removing exterior trim to replace or referb?

[BMW DIY Guy]

Hey all!

I am working over my partners 01 E53 to get it refreshed back to looking near new. One thing that looks a little rough is the chrome trim around the windoes and the exterior black plastic on the B and C pillars, and even the door guards.

Obvious first thought is to replace it all. The chrome looks fine, but has these permanent seeming water spot kinda discolorations, and the black pieces are fading towards dark grey.

Replace? Any idea of how hard to get all of that off? If referb, I am looking at Griot's Garage for black restore products, but no clue on the chrome?

Thanks!

[Delta2nineR]

They should just clip out. In the manual it referenced a specific tooling which is basically a "trim removing Tool". It's a plastic scraper looking thing that can be found at automotive stores. The actual trim isn't cheap though so try a trim restoration polish first?

[BMW DIY Guy]

Originally Posted by Delta2nineR

They should just clip out. In the manual it referenced a specific tooling which is basically a "trim removing Tool". It's a plastic scraper looking thing that can be found at automotive stores. The actual trim isn't cheap though so try a trim restoration polish first?

Yeah, I have looked up the part prices and holy !@@#$!#@$ it would way too much money to replace the chrome trim and the black plastic/rubber pieces. I would love to get the chrome trim buffed back up though for sure.

[bcredliner]

I'd tape it off and do the work without removing the trim. Too easy to damage it taking it off and putting it back on.