BMW Individual is where you turn to when you want to make your BMW a little more special, and to showcase the depth of personalisation options, the company is presenting the new M850i Night Sky.
According to an official release, the bespoke car was made in the run-up to an exceptionally intense meteor shower expected to take place overnight from January 3-4, 2019 when the Earth briefly passes through the orbit of the asteroid 2003 EH.
During the spectacle, fragments from the asteroid will enter our planet’s atmosphere and burn up. In the right conditions, small pieces of rock to end up penetrating Earth’s atmosphere and fall to the ground as meteorites.
Why does that matter? Well, the M850i Night Sky literally uses materials that are out of this world in its construction. Step inside the car, and you’ll find meteoritic rock adorning the centre console trim plate, the start/stop button, the gear lever and the Touch Controller for the iDrive system.
The meteorite material is also used for the inlays that are part of the door sill, which feature dedicated illuminated model badging. For even more visual impact, the meteorite surfaces are finished according to a Widmanstätten pattern.
Aside from meteorites, the Night Sky model also gets fine-grain Merino leather trim with the aforementioned pattern, an LED-illuminated centre console armrest and deep-pile carpeting in Midnight Blue.
On the exterior, the Widmanstätten pattern is replicated on specific bits like the side mirror caps, air intakes, Air Breathers and centre mesh plate. These parts are manufactured using a 3D printing process, including the aluminium brake calipers that are 30% than those made using conventional methods. Look closely and you’ll see a familiar pattern on the brake discs as well.
If you’re wondering if the exterior paintwork is another meticulous affair, it is. BMW started with black non-metallic paint as the base colour for the body before a second coat in San Marino Blue metallic was painted over it in a graduated effect from the bottom edge of the body up to the top of the wheel arches.
Finally, three layers of clear coat with varying pigment particle sizes were applied to give the paint finish a remarkable sense of depth. Put simply, scuffing the paintwork would be a very painful thing to do.
While the visual enhancements are stunning, under the bonnet is the same powertrain found in a regular M850i xDrive, which consists of a 530 PS V8 engine, xDrive all-wheel-drive system and eight-speed Steptronic transmission.
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