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BMW Is One Step Closer To Selling You a Color-Changing Car (theverge.com) 67

Posted by BeauHD from the take-my-money dept.
BMW's latest concept car moves the color-changing tech it debuted back at CES 2022 closer to reality by embedding an E Ink panel directly into the hood. The Verge reports: BMW's previous concepts wrapped the entire vehicle in a patchwork of E Ink panels that were all custom-sized and shaped to match its contours. It was an approach that wasn't practical for mass production, and one that wasn't very durable. The new BMW iX3 Flow Edition is potentially the most exciting of all of BMW's concepts as it embeds the E Ink Prism technology directly into the structure of the vehicle's hood panel, instead of just slapping it on top. The new approach has "undergone BMW's stringent quality testing" so that it meets the "requirements of automotive engineering and everyday use," according to a release from E Ink.

The BMW iX3 Flow Edition's color-changing capabilities are limited to its hood with eight different animations (which appear restricted to a grayscale palette) that can be changed by the driver at the push of a button. It's not exactly the color-changing car that BMW has been teasing for years and you still can't buy one, but by focusing on making this technology more practical and functional these vehicles are one step closer to moving past the concept phase.

BMW Is One Step Closer To Selling You a Color-Changing Car More | Reply

BMW Is One Step Closer To Selling You a Color-Changing Car

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  • Do a bank robbery, hit & run etc and you can escape! Officer! The bad guy was driving a blue BMW! (Bad guy changes the color after leaving the area) LOL, yeah that won't really work but it's still funny to think about.

  • Great idea... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Vrallis ( 33290 ) on Friday April 24, 2026 @07:13PM (#66110984) Homepage

    Police hate this one neat trick...

    • Changing the base color of your car is illegal in quite a number of countries, unless filling out some forms at a formal technical inspection agent. The police has access to that data.

  • Thank goodness! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by dskoll ( 99328 ) on Friday April 24, 2026 @07:17PM (#66110990) Homepage

    Thanks, BMW, for concentrating on the important things. All those losers who want a cheap, reliable, energy-efficient means of getting from A to B have really been distorting the market all these years. Color-changing is obviously far more pressing than any of those things!

    • Re:Thank goodness! (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Pf0tzenpfritz ( 1402005 ) on Friday April 24, 2026 @07:31PM (#66111010) Journal

      If you want a cheap car, you don't want a BMW, anyway. That's just not what they're doing.

      • If you want a cheap car, you don't want a BMW, anyway. That's just not what they're doing.

        After my Experience buying a BMW as a wedding present for my son, I don't want any Beemer for any reason - What a money pit!

        • If you want a cheap car, you don't want a BMW, anyway. That's just not what they're doing.

          After my Experience buying a BMW as a wedding present for my son, I don't want any Beemer for any reason - What a money pit!

          Offended the BeemerBoyz! They are so sensitive, and are easy to upset.

    • All those losers who want a cheap, reliable, energy-efficient means of getting from A to B

      Maybe they do both?

    • BMW only care about the chinese market now (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Viol8 ( 599362 ) on Saturday April 25, 2026 @06:18AM (#66111352) Homepage

      Here in europe lots of people have been screaming at the german manufacturers, not just BMW, to bring back physical buttons for frequently used operations such as HVAC, media etc. BMW not only weren't listening, they've gone in the opposite direction and reduced the physical controls in the neue klasse 3 series. Why? Because the chinese love tech for its own sake.

      • Its cheaper for manufacturers because they can roll out updates at the last minute and set options via software. So it benefits the manufacturers at the expense of the customers. It will be interesting to see if any manufacturers go back to physical buttons to grab more customers or if there is a hand-shake agreement between manufacturers not to do so. I've yet to find anyone who actually likes the touch screens

    • With their increasing trend of putting turbo on lawn mower engines they have to come up with something interesting,

      Let's hope they get EVs figured out.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      Thanks, BMW, for concentrating on the important things. All those losers who want a cheap, reliable, energy-efficient means of getting from A to B have really been distorting the market all these years. Color-changing is obviously far more pressing than any of those things!

      Last time I checked, BMWs aren't cheap in any respect. Sure in Germany they may be cheaper, but they're by no means cheap. Repairs are expensive as well - BMW makes just as much money from spare parts as they do from selling you a car. Sa

  • No, they aren't (Score:3, Insightful)

    by jenningsthecat ( 1525947 ) on Friday April 24, 2026 @07:17PM (#66110992)

    I'd never buy a Beemer - not even if it made me both young again and handsome for the first time. Even without this new anti-feature, I still see them as over-priced, pretentious rentware on wheels.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      now tell us about being vegan and finding jesus while not even owning a tv

    • A BMW will not make you look young and handsome.

      The BMW is designed to make you look like a corporate victor. You have domination over your coworkers in the workplace.

      It's about the most miserable kind of victory you can imagine.

      • The BMW is designed to make you look like a corporate victor. You have domination over your coworkers in the workplace.

        It's about the most miserable kind of victory you can imagine.

        I would think so. I bought my kid one as a wedding present. He was interested in them at the time. It was a true piece of unreliable shit. I never got the "vehicle as status symbol" aesthetic.

        In possible irony, I ride Jeeps. I don't need an overpriced unreliable car to assert dominance.

        • I never got the "vehicle as status symbol" aesthetic.

          I conjecture that you don't "get it" because you don't get the point of status in general. You generally treat people equally.

          • I never got the "vehicle as status symbol" aesthetic.

            I conjecture that you don't "get it" because you don't get the point of status in general. You generally treat people equally.

            I do try - The maintenance person gets treated the same as the general or admiral.

            It actually works pretty well. I'm one of those guys who takes people to dinner to see how they treat the waitstaff. I'm not perfect, I have to work harder to be nice to the ostentatious - If I see a Rolex, I'm not impressed, make a mental note - but still be decent.

            • Oh, I have a watch story. I needed to buy an analog faced watch to keep time during an exam. So, instead of buying the cheapest thing I could find, I decided to upgrade and buy something that looked really nice, actually a $30 watch. Q&Q watches can look better on your arm than a Rolex [qq-watch.jp] (a lot of Rolexes are unfortunately ugly), and unless you get really close to someone, you can't read the brand name of a watch. I know because I've started trying.

              I started wearing the watch around town. Other men sta

              • Oh, I have a watch story. I needed to buy an analog faced watch to keep time during an exam. So, instead of buying the cheapest thing I could find, I decided to upgrade and buy something that looked really nice, actually a $30 watch. Q&Q watches can look better on your arm than a Rolex [qq-watch.jp] (a lot of Rolexes are unfortunately ugly), and unless you get really close to someone, you can't read the brand name of a watch. I know because I've started trying.

                I started wearing the watch around town. Other men started being intimidated at my watch, surreptitiously (actually obviously) pulling up their sleeve so I could observe their watch. Women started trying to look close to see what brand my watch actually was. So that is why people get status symbols, because other people look up to you for them.

                Showing you their watch! Like a dick waving contest, only with watches.

                You know - that sounds like fun, I think I'm going to do that for the lulz.

                I stopped wearing watches years ago, as I was working with both high voltage and high current-low voltage. And it took a while to convince the wife why I needed to not wear my wedding band - showed her pictures of the gruesome results and missing fingers. Even had special no metal glasses.

                But now, I could safely start wearing watches again, just for data,

              • Totally off-topic here: since you're into wristwatches, I recommend a YouTube channel called Wristwatch Revival. He tackles everything from very pedestrian watches to things like Rolexes and Omegas.

                It's fascinating to see the inner workings, and to hear someone who knows what he's doing explain what's going on. The repairs range from basic service and minor restoration all the way up to bringing back to life pieces that look unrecoverable.

                You also get to see his journey from being a talented newbie to being

    • I'd never buy a Beemer - not even if it made me both young again and handsome for the first time.

      So you want to pay EXTRA for a vehicle with those orange flashy lights like tow trucks use, but lower down near the headlights and that only come on on one side?

      sucker!

  • Rob a bank, quick lick of paint... Rep back to zero.

  • Now in a turd gold colour on demand.

  • I rather have a 1972 VW beetle

  • Only comes in shit brown (Score:4)

    by awwshit ( 6214476 ) on Friday April 24, 2026 @07:58PM (#66111026)

    If you want any other color than shit brown, it will be $1000/month for the single color package.

  • ...driving around to places you don't really need to be.
    • A real driver does not drive TO someplace ... she/he drives THRU some places ! Big difference, eh? Trips the thing -- smells/visions/vibs & growling engine;  that and  disciplined control of power --   not the destination. You must be a city-slicker confined to buses, subways and trikes.

  • Kate Kestrels Rolls from Terrahawks

  • Meanwhile, my Tesla Model Y has been driving me from garage to any destination, parking spot to parking spot, 100% intervention free for the last year. It also has matrix headlights that a fucking amazing to watch I still can't get used to it .. when it sees another car or pedestrian in front it specifically dims the headlight only for that other car. Can see it in action especially on curves. https://www.youtube.com/shorts... [youtube.com]

    Does BMW have that?

    • Re: (Score:1, Troll)

      by T34L ( 10503334 )

      BMW first introduced adaptive headlights in 2014.

      Once again, Americans losing their mind over Tesla introducing features that were in European cars over a decade ago.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by quenda ( 644621 )

      Be honest. The self-driving is great, but the parking makes you want to grab the wheel and yell "for fuck's sake let me do it".
      Yes, it is like when you were teaching your kids to drive :-)

  • Crash repair is completely disregarded by modern automotive designers because they don't want damaged vehicles returned to service. Mechanic of many decades here. All paint deteriorates so the more complex the coating the more difficult to correct for age.

    That means more full paint jobs required which easily puts many vehicles "beyond economic repair".

    Automakers know Americans given the choice between blowing a burning bobcat and and consumer protection would be covered in scratches and shit.

  • We've all seen that car or truck with a random door or hood panel that's a different color from the rest of the car.

    Now, picture an aging BMW with panels here and there no longer functioning, out of sync with the color of the rest of the car. Or worse, flashing haphazardly.

    There is no way these panels will last as many years as the car itself.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by wendyg ( 43303 )

      Main problem seems to me increasing distraction on the roads.

      wg

    • Now, picture an aging BMW with panels here and there no longer functioning, out of sync with the color of the rest of the car. Or worse, flashing haphazardly.

      I'd actually like to see that - it would be a very cyberpunk image. Like something from Blade Runner or Akira!

  • And have no plans for ever getting one.

    Besides, I don't think that we could realistically afford one anyway, and definitely not a foreign import like a BMW.

  • He just took off, in my car.

    What color

    It was cobalt blue at the time.

  • ...I was rather hoping that the "color-changing car" would offer something beyond shades of gray. (Even "white" or "black" are not really options with e-ink).

    E-ink displays are expensive and fragile. I can't imagine any possible use case for this product. Well, there is one: ads.

  • Hey, we'll save energy by moving to electric vehicles! ...So we can use that energy to make color-changing vehicles.

  • "Subscribe to turn off the ads on the outside of your vehicle" is coming in 3... 2...

  • OMG can you imagine driving in a stressful or bad weather situation and having a constant animation playing on your car's fricking hood? Most idiot drivers can barely pay attention as it is. Next up - play Mario Bros on your car's hood in traffic!
  • BMW has become the #1 bank robbery getaway car.

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