I got my allocation last week and promptly put in my order for Phantom Black S5 with Black Leather and Stainless accents. Despite the horror stories of maintaining a black car - i thought the Phantom Black was for me and would be a little less prone to the classic black problems because of the pearl effect... but the pictures I see of the Phantom look like just straight black to me - it is hard to pick up the pearl effect in the photos. Can you comment on your experience with Phantom Black - does the pearl affect stand out? How different is Phantom from straight black? I keep thinking of switching over to Meteor gray.

Phantom is quite a bit different in person. You can definitely notice the pearl. Only problem I have w/ PB is that it never looks clean to me. Always has a dusty look. Obviously, the pearl. How about an Audi Exclusive color, say Imola Yellow? That would be sweet on an S5. Whatever you decide, enjoy.

Regards,
John

I got my phantom S5 a couple of weeks back. It looks great, and the pearl effect shows up really well when you get close up, especially in the sun. I personally like it as there's a ton of black cars on the road, so the pearl adds an extra bit of flavor.

I was just looking at the dust on my car an hour ago, not sure where I picked that up although I drove about 400 miles over the w/e -currently wondering if those California dust busters work OK without leaving scratches.

I'd go to an Audi showroom and try see it on another car. Also, it's not unlike the paint job I saw on a colleagues M5 as well for what it's worth.

photos of it. It is a blue gray not quite as warm as it looks in some recent photos posted here.

I have the Meteor Gray and honestly, you can't go wrong with either color. But you need to see them in person, the pictures don't do them justice!!!

The pearl in the phantom is noticeable and when it's clean i frequently get comments on the paint (in addition to the car itself) I think its a fun way to distinguish the S5 from the A5 as it's not available on the A5.

You'll be very happy with the car as you have it. Also, if in the event you decide to sell the car i think it will be extremely easy to unload in this color.