[Red Bread]

Having lived with it the last year in our X1, it's very much like Golf's second picture and nothing like what the first one / BMW's configurator shows.

[Gaviin]

That's a shame. Guess it's black for me then, if I end up pulling the trigger on this car.

[Cosa Nostra]

OK gang... finally had a chance to see this Terra in an X5 indoors. It is a rather nice brown - not orangy at all. I suspect in the sunlight it will liven up a bit, which is a good thing - perhaps a slight reddish hue - but that's a guess, but no sign of orange or dreaded burgundy. Although there is no question the colour can vary by dielot, and I think I still prefer the lighter saddle brown, the Terra is definitely a nice colour, and IMO a much better alternative to boring black. Who wants wall-to-wall black in a car's interior? IMO the best combo for the M235i is Mineral White on Terra - now just need to decide on a trim and highlight...

[webdither]

Originally Posted by Greg007

OK gang... finally had a chance to see this Terra in an X5 indoors. It is a rather nice brown - not orangy at all. I suspect in the sunlight it will liven up a bit, which is a good thing - perhaps a slight reddish hue - but that's a guess, but no sign of orange or dreaded burgundy. Although there is no question the colour can vary by dielot, and I think I still prefer the lighter saddle brown, the Terra is definitely a nice colour, and IMO a much better alternative to boring black. Who wants wall-to-wall black in a car's interior? IMO the best combo for the M235i is Mineral White on Terra - now just need to decide on a trim and highlight...

[Greenkirby21]

Is this terra??

[ScottMZ3]

Originally Posted by Greenkirby21

Is this terra??

Wait...hold everything! Is that a M235i that is NOT painted RED!? Amazing!

Looks like that is probably Terra interior.

[webdither]

Originally Posted by Greenkirby21

Is this terra??

It does appear to be Terra.. But what color is that paint? Black Sapphire?

[JustChris]

Originally Posted by Greenkirby21

Is this terra??

Some nice pics you have Greenkirby, saw the Mineral White you posted too. Is this BlackSapphire exterior, if so any more shots please much appreciated, like most hardly seen any colour except MelbourneRed!

[Greenkirby21]

Originally Posted by ChesterX5

Some nice pics you have Greenkirby, saw the Mineral White you posted too. Is this BlackSapphire exterior, if so any more shots please much appreciated, like most hardly seen any colour except MelbourneRed!

I found this on Instagram.. It was the only picture

It might be coral red interior with bad camera flash making it look orange, or it could be terra

[bradleyland]

Originally Posted by Greenkirby21

I found this on Instagram.. It was the only picture

It might be coral red interior with bad camera flash making it look orange, or it could be terra

It's not flash; that photo has a filter applied. You won't be able to judge anything about color from Instagram photos because all the hipsters insist on ruining the color in their photos these days.

[Greenkirby21]

anyone going to the portland auto show?

[michas24]

Originally Posted by Greenkirby21

anyone going to the portland auto show?

Greenkirby21, do you have more pictures M235 in black? I would love to see more. Please post if you have.

[Red Bread]

Good to see BMW hasn't addressed their orange peel issues.

[bradleyland]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

Good to see BMW hasn't addressed their orange peel issues.

What mass-market manufacturer has addressed it?

Pretty much every automotive manufacturer uses the same paint process these days, and that process results in orange peel. In order to get rid of it, you have to spray on more material, then take it off in finishing. That means more sanding and polishing, which means more wasted material gone in dust and more labor in finishing. Unless you're buying an ultra-high-end car, you're going to get orange peel.

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by bradleyland

What mass-market manufacturer has addressed it?

Pretty much every automotive manufacturer uses the same paint process these days, and that process results in orange peel. In order to get rid of it, you have to spray on more material, then take it off in finishing. That means more sanding and polishing, which means more wasted material gone in dust and more labor in finishing. Unless you're buying an ultra-high-end car, you're going to get orange peel.

Agree, kind of. Audi, Lexus, Land Rover and Jaguar (all in the same price range as BMW) seem to have better practices than BMW and MB. The funny thing is that when I had accident damage repaired on my previous BMW, it was so much better than the factory finish, with very little orange peel, that you could tell from five feet away that it had been repaired.

BMW's been using water borne paint for at least twenty years now, but it seems like it's become worse in the last few years, let's say the last five. It used to be that some cars were really bad but some looked passable, now it seems like none really look good. If I had to guess, I'd say they've cheaped out on their clear coat. I may have to break out my paint thickness gauge and go compare BMW's total paint thickness to some other brands. Of course that won't tell me how thick the clear coat is, but with some patience, I can check variance across panels.

As for color sanding, I don't think anyone but Rolls (BMW) and some Bentleys (non Continentals) appear to have any done. Certainly not Lamborghini, Ferrari or Aston Martin, all of those have as much or more orange peel than BMW's.

[JustChris]

In the picture is it that reflection of the BMW logo on the black that shouts orange peel to you guys, ie the distortion vs perfect smooth reflection?

[bradleyland]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

Agree, kind of. Audi, Lexus, Land Rover and Jaguar (all in the same price range as BMW) seem to have better practices than BMW and MB. The funny thing is that when I had accident damage repaired on my previous BMW, it was so much better than the factory finish, with very little orange peel, that you could tell from five feet away that it had been repaired.

BMW's been using water borne paint for at least twenty years now, but it seems like it's become worse in the last few years, let's say the last five. It used to be that some cars were really bad but some looked passable, now it seems like none really look good. If I had to guess, I'd say they've cheaped out on their clear coat. I may have to break out my paint thickness gauge and go compare BMW's total paint thickness to some other brands. Of course that won't tell me how thick the clear coat is, but with some patience, I can check variance across panels.

As for color sanding, I don't think anyone but Rolls (BMW) and some Bentleys (non Continentals) appear to have any done. Certainly not Lamborghini, Ferrari or Aston Martin, all of those have as much or more orange peel than BMW's.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure there are two factors that have contributed to increased orange peel:

1) Regulations on paint continue to tighten. There's stuff that's good for finish, and there's stuff that's good for the environment, even in water borne paint. I have a good friend in the aircraft painting industry where they do a ton of finishing, and he's constantly complaining about the reduction in quality over the years.

2) Margins in manufacturing. I wouldn't doubt that BMW has gone cheap on materials like clear coat in recent years. Squeezing that extra $0.01 EPS out of your earnings gets harder and harder every decade haha

[bradleyland]

Originally Posted by ChesterX5

In the picture is it that reflection of the BMW logo on the black that shouts orange peel to you guys, ie the distortion vs perfect smooth reflection?

Yeah, having a bright object reflected in dark paint is the "worst case" scenario for trying to hide orange peel. You can see it in the entire reflection though, even the dark parts.

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by ChesterX5

In the picture is it that reflection of the BMW logo on the black that shouts orange peel to you guys, ie the distortion vs perfect smooth reflection?

That's certainly the worst of it, and to be fair, the area around the plate is usually one of the worst. But even the reflection of the photographer's fingers and iPhone is a good example, as are the overhead lights.

Like Bradleyland very correctly points out, this is certainly not a feature that BMW alone has. Nearly all cars have a good amount of it, and in my experience, metallic paints tend to exhibit more of it than solid colors.

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by bradleyland

Yeah, I'm pretty sure there are two factors that have contributed to increased orange peel:

1) Regulations on paint continue to tighten. There's stuff that's good for finish, and there's stuff that's good for the environment, even in water borne paint. I have a good friend in the aircraft painting industry where they do a ton of finishing, and he's constantly complaining about the reduction in quality over the years.

2) Margins in manufacturing. I wouldn't doubt that BMW has gone cheap on materials like clear coat in recent years. Squeezing that extra $0.01 EPS out of your earnings gets harder and harder every decade haha

Yep, I think you're spot on. I didn't realize the airplane painters were effected by these things, I'd just assumed they could still use oil-borne paint, whale blubber, rhino horn and all sorts of hexanes. I suppose the good news is that painters may actually live to see their fifties or sixties now!

I do assume (perhaps completely off base) that a small reason for recent changes could be speeding up the assembly process and leaving less time for the color stage to cure before applying the clear, or simply just turning up the cure temperature to speed up the process.

[jstnstr]

Originally Posted by Greenkirby21

anyone going to the portland auto show?

Dude... more pics

[Greenkirby21]

Originally Posted by jstnstr

Dude... more pics

i don't live in portland