Going for the Gold: BMW Starlight Editions Get 24-Carat Paint Job

There have been more than a few special editions of the BMW the i3 and the i8, usually incorporating some kind of special paint scheme. We’ve seen the hybrid coupe in Protonic Frozen Black, Protonic Yellow, and Protonic Red in the past. But now BMW is tapping its paint partner Toplac to create something beyond the pale — a pair of one-offs sprayed in 24-carat gold.

Though BMW’s scheme is actually fairly easy on the eyes, there just something irksome about a gold car. Gold-wrapped exotics are growing in popularity and usually the easiest way to spot the person you’ll most want to choke at a car meet. For example, YouTube prankster and New Jersey stereotype Coby Persin would frequently motor his own gold-covered BMW i8 into New York City to procure some unnecessary attention. In 2016, that vehicle was double parked on a busy Manhattan street with Persin sitting on the hood when an “angry motorist” came and hit it once on the windshield with a baseball bat.

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  • MaintenanceCosts Most of the article after the blockquote is Posky laboring mightily to somehow blame this clearly anticompetitive and oligopolistic conduct on the big bad government.I look forward to some of the usual commenters explaining to us that, actually, the oil industry is a cuddly teddy bear and the real villain is people trying to sell us cars that don't use oil.
  • Bd2 A modest price bump for one of the better if not the best vehicle in it's class. And it's a very good deal still considering the Front wheel drive competition over at Lexus to name one. These Genesis vehicles are more like BMWs of the 90s but with better styling.
  • Dave M. What???? Big business taking advantage of us? I thought it was all Biden's fault!?!
  • OA5599 Now if we could only get Toyota to change BZ4X...
  • FreedMike You mean the petroleum market is manipulated and doesn't respond to normal supply/demand? No way. Can't be. This, folks, is why electrification is important - the only reason why the petroleum industry gets away with this is because they were the only game in town for over a century. That has GOT to change or we'll keep getting ripped off.