The animation is accompanied by sounds composed by Renzo Vitale, the BMW Group’s Creative Director, Sound. Using Mahlangu’s voice and the sound of the feather brushes she used for painting, combined with sounds produced by color pencils used in BMW’s design studio and the acoustic notes from the i5’s touch display, a unique sound mix was created that intensifies in line with the animation.
This isn’t the first time Mahlangu – known for her Ndebele paintings – has worked on BMW Art Cars. In 1991, she worked on the 12th BMW art car based on a BMW 525i, the spiritual predecessor of the BMW i5, earning her the title of the first woman and first African to do so. She has since worked on a BMW 740Li and more recently, a one-off Rolls-Royce Phantom.
The new art car also isn’t the first BMW to use E Ink’s tech. In 2022, the larger iX electric crossover utilized the technology by switching from white to black at the push of a button, with more colors being applied a year later.