BMW creates Flax Fiber to replace Carbon Fiber

[Seba77W]

Ughh. The most BMW thing I’ve ever heard fak.

[carseatsm5]

The weave looks really cool to me. Not sure if I prefer it to carbon fiber but I do dig it.

The reason for the change is not compelling.

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by afadeev

OK, that makes a bit more sense now - they can't source proper Carbon Fiber in the near future, so they give us Crap Fiber instead!

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also... this is likely cheaper to produce... i guess I am ok with it if it looks good and is as strong but no idea why they would move away from CF otherwise... does this mean we are getting this for interior trims as well? a lot of the woven fibers and "earth" like materials used in other models are terrible

[Hotflare]

Vegan CF before GTA6

[tnot]

Sounds like the look can be tailored—hopefully BMW chooses something decent.
https://www.bcomp.com/news/aesthetic...rior-bodywork/

[328dabi]

Sounds like something rodents will love.

[tnot]

Porsche’s been using it for a while:
https://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsp...gt4-clubsport/

[LuisBoston]

Originally Posted by tnot

Porsche’s been using it for a while:
https://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsp...gt4-clubsport/

Thanks for sharing. This sounds interesting…

What’s wrong with new materials 🤷

So much hate

[NathObeaN]

I just wish it wasn’t always about ‘SaViNg ThE PlAnET’. I’m sick of this BS peddled by companies. BMW - tell us the REAL reason you’re testing this - it’s cheaper to manufacture, right? So, it’ll be cheaper for consumers, right? Tell us the practicalities. I don’t care about your eco PR nonsense. I care about - weight, rigidity, cost, looks, durability, availability etc.

The fact that NONE of these things are mentioned, expect some photos, leads the consumer to assume it’ll be objectively worse in all metrics (apart from being cheaper for BMW to manufacture - their real reason for doing it in the first place). Otherwise, they’d be screaming from the rooftops about the improvements.

[Davil]

Looks like one of those 80s shiny suit materials worn with a turquoise knitted sock tie.

Ok. I’m old.

[GER28i]

Originally Posted by NickyC

Let me guess, we'll get less and pay more. Green new steal bullshit never ends.

🥇🥇🥇

[GER28i]

Originally Posted by LuisBoston

Thanks for sharing. This sounds interesting…

What’s wrong with new materials 🤷

So much hate

It’s actually quite simple.
The materials get cheaper and the cars get more expensive. They keep maximizing their profit margin on the back of the customer.

[Utheman]

I like it, looks interesting to me, curious to see what else they bring out. Non-animal skin seats have been great in my experience (Sensatec), excited for more innovation in materials they use.

[uuni]

This could be game changer if they can make almost all shapes and its cheap. Then you could have M cars which weight way less

[jmg]

IMHO a significant factor of the appeal of CF is it’s use in high performance applications. Of this material is used widely enough, it will become attractive by association. It’s the Halo Effect.

[JSebF1]

Porsche did exactly same thing with race cars way before BMW New g82 m4 gt4 It’s twice more expensive for parts made out of flax then Full carbon f82 gt4 . Exactly same scenario with Porsche . Who makes more money on the and ???

Another reason why flax on race cars because when those cars Catch fire and burn to the ground they burn more clean compared to cf and less mess to clean, disposal.

And probably recycle of flax will be like recycling paper.

[Alexvier]

That’s epic. I’m all for using the bespoke weave pattern on the natural fibres to make the car lighter.

Bloody awesome that the technology has come so far to use resins on natural products to create outer body parts.

It’s fucking awesome. I’d have my whole car decorated like that if I could. She’d a few kgs and have CSL with a family tartan weave pattern.

None of that forged carbon bull shit palava.

[Mech Spec]

Some weird reaction to the fiber being natural based.

The new fiber weave is fully embedded in resin, just like carbon weave is fully embedded in resin. It's just another substrate that is more sustainably sourced. I wouldnt expect it to be any different than CF twill in longevity or resistance to animals (lol)

Having more ductility is a nice bonus, as CF parts are notoriously bad in this regard.

The pattern is very different. Im sure there are folks who would prefer a more traditional weave.

[Groganrocket]

Yuck!!

[Schn3ll]

More companies making things worse all under the guise of “saving the planet”. Al Gore fooled a ton of people - but none of his doomsday nonsense ever happened. Yet, many still believe in some apocalyptic scenarios that will never happen and the powers that be won’t stop making things worse for all of us despite this.

[bjcarls]

reminds me of the graphics in Minecraft

[nick3753]

Originally Posted by bjcarls

reminds me of the graphics in Minecraft

Exactly what popped up in my head when I saw it. I’m shocked they didn’t promote it with the recent movie.