J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Why does it seem to me that at the moment, ALL german cars are silver, TT's, X5's, Mercs, they are all bloody silver, have the Germans got a silver paint lake somewhere, do the English brochures only list Silver under colour options ?

I bet the Germans have 49 words for Silver like the Eskimo/Snow thing !

I reckon the cause of this is that Silver is a nice colour and cars
do look good in it, also all the car magazines tell you to buy in a "Nice Strong Mettalic Colour" but enough is enough, I was sat in traffic today and all the cars in front, behind and at the sides were German and Silver.

12LEE

During the 1930s, German racing cars (Mercedes, Auto Union [now Audi]) used to race in unpainted bodies, so the bare metal (silver) was the colour of the car. Accordingly, silver has ended up being the "right" colour for German cars (due to the racing history) just like red is the signature colour for Ferrari, sonic blue for Subaru, white for Honda (e.g. type R), white/red for Suzuki bikes, green for Kawasaki, etc.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Yeah mate, I am sure the average X5 customer is really up to speed on the glory days of Mercedes and Auto Union, I think its a fashion/resale thing, hope it passes soon as its getting boring, at least Audi have done the TT in some different colours now, beleive it or not you can actually order a flat red X5, though I suspect it would be at extra cost over the Silver option.

zax

Saw a flat red X5 at the motor show last year. It looked awful IMHO. If I recall correctly the whole BMW stand consisted of flat red cars... M3 looked OK

davyboy

Bloody Subaru Blue cars...............

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

J4CKO you are wrong the Germans have lots more than 49 words for Silver and the reason all german cars are silver is the fact that it is a crap colour and the germans are boring and regimented.

cheeseboy

One of the main reasons behind the choice of silver, or metal grey is that it is a colour that doesnt show up dirt / snow melt grime / or salt spray. A silver car will look almost as good dirty as clean.

Black on the other hand is perhaps the WORST colour for a car - it instantly shows up mud / dirt and worst of all hand prints on the doors. That is why.

The most popular colour by bmw last year was silver.



Neal

BMWhere?

Just look at motorsport (F1, touring cars etc.)

Mercedes = Silver!

I don't think Mercedes have sold a car anything other than silver since they started sponsoring McLaren!

Germans are obsessed with F1 at the moment and they like to support their own which means that over here only 1 in 10 cars is not German (1/2 are VW's), then theres a split between silver for the Mercedes fans or red for the Schumi fans! You should see the Ferrari badges they stick on their red VW golfs LOL

brickboy

Remember reading something about one of the Italian designers, either Guigaro or someone like that. He said something like "silver is a good colour for judging a car's shape because it is not a real colour, it neither flatters nor hides the car's true shape ..."

Summat like that anyway

Brendan Hughes

I'm with cheeseboy - I've ordered my new car (not German) in silver as it apparently shows the scratches least. And in Lisbon, It Will Get Scratched.

Midmotorsteve

silver looks good on big cars, seems to reduce them make them less bulky looking.

Jap cars should all be white, they all look best white, the jap racing colour!

(i have one blue one white, wish i had two white)

Mycroft

The Original Silver Arrows were Auto Unions (AUDI) the Merc guys had some claim to it, but AUDI had the nick-name first.

Also if you look you can find a 'Colour Profile... a Psychological Study' on the net, it states simply that if you choose to buy a Silver car from new.. you are basically an Arrogant Git, with a high opinion of yourself......seems to fit ... doesn't it!

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I thought the Flat red X5 looked okay (except being an X5 which is not a bad looking car but still wouldnt be seen dead in one)

Mycroft, mate, you are bang out of order suggesting that owners of BMW's and Merc's are arrogant, I find then to be some of the most considerate, courteous, laid back and well mannered drivers on UK roads today, Knights Of The Road I call them ! and I will take issue with anybody who says that they are Lane hogging, aggressive, risk taking, bad tempered, smug ar5eholes who are always using the mobile while driving, its just not on, some of these people will have spent their own hard earned company cash on a base spec 316 (in Silver) as a message to the likes of me (1988 Golf GTI driving scum) that I must pull my socks up and earn more.

golfliam

"J4CKO you are wrong the Germans have lots more than 49 words for Silver and the reason all german cars are silver is the fact that it is a crap colour and the germans are boring and regimented"

Isn't he talking about cars he has seen in BRITAIN - what does that say about the British then........or did i miss that Germany won WW2 and make people drive silver cars

Bobby Peru

It's pretty much always been that way, esp mercs. I've got a silver 330ci, bought it used and it was the one colour I didn't want but I wouldn't reject the right car on a colour basis.

DazV

I've just bought a BMW 325Ci Sport

In titanium silver, naturally.

GaryC

My M-CLass is Dark Blue - and there are for more dark coloured X5's than Silver round here. Best colour X5 is the bright blue found on the 4.6iS

Most large Mercs (S, CL, SL) tend to be black round here, only smaller cars seem to be silver.

Silver is a great colour, never looks dirty, doesn't show scratches, shows the lines of the car off best, etc

DazV

Just for the record, my old man's X5 is silver too!

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I await the Silver car residual collapse !

Skittles

Just the german ones, or has your focus widened now?

Skittles

Yawn

I think you should stop worrying about other people so much. Flattering as it may be for them, I doubt they would give you as much thought.

[Edited by Skittles - 3/12/2003 10:33:25 PM]