BMW Individual M850i Night Sky will bring out the stargazer in you

-    BMW Individual Manufaktur has used actual meteorite material on the 8 Series Coupe.

-    The M850i Night Sky embodies luxury and exclusivity at an unprecedented level, says BMW.

To celebrate the occasion of the meteor shower as earth passes through the orbit of the asteroid 2003 EH, BMW has revealed an exquisitely customised 8 Series Coupe. Called the M850i Night Sky, the custom work is carried out by BMW’s Individual Manufaktur facility situated in Garching. The special highlight of the M850i Night Sky Edition is that it gets exterior and interior parts made of actual meteorite material. 

The meteoritic rock is used on the centre console’s trim plate, the start/stop button, the selector lever and the Touch Controller for the iDrive system. The inlays on the centre console and the door sill finishers also get the same meteoric material with the latter having an illuminated badge. BMW Individual Manufaktur called on the expertise of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, which is also located in Garching. 

The distinctive Widmanstätten surface pattern of meteorites are seen all around the M850i. The extra-terrestrial material has an appearance of ice crystals. This finish is seen on the hand-stitched headliner and on the centre console’s trim finishers. This distinctive meteorite pattern can also be seen on the exterior mirror caps, the front splitters, the centre mesh plate and the surrounds for the vertical air vents on the front side panels.

These exterior components were all specially developed for the Individual M850i Night Sky using a 3D printing process. The aluminium 3D printed brake callipers are supposedly 30 per cent lighter than the standard ones and are usually used by BMW Motorsport. 

The upholstery on the inside is made up of Individual fine-grain Merino leather trim in tri-colour design and the Opal White/Midnight Blue/Silver colour mimicking the night. Meanwhile, the centre console armrest gets a special design inspired by the glittering night sky. The LED lights that illuminate the cabin surfaces also produce an illusion of a star-studded sky while the deep-pile blue carpets complete the premium feel of the cabin. On the outside, the San Marino Blue metallic inserts on skirts and wheel arches lend the M850i a very distinct appearance. 

BMW hasn’t mentioned the price or the availability of the M850i Night Sky. So it could simply be a one-off work-of-art from the Bavarian carmaker aimed at bringing out the hidden astronomer in us.