So Im thinking about getting a '12 JCW.
I build what I want on the Mini website and choose Eclipse Grey.
Really like how it looks with the stripes and roof I chose.

I decide to check, in detail, the R56's and see the colors in person, at the new dealership near me.

WOW, was I slightly dissapointed in how it really looks in person.
Its a LOT darker and too brownish/green for my taste. Kind of taupe.
On the web it looks more grey and lighter, with all the fake highlights on it.

Time to decide on the next color scheme now and make another trip back out to see it in person.

Now I know to look in some galleries and on the web for REAL pictures of MINI colors, before getting all excited about what I created virtually.

 

You'll get there. Smart move though to check out the galleries.
Someone just may post you a pic of the actual color.

 

It's always a good idea to see the actual colors in person. There are so many ways for errors to creep into color representation on-line that it's amazing we even get close.

It's also good to look at the actual colors under different lighting conditions. And if you're not looking at a whole car, look at it against different backgrounds as well. All of those change how colors are perceived.

 

I would definitely check out owner/color threads here i.e. "Official Eclipse Grey Owners thread"...or whatever color you're looking for. You can see the colors in a variety of lighting situation. It's not like seeing them in person but more realistic. More of a challenge with new colors, as Eclipse Grey was when I was looking. I really like Eclipse Grey, but it's definitely GREEN, and you definitely want to know what you're getting.

 

That's Ok! I like it and ordered it as a JCW. Due here by April 10th and it is on the Independence II right now taking the voyage from England. Red roof, red mirrors and stripes. I LIKE IT!!!

 

Febmoon..thats the combo I chose but decided no, once I saw it in the flesh.
Nothing wrong with the color..just not for me.

 

I'd echo Slave to Felines as well: some colors vary a lot depending on lighting, and setting, as nearby objects / buildings / whatever reflect or absorb different colors out of the light.

e.g., MINI's Ice Blue color (not that you'd choose it, and few do, but it's an excellent example of the phenomenon) renders on their color chart as a light bluish grey, on the rendered car as an almost battleship grey, but in person can be anywhere from light robin's egg blue to sky blue, depending on lighting. So yes...it does pay to examine a lot of member galleries if you're choosing not-white or not-black colors, and even then accounting for variability in cameras, jpeg rendering and compression, and a bunch of other stuff that the graphics guys could educate me about.

And nothing beats a dealer lot visit to look at a few, of course. That's how I settled, I never considered "Ice Blue" till I saw one. "Oh, *that's* what it looks like? Who knew?"