I think I am going to paint my LeMans Blau trim pieces.

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by relentlessone

The rear cup holder trim has two screws underneath that have to be removed. I used a mirror laid on the floor to see what I was doing. If you are removing the whole center console though, you can just remove them after that. I can't speak for the ashtray, as I didn't try to pry that apart, but the radio trim has two metal posts with clips that I had to drill out in order to remove. You will have to remove the whole plastic flip carrier to get to them.

I vinyled my trim the first time around and it was perfect for a couple months. Not a flaw in sight. After that though, it started to pull around the inside corners and wrinkles appeared in outside corners. My theory is that when it bakes in the sun all day the softened adhesive lets the vinyl slide a little, and then when it cools down you get the wrinkles. I am by no means a pro vinyl wrapper, so it could have been something I did or didn't do, but I will be painting my trim this time around. Removing that center console sucks.

EDIT: just realized you said you would be wrapping the console inside the car. IMO you have to remove it to do it right. The black plastic piece around the seat heater buttons has to be removed in order to tuck it in there, and same goes with the cup holder. I suppose it could just be trimmed with a blade, but then there is nothing holding the vinyl on place. You might be able to make it work though, these are just my opinions.

Good luck!

Was contemplating doing this with the 1080 Scotchprint Vinyl on all my wood trim pieces, you don't think its as durable?

Also, to get the CD player trim piece off you said you had to drill it out?


As DTMDan noted piano black or silver to match the door handle would be perfect, and the vinyl is cheap so I'd like to pay a tint/vinyl shop a couple bucks to do it professionally with the trim off the car

[relentlessone]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

Was contemplating doing this with the 1080 Scotchprint Vinyl on all my wood trim pieces, you don't think its as durable?

Also, to get the CD player trim piece off you said you had to drill it out?


As DTMDan noted piano black or silver to match the door handle would be perfect, and the vinyl is cheap so I'd like to pay a tint/vinyl shop a couple bucks to do it professionally with the trim off the car

I think the 1080 vinyl is plenty durable, I just didn't like the wrinkles that appeared after a little while. I know there is an adhesion promoter that some vinyl wrap shops use that might solve the problem, but I can't say for certain. This was my first vinyl trim wrap, and it looked great when I was finished, but lack of experience could have played a part.

For the CD trim, once you get the whole flip up part out of the dash, you'll see two metal posts on the backside holding the wood/metal trim to the plastic carrier. There are clips on those posts that I wasn't able to remove, so I drilled the posts down past the clips to separate the pieces. I planned on using 3M double-sided tape to reconnect the two, just haven't done that yet because my radio trim has some cracks I was trying to fix.

[Ricky Bobby]

thanks for the input, I'm ordering a couple samples to see what I like.

I'm going to call up my local tint shop and a couple of places I know that do vinyl and hopefully can just pay a few bucks to have it done professionally wrapped with a heat gun, no adhesion promotor needed on the 1080 that i found, its a dry install with some heat for stretching. I'll bring the pieces in and drop them off hopefully they wouldn't charge too much.

Like you said, experience probably plays a part and I'm sure my novice vinyl wrapping skills would have me getting wrinkles after a few months.

[relentlessone]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

thanks for the input, I'm ordering a couple samples to see what I like.

I'm going to call up my local tint shop and a couple of places I know that do vinyl and hopefully can just pay a few bucks to have it done professionally wrapped with a heat gun, no adhesion promotor needed on the 1080 that i found, its a dry install with some heat for stretching. I'll bring the pieces in and drop them off hopefully they wouldn't charge too much.

Like you said, experience probably plays a part and I'm sure my novice vinyl wrapping skills would have me getting wrinkles after a few months.

No problem! I used a heat gun as well. It was the only way to stretch the vinyl enough around some of the curves. Post some feedback once you have had it wrapped for a couple months. I would like to re-attempt it in the future if I figure out what went wrong.

[Ricky Bobby]

UPDATE FOR VINYL WRAPPING ROUTE* Well now I am back to square one.

I got quoted around 375-450 including the steering wheel trim to be wrapped in 1080 scotchprint, inclusive of material. This is by my well known and reputable clear bra/tint/vinyl installer I have been using since 2008, he is very fair and his work is impeccable.

I know i can buy the material for about 60 bucks, don't know if i want to spend additional 350 on labor though. I thought because of them being small pieces that I could probably get away with 200 bucks, I mean it can't be much time in labor to wrap this stuff! Only thing that would be tough in my opinion would be the bottom steering trim and the center consol trim itself. I am going to take the samples i get and wrap a small piece or two of trim to see how it goes on and holds.


But honestly for that price I might as well just take all the pieces out and have them painted cosmoschwarz or titansilber. I can paint it myself, just would need a lot of prep work, time to sand things smooth, etc.

[Ricky Bobby]

was doing some searching on paint this morning, and went to www.automotivetouchup.com, which i used to color match some items on my old Volkswagen with very favorable results. I painted rear bumper reflectors to color match and they came out great and were very durable. For under 100 bucks you can get paint (2 cans), primer, clearcoat,tack cloth, and sandpaper packs if you need them as well. Just pick your color code. I am highly considering a DIY approach since I did get very favorable results on my old Volkswagen and for durability, instead of conventional clear, they sell this urethane clearcoat:

SprayMax 2K Urethane Clearcoat | Aerosol Touch Up | AutomotiveTouchup | 888-710-5192

Might be tougher and more scratch resistant of a clearcoat than conventional, if one were to DIY

[TwinTurboGTR]

Originally Posted by papasmurf

Did you paint or wrap your trim yet? I have a friend with silver trim for sale.

No I haven't done anything yet. I've been so busy the last few months I haven't had a chance to get a good look at whats involved and what the best approach is yet.

But as soon as I do, I am posting pics!

[Ricky Bobby]

Alright so update:

I got a line on painting the interior trim any OEM BMW color code from the shop JG Works, they do a lot of posting on E90 post and the work looks beautiful. They quoted me 300 for all trim including steering wheel, plus shipping.

i think that is damn good price for what you get, and might even be better than wrapping with vinyl. If anyone needs contact info let me know! Considering my estimate for vinyl is higher by 150 or so than painting the exact OEM color, i'm leaning towards getting painted...