1esquire

Interlagos is exclusive to M cars (at least in the US), but with the M3 it was further limited to ZCP competition pack cars (I believe). One way to spot the ZCP would be the wheels, but this car has aftermarket. Another way is the alcantara steering wheel and shifter. The photos aren't clear enough to spot those options.

hingkit

The owner said it was mystic ... but I always thought mystic was more of a murky navy blue ....
Gorgeous color.

CWS530

They apparently call it Mystic Blue due to it's mystical power to confound and mesmerize a 17,000 + member forum.

Torquey5

I think Interlagos Blue (as well as Indianapolis Red) is only available exclusive color for the current gen ///M5s and ///M6s.

The E46 ///M3s had Laguna Seca Blue as their exclusive color, well that and Phoenix Yellow.

mhs525

Damn I miss my M3... those cars are just bad to the bone

Color is great, I would take that color on any model...

1esquire

nope. Laguna Seca was much lighter blue than the one pictured. There also was Topaz Blue for a period of time. Here are the details about the ZCP package for the E46 M3s (with the exclusive color option of interlagos blue):

M3 Competition Package (USA), M3 Club Sport (UK)


2004 BMW M3 with CSL wheelsAlthough the M3 CSL was never exported to the United States, in 2005 BMW introduced an M3 Competition Package (a.k.a. Club Sport in the UK): a $4,000 option which offered a number of upgrades taken from M3 CSL. The package includes:

19-inch BBS spin-cast alloy wheels
Specially tuned spring rates for the Competition Package; this was carried over to all M3 production from 12/05 on.
CSL steering rack: More direct steering ratio of 14.5:1 (vs. standard M3's 15.4:1)
CSL's M-Track Mode DSC with a button mounted on the steering wheel (deletion of cruise control and steering wheel mounted radio controls)
Compound cross-drilled rotors from the M3 CSL model; larger front rotor of 13.6 inches (from 12.8 inches)
Alcantara steering wheel, gear lever and hand brake
Interlagos Blue exterior paint available as an exclusive color option.
Unique cube aluminum interior trim
Cruise Control Delete



See also:

http://m3.madrussian.net/stdextcolors.shtml

and, if you want to see some crazy colors, check out the individual options:

http://m3.madrussian.net/indextcolors.shtml

Kier

I'm still getting used to how different Mystic Blue looks depending on the light - my wife and I have an ongoing thing of "Oh look, the car's changed colour again..."

Anyway, here's a few pictures showing how different the paint can look in different conditions.

Dull, overcast conditions


First thing in the morning covered in condensation


Sun low in the sky, early morning


Patchy cloud


Very bright sun


Very bright sun


Very bright sun


Needless to say, it's a lovely colour. The only BMW colour I've seen that has more reaction to lighting conditions is Moonstone.

xBMWx

If it is an early M3, then it probably is Topaz Blue or the exclusive Interlagos Blue, rather than Mystic Blue which was offered after the face-lift.
Looking at the front reflectors (pointing down), this looks like an early M3 -- or am I getting my face-lifts mixed up here between M3s and regular E46s?

Hmm, this thread is starting to confuse me Thankfully Kier's pics above give a good idea of how mystic blue can look -- nice pics!!

darraghn

Lovely colour - looks better in real life than on a screen/paper. Here is a picture of my previous car a 330Ci in Mystic Blue / Beige leather.

1esquire

The pictures of the E60 in Mystic look fantastic. It's a great color.

To answer your question above, the M3s were never given the facelift that the regular E46s got. They basically looked the same from 2001 to 2006. (Although I never owned an M3, I studied them for about 8 months before I got my 545 becuase I was dead set on getting one. At the last minute, I finally woke up and realized that I needed the back seat for my kids).