Coupé: The Black Album

[StevenH72]

I've spent a lot of time on here trying to educate myself so that when I finally get around to getting my car I make a decision as informed as possible.

One decision we all face when looking for a car is what colour?

One problem I face is that I love a black coupé but even with countless hours of browsing I'm not entirely sure of the differences between carbon, ruby and sapphire black.

I want this thread to create a concise record of the differences between the three and allow people to fully appreciate the individual beauty of each.

Sooo, if you own one of these colours, please post photos (not forgetting to specify which colour yours is) and a brief description of why you prefer your colour (or others if applicable) over the other two black variants.

Once we get a decent coverage, I will update this OP as a quasi-article describing and illustrating the differences.

Cheers Guys and Gals

 

[DPG]

Black Sapphire

Love the colour but its difficult to keep clean.

I love the look of Ruby especially when the sun catches it.

 

[mr wilks]

" Difficult to keep clean " is only a hint at what lies ahead for the owner /
"an absolute tw4t leading to a severe bout of OCD cured only by the subsequent sale & purchase of a grey,silver,blue or any other colour barring black " " would be a more apt description of owning a sapphire black Z
but when they are clean the pics say it all
http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q576/beaucostil/Mzwheels010.jpg
love mine but wouldn't have another black car 8)

 

[Stuart Truman]

Am I right in thinking Carbon and Sapphire Black have different shades of blue fleck respectively, and Ruby black has a deep red tinge?

All very lovely in their own way

 

[gallaghb]

I always thought sapphire black was like jet black.
Carbon black has a blue fleck
Ruby black has a red fleck

I have a sapphire black 1 and there isn't any blue in it :?

I think BMW got carbon and sapphire colours the wrong way around though - Sapphires are blue, Carbon is black....

 

[DPG]

Am I right in thinking Carbon and Sapphire Black have different shades of blue fleck respectively, and Ruby black has a deep red tinge?

All very lovely in their own way

Ruby Black in the sun.

 

[mmm-five]

Sapphire = Charcoal/Anthracite/Grey Black

Carbon = Blue Black

Ruby = Red Black

 

[Darren Slone]

Carbon Black looks gorgeous :wub:

 

[RLiu]

Carbon black...still a mirror when polished...

blue when light shines on it...both when its clean and dirty :evil:

Love the colour but dont know if i had been the first owner i could justify the £750 optional extra

 

[StevenH72]

great synopsis there mmm-five!

I wonder if anybody has photos of each in dull lighting also?

 

[bluestreak56]

Carbon Black clean and sunny:

Dirty carbon black:

Carbon black inside: (next to audi deep sea blue)

Carbon black at sundown:

Carbon black at night in a multi-storey.

As above this is how I think of it:

Jet Black (non-metallic) = Black black
Sapphire Black = Black with a hint of blue / gold fleck but closest to black black metallic
Carbon Black = Blue up close black from a distance Blue Black
Ruby Black = Red / Maroon fleck not seen enough of this is in the flesh.

 

[ScorpionFrance]

Mine is Ruby Black and in many lights it looks black, however, at other times it is a very dark burgundy - very apt, as I live in Burgundy.
When I bought it, it was shown on the V5C as 'red', but I thought this might cause problems at some point, so got it changed to 'black'.
Scorp.

 

[tomscott]

Carbon black is amazing my old car was carbon black but the swirls were redic. Infact all the darker colours show every mark on my grey you can't see anything at all

 

[ap123ap]

Black Sapphire when clean:

 

[mad4slalom]

carbon black, supposed i read somewhere to resemble carbon paper, all i know is it looks subtle and classy when cloudy and just stunning when clean and the sun comes out, be under no illusion though, it is a biatch to keep looking its best, as when the sun shines, the swirls become more apparent so lots of finnesse or similar before waxing, worth the effort tho

 

[g1344304]

sapphire black seems to have specks of silver metallic up close, the pictures don't really show it but it is very noticeable when seen upclose. I'd describe it as a sparkly silver tinted metallic black.

 

[ap123ap]

 

[Bing]

Mine is black sapphire and has silver, green and blue flecks in the paint... As said above, a bitch to keep clean, and you see every mark on it

 

[Taz]

carbon black in the show room