Special BMW M3 Competition Edition coupe gets Frozen Silver matte paint

Directly on the heels of SEMA, the matte capital of the world, BMW announced a special run of the 2012 BMW M3 Competition Edition coupe in Frozen Silver matte paint. And we mean extremely limited: just 40 cars celebrating 40 years of BMW racing in North America will be made.

Each car will have the Frozen Silver paint, black hood intakes and dark chrome exterior trim. Black M3 GTS wheels will sit at all four corners.

The interior will stand out from your neighbor's M3 thanks to palladium silver accents and palladium silver-contrast stitching on the front seats, headrests, door trim panels, center console and center armrest. The steering wheel is covered in Alcantara and the dash is trimmed in carbon fiber.

The special-edition M3 gets the same powerplant as the base car: a 4.0-liter V8 providing 414 hp. And with Bimmer's M dual-clutch transmission, a 0-to-60-mph time of 4.5 seconds is standard. No manual-transmission versions will be offered.

The Competition package is standard on the special-edition M3, bringing with it a ride-height reduction, custom wheels and electronic damping control with modified programming for the M mode. The Cold Weather package and Premium package are also included.

The company says the cars will go to the first 40 authorized BMW centers to become M certified in the United States. The MSRP will be a cool $81,060.

Something tells us that BMW won't have any problem moving these cars: In 2011, BMW offered a small run of Frozen Gray M3 coupes, and they sold out in just 12 minutes.

Care instructions for the impossibly fragile paint is below:

-Never polish or wax the vehicle

-No products that are even mildly abrasive, such as polishes, glazes, or compounds, should be applied to the surface of the paint

-No mechanical means of cleaning the surface, such as a buffing wheel, should be used

-The only recommended surface applications are BMW insect remover and car shampoo

-Any outside materials, such as insect remains, resins, tar spots, oils, etc. must be removed immediately using approved products

-Hand washing the vehicle is preferred

But wait, there’s more:

-If surface scratches, swirl marks, etc. are present, they must not be repaired by polishing or using other surface abrasives

-Paint damage should only be repaired by a BMW-trained body shop

-Special repair instructions are available for this paint and should always be consulted before attempting a repair

-When painting a panel with matte finish, special attention must be given to color matching as blending of the clear coat into adjacent panels is not recommended

By Jake Lingeman