[Tsuvoi]

What are the individual options available in the US at this time for F30? And the pricing... Is there a catalog somewhere for the US?

I think there is maybe a handful of additional colors available... Hardly my definition of individual. To me it should be like a paint store, you select any color out there and a machine mixes it on the spot.. If a paint store can do it I'm sure BMW can pull it off. I'm not sure I can justify paying more just to have access to 5 more pre-selected colors. Makes no sense to me?

Maybe I don't understand BMW Individual. The cynic in me thinks it's just an easy way to squeeze even more profit... But let's see what others have to say...

[TsunamiFury]

Originally Posted by ft1337

What are the individual options available in the US at this time for F30? And the pricing... Is there a catalog somewhere for the US?

I think there is maybe a handful of additional colors available... Hardly my definition of individual. To me it should be like a paint store, you select any color out there and a machine mixes it on the spot.. If a paint store can do it I'm sure BMW can pull it off. I'm not sure I can justify paying more just to have access to 5 more pre-selected colors. Makes no sense to me?

Maybe I don't understand BMW Individual. The cynic in me thinks it's just an easy way to squeeze even more profit... But let's see what others have to say...

You must either be joking or not be familiar with how manufacturing works. You aren't painting a wall in your house here, you are creating a highly researched mix of many paints and polymers as well as clear coats. Truly individual (read: hand made, custom designed) cars cost north of 100k. Sometimes into the 300 or 500k range. BMW Individual is just paying to have access to a select set of extra-tasteful and unique color combinations which are still built into their manufacturing process.

If you really want individual work, you should be looking at the shops that offer this like Bijan on Rodeo Drive.

[Tsuvoi]

Originally Posted by TsunamiFury

You must either be joking or not be familiar with how manufacturing works. You aren't painting a wall in your house here, you are creating a highly researched mix of many paints and polymers as well as clear coats. Truly individual (read: hand made, custom designed) cars cost north of 100k. Sometimes into the 300 or 500k range. BMW Individual is just paying to have access to a select set of extra-tasteful and unique color combinations which are still built into their manufacturing process.

If you really want individual work, you should be looking at the shops that offer this like Bijan on Rodeo Drive.

I'm not joking. I wonder what YOUR manufacturing background is? Just another internet engineer probably. Paint is paint and is made of pigments. I can't see what's keeping them from one day developing a machine that mixes up the pigments and other ingredients on the spot.

"extra-tasteful and unique color combinations", lol! I wonder what color the BMW kool-aid was this morning?

PS: You didn't answer the question.

[marseille82]

BMW Individual is indeed a rip off IMO. But hey, BMW is a business, and if people are willing to pay, you can not blame them for offering it.

[shivaswrath]

Can u get it in the US?

[marseille82]

Originally Posted by shivaswrath

Can u get it in the US?

Not on the F30 yet. But it's available for other models.

[BavarianFanatic]

You can get your car done in ANY color, even if it's not in the Individual catalog. But you better have a fat wallet and a good dealer/contact to make it happen. Where there's a will there's a way.

And while the Individual catalog may not offer endless examples, it's still a very high level of "exclusivity" since the take rate is ridiculously low. It's really for the folks who are willing to pony up for the opportunity to be different. And it's a definite pay to play program. You can't get access to Individual components without proof of ownership and the VIN of an actual Individual car if you were to try to source parts to roll your own.

[JoeyO]

My guess is there is setup time involved between one color and the next color. They probably have to flush out the previous color entirely. Plus, in today's world of lean manufacturing the philosophy is you only stock a minimal amount of inventory. It's not like years ago when companies stocked a warehouse full of parts.

And I am a real engineer with some experience in organizing a one-piece-flow paint line for a large manufacturing plant.

[SamS]

Originally Posted by JoeyO

They probably have to flush out the previous color entirely.

Nope.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=699926

[clarence]

Originally Posted by ft1337

What are the individual options available in the US at this time for F30? And the pricing... Is there a catalog somewhere for the US?

I think there is maybe a handful of additional colors available... Hardly my definition of individual. To me it should be like a paint store, you select any color out there and a machine mixes it on the spot.. If a paint store can do it I'm sure BMW can pull it off. I'm not sure I can justify paying more just to have access to 5 more pre-selected colors. Makes no sense to me?

Maybe I don't understand BMW Individual. The cynic in me thinks it's just an easy way to squeeze even more profit... But let's see what others have to say...

This option is called "colour to sample" & is available in certain countries without fixed pricing.

[B-1Pilot]

Individual line is typically available on 5 series up. That being said, for the right price, you can have any BMW painted any color you want (right now it's ~$5k for a 5 series... I assume similar for a 3 series)

[Propagator]

Let's look at it from the other end. If "color to sample" did not increase the cost of manufacturing significantly, given that many people will find it very desirable, virtually every manufacturer would be offering it. For instance, MB and Audi are doing their best to catch up to BMW in global sales. If offering owners whatever colored car they want was so easy, why wouldn't they do it before BMW does and gain the competitive edge?

There are a lot of things I can think of that would make it cost-prohibitive, but I do not have background in auto manufacturing so I won't go there. But just based on the market availability, I think the answer to the cost question is quite obvious.

[Tsuvoi]

Originally Posted by JoeyO

My guess is there is setup time involved between one color and the next color. They probably have to flush out the previous color entirely. Plus, in today's world of lean manufacturing the philosophy is you only stock a minimal amount of inventory. It's not like years ago when companies stocked a warehouse full of parts.

And I am a real engineer with some experience in organizing a one-piece-flow paint line for a large manufacturing plant.

Again you guys can laugh at me all you want with the paint store example but they use one machine with a number of pigment cartridges and those get mixed by a computer for each batch. If there was a problem with doing that they could not offer accurate colors as per their catalog.

[clarence]

Originally Posted by Propagator

Let's look at it from the other end. If "color to sample" did not increase the cost of manufacturing significantly, given that many people will find it very desirable, virtually every manufacturer would be offering it. For instance, MB and Audi are doing their best to catch up to BMW in global sales. If offering owners whatever colored car they want was so easy, why wouldn't they do it before BMW does and gain the competitive edge?

There are a lot of things I can think of that would make it cost-prohibitive, but I do not have background in auto manufacturing so I won't go there. But just based on the market availability, I think the answer to the cost question is quite obvious.

Actually colour to sample is available from Audi & MB for a number of EU markets (even down to low end models such as A3) for a number of yrs.
Does it increase cost of manufacturing? It does to a degree, mainly due to logistics, but then again there's no fixed pricing wrt to this option. So if the colour u want already exists within the brand then it's likely to be cheaper, but if isn't then it'll be more expensive. One would imagine this option to cost an arm & a leg, & they'll fleece u to the max cos of the special arrangements needed.

[Tsuvoi]

Originally Posted by clarence

Actually colour to sample is available from Audi & MB for a number of EU markets (even down to low end models such as A3) for a number of yrs.
Does it increase cost of manufacturing? It does to a degree, mainly due to logistics, but then again there's no fixed pricing wrt to this option. So if the colour u want already exists within the brand then it's likely to be cheaper, but if isn't then it'll be more expensive. One would imagine this option to cost an arm & a leg, & they'll fleece u to the max cos of the special arrangements needed.

Yep just looked it up, for $2500 at Audi you have access to a large palette of colors and for $6000 to ANY color in the world. You take a sample with you and they match it and paint your car this color. So much for BMW "Individual" program lol.

I'm pretty darn sure that one day in the not-too-distant future a mainstream Japanese brand will provide a custom color option at no added fee. Then BMW Individual will become even more out-of-touch. Personalization is the new thing thanks to technological advances in manufacturing process.

[KneeDragr]

Originally Posted by ft1337

I'm not joking. I wonder what YOUR manufacturing background is? Just another internet engineer probably. Paint is paint and is made of pigments. I can't see what's keeping them from one day developing a machine that mixes up the pigments and other ingredients on the spot.

"extra-tasteful and unique color combinations", lol! I wonder what color the BMW kool-aid was this morning?

PS: You didn't answer the question.

Machines dont make the paint. You cant make a machine to just *poof* make and mix automotive paint out of thin air, lol. There are only a couple of factory quality automotive metallic paint vendors on the planet because its a difficult chemical process. If you dont remember, one of the plants was near the Japanese reactor that went meltdown, and about half of the metallic paints became impossible to acquire for a few months.

[KneeDragr]

Originally Posted by clarence

Actually colour to sample is available from Audi & MB for a number of EU markets (even down to low end models such as A3) for a number of yrs.
Does it increase cost of manufacturing? It does to a degree, mainly due to logistics, but then again there's no fixed pricing wrt to this option. So if the colour u want already exists within the brand then it's likely to be cheaper, but if isn't then it'll be more expensive. One would imagine this option to cost an arm & a leg, & they'll fleece u to the max cos of the special arrangements needed.

I can almost guarantee those cars are not painted at the factory during the build process, but rather at a later date after the car has been produced, probably at a factory approved body shop.

They dont have time to stop the line and setup the paint machines for some custom color, every single car that was produced that day would double in price due to the delays incurred by such an action.

[Tsuvoi]

Originally Posted by KneeDragr

Machines dont make the paint. You cant make a machine to just *poof* make and mix automotive paint out of thin air, lol.

Not out of thin air, out of paint. you take a base, you add color. Not rocket science.

[BMW269]

Originally Posted by KneeDragr

I can almost guarantee those cars are not painted at the factory during the build process, but rather at a later date after the car has been produced, probably at a factory approved body shop.

They dont have time to stop the line and setup the paint machines for some custom color, every single car that was produced that day would double in price due to the delays incurred by such an action.

Any evidence?



Audi Exclusive is just more advanced the BMW Individual, from an affordability perspective.

But both can be greatly customized. Even power output can be customized, but that is "top-secret" and all these personalisations are very costly. Porsche (Exclusive), Ferrari (Tailor-Made) and McLaren (MSO) offer even more, and are more often demanded by clients.

Japanese have very little personalisation from factory, at least in other countries than Japan. Just look at the Lexus LS.

[claykin]

Originally Posted by KneeDragr

I can almost guarantee those cars are not painted at the factory during the build process, but rather at a later date after the car has been produced, probably at a factory approved body shop.

They dont have time to stop the line and setup the paint machines for some custom color, every single car that was produced that day would double in price due to the delays incurred by such an action.

I believe custom colors are done in Regensburg plant on same line and using same process as other colors.

If someone has evidence otherwise, please correct me.

[BavarianFanatic]

There's no reason why you can't add custom colors on the main paint line. The guns are fed from a manifold of sorts that has each of the available colors feeding it. It changes color from car to car as they roll down the line. All you need to do is have an extra "custom" circuit that's fed with the custom-colored material. Piece of cake with almost no extra effort. Load up the custom mix at some point prior to the target shell's scheduled time, shoot the color when it gets there, then disconnect/clean after it's done. I'm sure things aren't quite as automated for the bolt-ons, but they could be shot anywhere, at any time.

The days of "today we're doing white cars" are long over.

And to the OP, there has been technology in the specialty refinish market for years that uses a clear base stock and automated mixing. The raw pigments are mixed directly into the base stock automatically to achieve the desired mix based on a predefined formula or for spec-based color matching. Refinish is MUCH more of a challenge because you're often trying to match a weathered finish. OEM finishing is a cake walk in comparison.

[JoeyO]

Originally Posted by SamS

Nope.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=699926

I didn't see any change over from one color to another color. At what exact time stamp did that occur?