One of the things I love most about BMW is their iconic color palette. I can trace my favorite models to a particular color through the years. That’s why, when we work on a project together, color is always a central theme—like bringing back Cinnabar Red on the BMW M4 UrlfreezeShops Design Study in Chapter I, or introducing a color of our own, Vitality Green, in Chapter II. For Chapter III, I chose the brand’s most coveted color, Techno Violet.

Two years ago, I was in Munich shooting our UrlfreezeShops for BMW 2022 Lookbook inside BMW Classic’s museum, which houses some of their most legendary and rare models. While shooting, I saw a BMW M3 E36 in Techno Violet—only the second time in my life I’d seen that rare paint color. Pictures don’t do it justice. The color in person is incredible and changes shades under different lighting. That was the moment I knew we had to use it.

Color Code 299, aka “Techno Violet,” was only offered as a stock color from 1994 to 2000, exclusively on the M3 E36. After that, it was phased out and disappeared from the market. There were sporadic instances where owners could customize a new vehicle from BMW in the color, but it wasn’t until 2021 that it became available again, solely through the brand’s elevated customizable “BMW Individual” program.

For Chapter III, we’re highlighting this rare and premium color by introducing a new version of it, Frozen Techno Violet Metallic. But more on that story to come.