Where does interior wood trim come from?

[bryan@mwerks]

Great post, Guibo. You only have to study a few fakes against real wood to be able to pick up on the difference. The fakes are getting better, but there is an underlying texture to natural wood that hasn't yet been replicated.

It would appear that BMW attempted to get a more black/grey look out of the grey poplar trim. The wood itself has a very light natural color that would take a black stain well. A few years ago I veneered a friend's dash with bird's eye maple that I stained black. The results were very similar; predominantly black with a slightly brown undertone and pale highlights. The project was a brave experiment (in other words, it didn't turn out quite right) but I learned a lot from it. It's nice to see natural materials in a modern car.