As you can imagine, having your BMW covered in real silver would be prohibitively expensive and cause your car to be too heavy to drive. BMW Individual has come up with the next-best…er…actually, better…thing: Pure Metal Silver paint.
It contains hundreds of thousands of tiny aluminum flakes that give any Bimmer special enough to be wearing it a silky, chrome-like finish. After the body is prepared, the foundation for that finish is laid down in the form of a glossy and smooth coating of Glacier Silver Metallic. Pure Metal Silver goes over that and is put on a Bimmer in such a way that all of the metallic flakes are applied in the same direction. To make sure the car looks as brilliant as the name of its paint implies, BMW’s craftspeople check for and correct minor blemishes at every step of the process.
However, like the real alloy, Pure Metal Silver does cost quite a bit. BMW calls it its most expensive paint and, in the following video, states the materials that go into it cost 40 times more than those that make up one of its regular paints. In fact, late last year, PMS was a $10,300 option on the M6 Gran Coupe.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
