BMWBLOG had the opportunity to attend the world premiere of the i5 Flow NOSTOKANA held last night at the Frieze Los Angeles annual art fair. It’s a unique electric version of the 5 Series Sedan that uses an evolution of the E Ink technology we saw last year on the i Vision Dee and on the iX Flow back in 2022.
The color-changing body looks even more spectacular up close, and this i5 had a whopping 1,349 sections of laser-cut film. Each can be individually controlled, and there are now more colors to choose from than ever before. The Dee concept from 2023 CES was able to display 32 colors but there’s a richer variety in this one-of-a-kind 5 Series. The colors and patterns have been chosen to mimic the 12th BMW Art Car, a 525i E34 penned by South African artist Esther Mahlangu back in 1991.
The electronically animated pieces of film have been applied onto the roof, hood, trunk lid, and along the sides of this i5 eDrive40. In addition, the wheels can change their color as well. Compared to the Dee, there are nearly six times more sections of film. Some of you will recall the 2022 iX Flow wasn’t nearly as colorful as Dee and the i5 Flow since it could only switch between various shades of white, black, and grey.
Each E Ink film encompasses several million microcapsules, similar to the technology found in e-book readers. Applying an electric voltage is what changes the structure and arrangement of the color particles to obtain the desired look at the push of a button.
BMW says the film used is sturdier than before, so much so that it “could make potential future series production easier.” That said, the cool feature remains a concept-only affair, but who knows, maybe it will happen one day. As a matter of fact, the official BMW Group channel on YouTube suggests a future video could feature a production car with E Ink technology.
When asked by a fan whether a color-changing body will be made available in a regular model, whoever is in charge of the account said: “Stay tuned on our channels to find out,” with a winking face at the end.
