BMW’s latest art car is colour changing tribute to iconic 525i

The BMW i5 Flow Nostokana (left) and the 1991 E34 525i. Photos/video: BMW

BMW has unveiled the i5 Flow Nostokana which is not only a nod to a famous artist but also a tech-filled car that changes colour.

In 1991, South African artist Esther Mahlangu created an E34 525i, becoming not only the first woman but the first African artist to create a BMW Art Car.

The 2024 remake on a new i5 has her signature colours and geometric patterns displayed on 1,349 different sections of E Ink film allowing them to be “electronically animated”.

BMW has been working on this colour-changing technology and first introduced it to the world with the iX Flow in 2022. That car could switch from white to black with the push of a button, but now the tech has been developed to allow for colour changes when an electric current is applied. 

South African artist Esther Mahlangu with BMW’s Stella Clarke.

The panels are now more robust, “which could make potential future series production easier,” says BMW.

The BMW i5 Flow Nostokana is on display at the Frieze Los Angeles art fair. The car is named after Mahlangu’s first son. 

“The BMW i5 Flow Nostokana honours the history of the BMW brand and continues the story of our global cultural engagement in a unique way. It combines art and design through progressive technology. Here, technology itself becomes art,” says Adrian van Hooydonk, head of BMW Group Design.

Stella Clarke, Research Engineer Open Innovations at the BMW Group, said Mahlangu inspired her years ago but the concept of colour change on a car was just an idea in her head

“Now, being able to realise this idea, and work with Esther Mahlangu, is absolutely surreal,” said Clarke.

The 88-year-old artist’s signature colours and geometric patterns are perfect for bringing the innovative Flow technology to life in the BMW i5. The versatility of the electrophoretic colour changes makes the fully- electric sedan a dynamic work of art. 

“It is fascinating to me to see how modern technology can expand my art and make it accessible to a completely new audience,” said Mahlangu.

Each section of film on the car can be individually controlled and the animations it displays are accompanied by a new soundtrack composed by Renzo Vitale, BMW’s creative director for sound. To create said track, Vitale mixed Mahlangu’s voice, the sound of her feather paint brushes, the sound of pencils in the BMW design studio and noises made by the i5’s touchscreen.