BMW working on obsoleting the soap opera of car waxing

The car you never have to polish is on the way. It promises to be a boon for anyone who has to battle the bucket for weekend car-wash duties in drought conditions.

BMW is working hard on a matt finish paint that will end the drudgery and could rewrite the rules on car styling and presentation.

It made the first move with its M Coupe concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show last year and, after a lot of interest from potential customers, is fast-tracking development of the new paint.

BMW says it wants to be first but has to overcome many problems, from applying the paint in factories to preserving it against everything from sap and tar to fingerprints.

Full article here

Maxim - 6/12/2006 2:58:23 PM

+1 Boost

The car-wash industry and the after-market paint manufacturing industry please watch out.

dblo7 - 6/12/2006 3:07:53 PM

+1 Boost

Nothing better replace scantily clad females washing cars and getting all wet. =) I guess I better sell my car-wash stocks!!!!

All seriousness this is a start to major paint improvements. Paint alone is extremely important to a vehicles look. Bad paint can make any car look bad. With Nissan's self healing paint and BMWs 'no waxing necessary' coating appears to be a new battle for paint technology...finally!!!

EnnNorak - 6/15/2006 10:27:53 PM

+1 Boost

A long time ago, I bought an orange car at a city auction and repainted it blue by quickly rolling on polyurethane paint in the shade. The polyurethane paint was so slippery and shiny that all the dirt washed off whenever it rained so I never had to wash it. Did you know that there are even better paints available that are two- or even three-component polyurethane or epoxy. Some are only available from paint companies that supply the aircraft industry.

By the way, when you roll on the paint I used you can't go over it a second time or it gets all tacky and you lose the super-shiny finish.