Now a real meteorite in a BMW Car

MANILA: Perhaps celebrating the Quadrantids meteor shower that hit its peak beginning 3 January, BMW has announced an 8-series one-off coupe which has real meteorite fragments inside the car.

The Quadrantids shower takes place when the earth passed by the 2003 EH asteroid which is believed by scientists to be the origin of meteors. It is among the most intense peaks of meteor showers that happen annually. Parts of these meteors, very rarely, manage to pass through the earth’s atmosphere and land as meteorites. The German automobile manufacturer, in this case, ensured that the fragments made their way inside the M850i coupe.

Branded as Night Sky, the one-off M850i coupe has its interior decked up in real meteorite fragments. The gear selector, ignition button, the entire centre-console trim, the doorsill, and the iDrive control knob, all have meteorite rock inlay work. The trim’s geometric pattern is named Widmanstätten. The Bavarian automobile manufacturer has paid tribute to Count Alois von Beckh Widmanstätten, the director of Vienna-based Imperial Porcelain company, who introduced the pattern in 1808. The naturally occurring pattern can be found only in extraterrestrial materials. The Individual Manufaktur division at BMW worked with Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in the design process to ensure proper use and structure of the materials.

The Widmanstätten meteorite pattern in the BMW M850i doesn’t stop at the instrument console and interior mechanics. The pattern is used on the leather headliner inserts and three-tone leather seats as well. BMW has used 3D printing of the Widmanstätten pattern to finish the lower front air intake trim, fender vents, and the exterior mirror caps.

The paint scheme of the car combines two current colours seen on BMW cars. The Metallic San Marino Blue and non-metallic Black have been finished in blue to forge a gradient effect to the lower body. The styling is accentuated by three clearcoat layers in varying sizes of pigment-flake. The armrests have embedded LED lights to assume the look of a constellation.

BMW has maintained silence on whether the Night Sky is an in-house product or commissioned by a customer. Neither has it disclosed the premium the meteorite embellishments would add to the car’s $112,895 base price.