2021 Galvanic Gold Metallic BEV

[alohart]

Yesterday, I picked up our 3rd i3 Giga BEV with the Tech Package, a 2021 Galvanic Gold Metallic model, from the Pasha Hawaii shipping company that brought our i3 from San Diego to Honolulu. I bought it remotely from BMW of San Diego where it was a 3-year lease return offered as a Certified Pre-Owned BMW. I hoped that the sale might qualify for the federal tax credit on the purchase of a used EV, but BMW of San Diego would not sell it for less than $25k. They did the typical sleazy dealer-installed add-on of a ceramic coating for only $995 which wasn't stated in their ad. I told them that I didn't want this ceramic coating and wouldn't pay for it. They offered to sell it to me for $995 less than their asking price but only by decertifying it. That was fine with me because I've never had a warranty repair in 9.5 years of i3 ownership, so extending the existing warranty for a year wasn't important to me, and new rear tires had already been installed. Having been driven less than 9k miles over 3 years, it is a lightly-used i3 in excellent condition, so I'm happy.

 

[eNate]

Wow! That Galvanic Gold looks like an idol or a trophy. Nice.

... or maybe it's the ceramic coating causing it to pop!

 

[alohart]

Wow! That Galvanic Gold looks like an idol or a trophy. Nice.

... or maybe it's the ceramic coating causing it to pop!

It's not obvious in the photo, but "Goldie" was very dirty after being parked for a month outside at BMW of San Diego, the holding lot of the shipping company, Pasha Hawaii, and in the RORO ship for 5 days at sea with its salty air. I've cleaned her up since this photo which really does make Galvanic Gold Metallic pop. However, I can't tell much difference between the reflectivity of Galvanic Gold Metallic and Imperial Blue Metallic or how it reacts to water when it's being washed that I could attribute to a ceramic coating which our Imperial Blue Metallic i3 doesn't have. I've always been a bit suspicious of ceramic coating claims because the ceramics I'm familiar with are created under high heat unlike ceramic coatings.

Several months ago, I looked at a 2021 Galvanic Gold Metallic Mega World i3 for sale a a Mini dealer here. Its stained driver's seat and boring gray Mega World trim level turned me off. It also had a moonroof which I didn't want in our strong tropical sunlight, so I passed on buying it. Early last week before our 2021 i3 arrived, I saw my second Galvanic Gold Metallic i3 in the Costco parking lot. I had seen a Galvanic Gold Metallic i3S earlier. There are quite a few i3's in Honolulu, so being offered only in 2021 in the U.S., a Galvanic Gold Metallic i3 is probably a fairly rare color which I like. Imperial Blue Metallic gives an i3 a classy look, but it's so dark that it looks almost black in some lighting conditions which I don't prefer. I'm happy with the change. Today, I'm preparing our 2019 i3 so that I can post for sale ads.

 

[tongsli]

beautiful! thanks for sharing. my 2019 is also a california car and I hope you do a better job of not damaging the paint when you remove the stickers on the bumper. I had my rear bumper wrapped but the person who removed it was not careful.

 

[alohart]

beautiful! thanks for sharing. my 2019 is also a california car and I hope you do a better job of not damaging the paint when you remove the stickers on the bumper. I had my rear bumper wrapped but the person who removed it was not careful.

Yeah, I have 4 of these HOV stickers attached to the black sections of the front and rear bumpers. I quickly tried to pull one off starting with my fingernail but got nowhere fast. Must be some serious adhesive. Any tips on how to remove these without damaging the black paint? I thought I would try heating them with a hair dryer in hopes that heat might soften the adhesive. Alcohol would probably remove the adhesive remaining on the paint after the stickers are removed.

 

[tongsli]

Yeah, I have 4 of these HOV stickers attached to the black sections of the front and rear bumpers. I quickly tried to pull one off starting with my fingernail but got nowhere fast. Must be some serious adhesive. Any tips on how to remove these without damaging the black paint? I thought I would try heating them with a hair dryer in hopes that heat might soften the adhesive. Alcohol would probably remove the adhesive remaining on the paint after the stickers are removed.

The hair dryer is a good idea. I'm not sure if those stickers have a plastic front if you can get them to just paper it should be easier to remove. Have you seen or can you get automotive goo gone where you live? It is safe on paint.

https://a.co/d/03u3GNRQ


GO SLOW and do not rush. The pervious used car dealer put a nice chip on the paint in one location getting it off

If the hair dryer can get a corner started you might be in business.

 

[eNate]

Heat gun for the win. Goo Gone for the cleanup, but not much is needed. With a heat gun, the decals come off so cleanly they could be applied to a different car and look 100% legitimate.

https://www.mybmwi3.com/threads/removed-poorly-hov-stickers-then-again-the-right-way.16732/

 

[alohart]

After much searching for a company that would either vinyl wrap or paint the roof, Chuck's Corvette Clinic in Honolulu agreed to paint the roof Galvanic Gold Metallic to match the body color. Chuck has been restoring cars since the 1970's with much of his experience painting Corvettes whose fiberglass bodies are more similar to our i3's CFRP roof than metal bodies. Unlike other body shops that I approached, he wasn't afraid to paint CFRP and didn't restrict his work to insurance work only.

The painted roof looks great, especially in sunlight. Hopefully, it will last for many years. It will certainly protect the clear coat from degrading in our strong UV radiation and will reflect some IR radiation making the cabin cooler when the roof is in direct sunlight.

 

[eNate]

That looks like a great color match and doesn't stand out as a modification – I like it! Hopefully it holds up.

BTW I need to peel my silver decals; they're looking terrible.

 

[alohart]

That looks like a great color match and doesn't stand out as a modification – I like it! Hopefully it holds up.

The shop used the Galvanic Gold Metallic color code, C4Y, to match the color exactly. The original paint doesn't seem to have faded, so the match looks great. It helps that the roof isn't adjacent to a painted panel, so even a slightly less than perfect match would probably look OK.

BTW I need to peel my silver decals; they're looking terrible.

The silver decals on our 2019 i3 were mottled when we bought it used in 2021. I didn't find any way to improve their appearance, so they might have degraded in L.A.'s smog. These decals on our 2021 i3 look like new. However, I don't think they look as good on our warm-colored Galvanic Gold Metallic i3 as they did on our cool-colored Imperial Blue Metallic i3, so I might be removing them as well. However, I do find that they help me locate our i3 in a crowded parking garage. Maybe the painted roof would be sufficient.