With the second-generation 2 Series (codenamed G42), BMW is peeling off the sports coupe's "Made in Germany" label as the assembly is now being done at the Plant San Luis Potosi in Mexico where the 3 Series Saloon also comes to life. Production started at the beginning of the month, and to celebrate the event, a one-off 2er has gone through the art car treatment.

Joining forces with local plastic artist Bosco, BMW employees Luis Esquivel and David Fernandes from the paint shop applied a colourful livery to the new 2 Series Coupe. It fuses the Mexican and German flags to signal the connection between where the car is made and where it was developed (and once built as its predecessor was made in Leipzig).

Gallery: 2022 BMW 2 Series Coupe art car

No fewer than eight different colours were used, requiring 6.1 litres of paint and 2.5 litres of clear coat. Some of the colours have five layers of paint, with BMW mentioning the entire paint was applied manually. The workers applied the paint colour by colour and had to wait for the paint to dry off half an hour between each coat.

It was a time-consuming process as three weeks were needed to apply the paint, another two for the clear coat, and two more to polish the body and iron out any imperfections. BMW admits it wasn't an easy task because the 2 Series Coupe is "full of curves" and that required a lot of attention to detail. The vehicle chosen for the art car look is an M240i in a right-hand-drive layout.

While this finish won't be available to customers, there is a pretty good chance BMW will sell the new 2er in some special colours as we're expecting Individual shades to be offered in the near future. After all, front-wheel-drive cars such as the 1 Series hatchback and 2 Series Gran Coupe now come with a choice between 160 colours, and it would make sense for the RWD coupe to benefit from Individual paints. There are already rumours suggesting the flagship M2 will have them, at the very least.

The M240i featured here has an xDrive setup, but a RWD configuration is coming. However, as with all 2022 2 Series Coupe versions, it too will be offered exclusively with an automatic. The silver lining is the clutch pedal will return with the new M2 likely coming in the latter half of next year.