If memory serves me well, the 2 Series Coupe was the first BMW to get the Thundernight paint in 2021. The “G42” was followed about a year later by the Z4 “G29” when the sporty roadster received a discreet Life Cycle Impulse. In 2024, you can have it on the lesser 1 Series. It doesn’t even have to be this spicy M135 hot hatch. Indeed, the dark violet paint is also available for the lowly 116 without an M Sport Package.
New images of the “F70” show the compact hatchback in M Performance guise with the striking Thundernight paint job. This isn’t an Individual color but it might as well be since it’s an attention-grabbing finish. On second thought, it is better that BMW sees it as a regular metallic paint. Had it been an Individual option, it would’ve cost a lot more. In Germany, it’s only €750 for the 1 Series. In the US, it costs $650 for the 2 Series Coupe and Z4. Some will recall we also saw an M3 Touring in this color last year.
Thundernight is one of several color-shifting BMW paints. It switches from purple to an almost black shade depending on how the light hits the car. This fresh gallery is a good opportunity to see how it spices up Bavaria’s Volkswagen Golf R rival. This M135 also happens to have one of the larger 19-inch wheel sets available. You can tell it has the optional compound brakes by the M-branded gray calipers.
Seeing a quad exhaust on a 1 Series still feels a bit weird, as does the rear badge. Having identically sized “M” and “1” characters while the “35” are smaller takes some time getting used to. This is certainly no M1, which coincidentally had a 3.5-liter engine. At the front, the M badge on the kidney grille also seems sacrilegious in the eyes of diehard M enthusiasts but I digress.
Another BMW that recently got Thundernight Metallic is the 2 Series Gran Coupe. Unlike its hatchback sibling, the “F74” compact four-door sedan is coming to the United States.
Source: Samuel Zaťko for BMW Slovakia
