have a new problem....

Almost everyone on this board is getting AW :drinking:

Start a "what color did you order" poll??? :biggrin:

[codylcast]

+1 for silver. I have had both, silver always looks cleaner for longer than the white cars I've had. It is also better at hiding chips on the hood from road debris...

[Nixon]

Originally Posted by chriskurn

We have a new problem....

Almost everyone on this board is getting AW :drinking:

That isn't a problem for all the folks who like AW and want to buy one used/CPO 2-3 years from now. :biggrin:

[Tiisomeday]

White is worse