Beautiful Skin - BMW MINI Uses High-Tech Steel By Thyssenkrupp

When Niki Lauda competed in the first motor race of his career in 1968 – and placed second – he was not yet sitting behind the wheel of a Ferrari: It was a Mini. The 1960s was a successful decade for the Mini – it brought three different champions to a first-place finish in the world-famous Monte Carlo Rally. In addition to impressing on racetracks, it also graced the silver screen – alongside the legendary Michael Caine in The Italian Job, for instance.



That decade established this little car’s large cult following. The fact that it is no longer truly British has not diminished its popularity in the slight­est. On the contrary: Ever since BMW started making the MINI (now written in all caps), it has become a firm fixture on the streets of continental Europe. ­thyssenkrupp always rides along with the MINI – as of recently, the company’s high-quality flat steel with ZM EcoProtect coating is included in the car’s outer paneling. The MINI Hatch has ZM EcoProtect on its roof, and the MINI Clubman has it on its fenders.

Zinc-magnesium coatings set standards for both corrosion protection and processing.

Frank Bosch
Thyssenkrupp Key Account Manager for BMW

Thyssenkrupp’s Steel division is the first steel manufacturer in the world to put zinc-magnesium coating suitable for outer paneling into mass production – and eight months earlier than scheduled, at that. Many automotive manufacturers have caught on to the trend of those innovative surfaces – and many others are figuring out how and when they can switch to these surfaces, too.

Why did the Bavarian car manufacturer choose zinc-magnesium coating instead of conventional zinc coating? For Frank Bosch, the answer is obvious.

This new coating provides our vehicles’ inner and outer paneling parts with many more advantages than conventional zinc coating does: better processing, better corrosion protection, and a thinner zinc layer that lets us conserve resources.

Frank Bosch
thyssenkrupp Key Account Manager for BMW

Source: engineered.thyssenkrupp.com