[DrGadget]

I have a December 2015 manufactured Melbourne Red 340i and a friend has just taken delivery of a December 2016 manufactured 440i in Melbourne Red. However, they are not the same colour. The 340i is darker and more maroon, while the 440i is more orange in appearance.

Is it like Alpine White, where there are various versions over time?

[TodmordenLad]

My alpine white is version 3. It you check the colour code in the car, it might specify a version

[insanecoder]

I've noticed Melbourne Red looks different in different lighting..it does look more orange in sunlight and more red in shade.. perhaps its the metallic flakes in melbourne metallic red thats doing this..

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by insanecoder

I've noticed Melbourne Red looks different in different lighting..it does look more orange in sunlight and more red in shade.. perhaps its the metallic flakes in melbourne metallic red thats doing this..

My Midnight Blue looks completely different in winter, when the sun angle is low, compared to summer, when the sun angle is high. Winter's much better.
If the color has been changed it would have to be noted in the color code, otherwise repair shops wouldn't be able to match it.

[tgmsocal]

Melbourne Red is notorious for the variation in color - every body shop I've been to for M-Sport retrofit has commented on the PITA it will be to match (they can all do it, just hate that it's not as simple as ordering the right color).

In fact, I bought my car CPO and they had to repaint the hood due to a deep scratch. They had to color match it there too, and hooked me up with a big bottle of touch-up paint.

Not sure how much variation there actually is, but the fact that they look a bit different does not surprise me.

-tgm

[insanecoder]

I believe red and white are the two notiously difficult colors to perfectly match I was told
gentleman once explained to me it has to do with the metal flake content at times and the paint going thru several processes in the painting process where by variations can creep in

[madmonkey]

This is not unique to melbourne red or arctic white. There was a thread not too long ago about there being variations is estoril blue as well which required the ports to have 4 different shades of EB on hand for transport fixes.

[DrGadget]

Originally Posted by insanecoder

I've noticed Melbourne Red looks different in different lighting..it does look more orange in sunlight and more red in shade.. perhaps its the metallic flakes in melbourne metallic red thats doing this..

The two cars were end to end in the same light. It turns out BMW made a change in 2017 models ... and it is more orange. I prefer my darker red. But hey, it's all in the eyes of the beholder isn't it!