BMW car paint 

Our site is largely dedicated to automotive paints. This is why we have created a category grouping the paints made according to the German car color codes, and in particular the BMW car color codes. The color codes are useful and necessary to find the recipe for the original color of the vehicle leaving the factory. With this code, a paint manufacturer can recreate the paint, in the case of a partial touch-up operation, or even full paint in the case of a refurbishment.
BMW brand paints are classified according to this system for almost 60 years, that is to say since the 1960s when the first BMW paint color codes appeared.

BMW is a German manufacturer of high-end vehicles. In this article, we focus mainly on the automotive part, because the BMW brand also produces motorcycles. The three letters of the brand mean "Bayerische Motoren Werke" in German which means in our language: the Bavarian engine factory.
The iconic brand of luxury and sporty vehicles from the parts of the group of the same name, which owns other brands like Mini, Rolls-Royce. The history of the BMW company begins around 1917. The brand logo is inverted colors of the flag of the Bavarian region.
In 2020, the company sells more than 2 million vehicles each year, this which is double what the company was selling 15 years earlier.

BMW car color codes

True to the German spirit, the colors of the firm are colors with a tough and efficient character. Today, 100% of the paints created in the design offices are colors studied according to tastes and trends. There is a majority of black and metallic white tint, followed by red, blue and brown metallic colors, which represent less than 30% of the colors sold by dealers.

BMW paintwork is classified with a long list of color codes, which has been accumulating since around 1960. The paints are applied in the factory, in an automated way and according to a classic system since the 2000s, that is to say the two-coat system.

This is the same refinishing system used by body painters, i.e. the application of a base, then a clearcoat. Previously, that is to say before the 2000s, there was a majority of single-step paint, that is to say two-component lacquers.
It can be noted that since the years 2007 , a radical shift has been made in the field of paint and BMW color codes, with the appearance and the obligation to use totally water-based paint systems.
Previously, 100% of the codes BMW paint colors were formulated in fairly polluting solvent-based versions. Today, the varnishes applied over these paints are still solvent-based, because science and chemistry have not yet found solutions to create resistant water-based clearcoats.

The history of the manufacturer BMW

Founded in 1917, the company underwent a forced reconversion, since originally it also produced engines and aircraft, which was prohibited after the defeat of the First World War. This is the fashion, in the early 1920s, of the motorcycle. In this discipline, BMW shines with machines that can reach 216 km / h in races.

BMW is first and foremost an engine manufacturer, with cutting-edge technical expertise in all areas where engines are used. The firm broke altitude records of nearly 10,000 m with one of its planes in 1920, clandestinely.

The second world war does not deal a death blow to the company. On the contrary, it is in this period that the company will grow strongly and have a large order book, taking advantage of a forced labor force of nearly 50,000 men and women.

On the other hand, at the end of the war, many factories were destroyed and the company found it difficult to compete with the competition from Mercedes, which clearly took the advantage on the German market. In a war-ruined Germany around the 1950s and 1960s, BMW was taken in hand and the ways of the past were erased.

Where to find the color code of your BMW car ?

For vehicles of this brand, the plate mentioning the color code (vinplate) can be found in three different places :
- Inside the engine compartment.
- On the wheel arch left (driver's side)
- Inside the doors
You can use the images provided below which illustrate the location.
The color code corresponding to the BMW paint is always composed of three characters (letters or numbers).

The iconic colors of BMW cars

As with all other manufacturers in the world, BMW uses both a color code consisting of numbers and a color name mainly in German.
Here are some examples with well-known BMW paint colours :

087 GRAPHITGRAU
or alternatively :

10080 TITANGRAU MATT

Your BMW paint color is ready the same day and delivered the next day with StardustColors. Order your BMW paint now, by entering your color code in the comment box or by e-mail.
Did you know that it is much more economical and efficient to paint with a spray gun ? A 300ml spray can actually contains 100ml of paint. Discover our GUNS category.

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