I like to have a browse on autotrader on a sunday just to keep up with what's going on and maybe build a little fantasy garage but what is with people who spec BMWs from new...?

The listing is there, car looks nice...
Open the ad itself and go straight to the pics, opening the first one...
Mmmh, clean body work...
Oooh, nice wheels...
Aah, got reversing sensors...

And then the interior pics...

WHY SPEC A LOVELY MODERN CAR WITH WOOD TRIM OR PALE GREY OR TAN LEATHER????

Loads of them ruined with wooden wheels and gear *****.

 

I used to think that about the tan leather as well and I raised and eyebrow and expressed concern when my mate showed interest in an e46 M3 in carbon black with the tan interior. However, when we saw it and sat in it in the flesh we both fell in love; it's so classy and makes the black and grey leather just look boring by comparison!

I have to agree on the wood trim though - it just looks wrong both in pictures and in the flesh and spoils many an otherwise well specced BMW.

 

Tastes change. About 15 years ago I well remember me and my missus getting quite obsessive about speccing a tiny strip of walnut (ie plastic) on the dash of her new Rover 200. Then just recently I really wanted to like a Golf R32 with a cream leather interior (it just looked so classy, and Sally liked it) but I couldn't get over a horrible tiny strip of walnut (ie plastic) on the dash. Now if it had been carbon fibre (ie plastic) I would have loved it.

Ditto tan interior. My dream Ferrari was always going to be red with tan. I thought Jay Kay was certifiable when he ordered his Enzo in black with a dark green interior. Now I'm going off tan, and think JK maybe had a point

Just lately, I've been looking very seriously at a cheap 911, in silver, preferably with a gray or black interior and certainly not tan ("savanah") which looked truly awful in pics. But I've now found myself looking favourably at dark blue with tan. I'm after something different to the ever-popular black. Maybe I'm heading for a big mistake

Richard.

PS Silver used to be the most popular paint colour, and black. White was marked down on second-hand values. Now white is very much back in favour.

Edited to add, a friend of my son (ie young lad) has just picked up a cheap cream leather interior for his 3-Series, replacing the black cloth. It looks good

 

I'll give you cream and blue (Maser, deep blue, cream leather, blue piping - yum) but wood trim - c'mon!

And most of these are three/four year old cars!!

I just can't imagine being in the dealers doing your options...

Xenons - yep
Sill plates - yep
Sat nav - yep
Electric seats - yep
Headlight washers - yep
Walnut pack - oh yes.

I think in your rover, quite fitting, in a roller - most definitely but a big engined german coupe..? Bleurch.

 

Agree with you about changing tastes Hoppy. Wood or fake wood trim was very popular in the early 90s. I remember my dads 406 Executive had it and we all thought it was classy and looked the part! Same re: colours. I used to hate white cars with a passion but lately I've seen some new M3s in white and been looking fondly at DC5s!

 

Good taste never changes but fashions do.

 

Well said!

 

Mmmm.My brothers (now gone) 911 Turbo was stunning,

Apart from the terrible wood which probably cost a bomb.

 

Some Porsche customers taste is truly awful. See plenty of 911's with either Terracotta, Green, pale Blue or Diarrhea Brown interiors.

Why they do it is beyond me. Not keep on the pale Grey either. Black interior all the way for me.

 

I guess they're just trying to be 'individual' - like whoever ordered the peppermint green BMW 330D with biscuit leather and wood trimmed interior that I saw when I was looking for mine a couple of years ago.

Call me boring, but the car I ended up buying (silver metallic with black leather and carbon trim) will be much easier to sell and should hold its value much better. Maybe the more... ahem... 'personal' trim specs are from people choosing company cars, where the resale value is guaranteed, or at least, isn't their problem.

 

Known as Cocoa interior IIRC.... my 24 hr loan Cayman S had this... the sales guy was going on about how nice it was... I just nodded!

 

i,ve always wondered where they get the blue/green cows from myself!!

 

Top Marques had a dark red metalic Cayman for sale, with cream interior. It looked friggin gorgeous. A really beautiful car. (It's sold, so can't post a link )

There's some weird psychology going on here. I kind of wish I was man enough to drive a car like that, but since I'm not gay, I daren't. No, that doesn't make sense to me either

Richard.