Hey, Moe- IIRC you've been thinking about this for a long time, and this car's likely to be a real keeper, right?
I'd give some thought to that both when deciding what to buy (the BMW is kinda what you've always planned on, right?) and how to option it.
I for one would *NOT* buy a color that'd be a PIA on a regular basis. Some people really enjoy this detailing stuff, and I guess most Autopians enjoy it a lot more than I do, but I'd want something that's easy to appreciate without constant hassles. Black? Hey...I drive a metallic black DenaliXL for my year-round dog-hauler and I'm always saying that it's no biggie (oops...that's some kind of Freudian slip huh? That vehicle is *huge*). When it comes down to it, "clearcoat is clearcoat and marring is marring", and it's just not much different from my silver vehicles. But that's *ME* and consider how I wash every time. Honestly, I bet you'd have a happier next-few-decades if you buy an attractive low-maintenance color. I'm sure glad my Jag and the Audis are silver, even if it *doesn't* really make much of a diff in my case.
Oh, and I'd avoid pearls as it's just about impossible to color-match any repair work. Yeah, I know...but I never thought I'd deer my irreplaceable S8 either
