Not Everything Extraordinary Needs To Shout.
Some objects announce themselves from across the room.
Others wait until you get closer.
The AutoStuhl M3 Black Edition is the latter.
It begins with an authentic BMW G80 M3 front Comfort Seat finished in black leather and presented in exceptional, mint condition.
Then we remove it from the environment it was designed for and create an entirely new object around it.
BMW M engineering.
AutoStuhl steel.
Hand craftsmanship.
Bespoke personalization.
And an unmistakable piece of automotive design transformed into something you can use every day.
There are only two.
THE M3.
Nearly Four Decades Of Expectation.
Few letters and numbers carry as much meaning among driving enthusiasts as M3.
The original established its reputation in motorsport.
Every generation since has had to answer to it.
The G80 represents the sixth generation of that lineage.
A twin-turbocharged straight-six.
Rear-wheel drive available with a six-speed manual.
Competition variants producing more than 500 horsepower.
Serious track capability inside a sedan capable of taking you to work every morning.
That contradiction is part of what makes an M3 an M3.
Performance and practicality occupying the same space.
These seats were engineered around exactly that idea.
THE COMFORT SEAT.
Which Is A Rather Misleading Name.
“Comfort” makes it sound ordinary.
It isn't.
This is BMW M's answer to a difficult engineering problem:
How do you create a seat appropriate for a serious performance automobile without requiring its owner to climb into a racing bucket every morning?
Support when you need it.
Adjustability when you want it.
Comfort when the drive lasts considerably longer than expected.
And enough visual presence that nobody mistakes it for the seat from an ordinary sedan.
That's what makes it such a natural starting point for an AutoStuhl.
Have You Ever Had A Sore Butt From Sitting On An Airplane Too Long?
This Is The Opposite Of That Experience.
Automotive manufacturers spend enormous amounts of engineering effort on something most people rarely think about.
Where you sit.
The seat has to accommodate different bodies.
Different driving positions.
Different journeys.
Hours at a time.
Day after day.
Year after year.
We began asking a simple question decades ago:
Why do we accept less from the chair we sit in while working?
AutoStuhl is our answer.
BMW BUILT THE SEAT.
AUTOSTUHL BUILDS EVERYTHING AROUND IT.
There is an easy way to turn an automotive seat into an office chair.
Buy an inexpensive mass-produced swivel base.
Make an adapter.
Bolt the two together.
Done.
That's not what we build.
The AutoStuhl foundation is purpose-built from substantial fabricated steel.
Heavy-duty casters.
Engineered mounting.
Carefully finished components.
Individual assembly.
No commodity base pretending to belong underneath serious automotive engineering.
Most people will never crawl underneath their AutoStuhl to inspect its construction.
We build it for the person who would.
Because the things nobody sees are often the best indication of how something was made.
BLACK.
BECAUSE IT DOESN'T NEED AN EXPLANATION.
There is something particularly right about an M seat in black.
It works almost anywhere.
Walnut.
Glass.
Steel.
Stone.
Concrete.
Traditional executive furniture.
Ultra-modern architecture.
A private garage.
A minimalist home office.
Black doesn't compete with its surroundings.
It gives the shape of the seat permission to do the talking.
And unlike the more extroverted AutoStuhl editions, this one reveals itself gradually.
First:
Beautiful chair.
Then:
Unusual chair.
Then:
“Wait...is that an M3 seat?”
Exactly.
SOME OBJECTS DESERVE AN INTRODUCTION.
That's one of our principles at AutoStuhl.
We don't build furniture intended to disappear.
We build objects owners enjoy explaining.
A client enters your office.
A friend walks into your study.
Another enthusiast visits your collection.
Eventually someone notices.
They look at the seat.
They recognize the proportions.
The M detailing.
Then comes the question:
“What is that?”
It's an AutoStuhl.
Built around an authentic G80 BMW M3 Comfort Seat.
There were two Black Editions.
This is one of them.
That's considerably more interesting than “nice office chair.”
BUILT TO WORK.
NOT SIMPLY TO BE DISPLAYED.
Sit in it.
Every day.
That's the idea.
Put it behind your desk.
Take meetings in it.
Read in it.
Think in it.
Spend an embarrassingly long Saturday night on the internet looking for your next car in it.
This isn't automotive memorabilia imprisoned behind glass.
It's functional automotive art.
The fact that it's collectible shouldn't prevent you from using it.
Quite the opposite.
Exceptional engineering deserves to be experienced.
ONE OF TWO.
MADE ONE OF ONE.
There are two Black Editions.
But there never needs to be another one exactly like yours.
Every AutoStuhl can be commissioned with bespoke stainless steel Signature Panels, precision laser-cut specifically for its original owner.
Your corporate identity.
Your family crest.
Your initials.
A personal motto.
A favorite verse.
Your signature.
A racing number.
A meaningful date.
The silhouette of your automobile.
Your company's founding year.
A significant accomplishment.
Or something nobody else needs to understand.
This isn't personalization selected from a dropdown menu.
We develop the artwork around your commission.
Because when an object is intended to remain with you for decades, it should contain something of you.
FOR THE FOUNDER.
There's another reason we particularly like the Black Edition.
It works beautifully as an executive object.
Imagine your company's mark laser-cut into the stainless Signature Panels.
Not printed.
Not embroidered.
Not stuck onto the chair.
Cut into metal.
Perhaps the year you founded the company beneath it.
Perhaps your motto on the opposite side.
Suddenly the chair tells two stories.
BMW built the engineering that began it.
You built the company that made it yours.
That's the difference between customization and commissioning.
YOUR M3.
YOUR STORY.
Already own an M3?
Then make the AutoStuhl about yours.
We can explore Signature Panel artwork based around your automobile.
Its silhouette.
Its year.
Its chassis number.
Its specification.
A circuit.
A road.
A significant date.
A racing number.
Or simply a restrained visual reference another BMW enthusiast will recognize immediately.
The seat provides the connection.
Your story provides the provenance.
TWO SEATS.
ONE MATCHING SET.
Commission one.
Or keep both.
One behind your desk.
One opposite it for the person who comes to see you.
One at work.
One at home.
Two partners.
Two founders.
Two offices.
Or keep the matching pair together simply because you can.
Once the first chair is commissioned individually, the opportunity to own the original pair disappears.
There may still be one Black Edition available.
There will no longer be a pair.
01 / 02
Each AutoStuhl M3 Black Edition receives its permanent individual commission number.
01 OF 02
02 OF 02
Not one of 500.
Not an unlimited “limited edition.”
Two authentic seats.
Two AutoStuhls.
When both are spoken for, the Black Edition created from this matching set is complete.
CERTIFICATE OF PROVENANCE
Every Black Edition receives an individual AutoStuhl Certificate of Provenance documenting the beginning of its second life.
Its commission number.
Its automotive seat provenance.
Its completion date.
Its configuration.
Its materials and finishes.
Its Signature Panel design.
Its original commission.
Why bother?
Because we aren't building these with the expectation that they'll eventually be thrown away.
We expect someone to want them later.
Maybe much later.
And when that happens, the object's story should travel with it.
BUILT FOR THE PERSON WHO WANTS IT NOTICED.
Understated doesn't mean invisible.
That's an important distinction.
The Black Edition doesn't need a spectacular color to make itself interesting.
Its owner knows what it is.
BMW enthusiasts know what it is.
And everyone else eventually asks.
That's the experience we're after.
Not conspicuous consumption.
Conspicuous craftsmanship.
Something worth noticing.
Something worth touching.
Something worth sitting in.
And something worth explaining.
WORK.
HOME.
BOARDROOM.
COLLECTION.
Where does it belong?
Behind an executive desk.
Inside a home office.
In a study.
At the head of a conference table.
In an automotive showroom.
Beside your M3.
Inside a private garage.
Or perhaps as the visitor's chair across from your desk.
Although we're not entirely sure you'll want to let visitors sit in it.
The Black Edition doesn't require an automotive environment.
It brings enough automotive character with it.
