[Nikki.Alexa]

How should I black out my window trim???... I am not, nor will ever be, a fan of chrome.
Should I just be cheap and spray paint it...
Should I shadowline vinyl wrap it...
OR
Should I pay to get it professional removed and painted..?


So many choices

[marcus321]

I hate plastidip but this is one spot where it makes sense. Save the money you would waste on professional removal or vinyl for other mods and get a $6 can of plastidip.

[idrift4wd]

vinyl it.

dip it if you want a fun diy and save some money. looks okay but vinyl is much cleaner.

[Nikki.Alexa]

Originally Posted by idrift4wd

vinyl it.

dip it if you want a fun diy and save some money. looks okay but vinyl is much cleaner.

plastidip is matte where as vinyl is shinny right?

[Nikki.Alexa]

Originally Posted by marcus321

I hate plastidip but this is one spot where it makes sense. Save the money you would waste on professional removal or vinyl for other mods and get a $6 can of plastidip.

is it fool proof though?

[Bimmer07]

if you got other matte stuff on the car go for plastidip since its matte too. If u want shiny its like 150 bucks to vinyl wrap it.

[Nikki.Alexa]

Originally Posted by Bimmer07

if you got other matte stuff on the car go for plastidip since its matte too. If u want shiny its like 150 bucks to vinyl wrap it.

my kidney grill is matte black so i do not want shinny lol

[Amini77]

I vinyl wrapped mine..some parts didn't come out perfect because of the seems but A LOT better than when I did plastidip...the wrap will take a full day to do. But it's worth it.

[zamboni]

Don't they offer the window shadow trims in black?

[alexwhittemore]

Originally Posted by Alexandra92

is it fool proof though?

Completely. It might take you a try or two to get it right, without any bubbles or splotchiness. The first time I did my kidneys I got some of that. I should probably take them off and do them over, but it's not bothersome enough to take priority.

You can look up bunches of tutorials, but basically you're spraying on paint that dries into a rubbery film. If something doesn't look right (like bubbles or you just don't like the look), you can peel it off in one big sheet, it won't leave any marks or residue. The biggest problem is when you only get a bit of light spray on something, because then you have to spend the time rubbing it off, it won't peel off contiguously.

The idea is to mask off around the edge of the trim, but loosely (only to get the light spray that's a pain to rub off). Spray the trim so it's got a nice even coat, then peel off all the overspray on the paint or door.

Overall, it comes out looking shockingly good. The thing about vinyl is that most of it looks nice, but all the edges where there are inconsistent folds or cuts look tacky, and like you've wrapped your car in vinyl. All the lines on plasti-dip sort of hide themselves, and it doesn't look tacky until you're right up super close (not got-out-of-the-car-in-the-next-space-over close, where vinyl starts to look off, but lean-down-and-examine close).

[Shermanator2411]

Originally Posted by zamboni

Don't they offer the window shadow trims in black?

328 and 325s come with black window trim, so you can buy/trade for OEM black trim if you want... It can get pricey though

[eppisgood]

I'm getting annoyed with my chrome window trim and I have matte black kidney grilles as well. Thinking about going the plastidip route.

[Nikki.Alexa]

Originally Posted by alexwhittemore

Completely. It might take you a try or two to get it right, without any bubbles or splotchiness. The first time I did my kidneys I got some of that. I should probably take them off and do them over, but it's not bothersome enough to take priority.

You can look up bunches of tutorials, but basically you're spraying on paint that dries into a rubbery film. If something doesn't look right (like bubbles or you just don't like the look), you can peel it off in one big sheet, it won't leave any marks or residue. The biggest problem is when you only get a bit of light spray on something, because then you have to spend the time rubbing it off, it won't peel off contiguously.

The idea is to mask off around the edge of the trim, but loosely (only to get the light spray that's a pain to rub off). Spray the trim so it's got a nice even coat, then peel off all the overspray on the paint or door.

Overall, it comes out looking shockingly good. The thing about vinyl is that most of it looks nice, but all the edges where there are inconsistent folds or cuts look tacky, and like you've wrapped your car in vinyl. All the lines on plasti-dip sort of hide themselves, and it doesn't look tacky until you're right up super close (not got-out-of-the-car-in-the-next-space-over close, where vinyl starts to look off, but lean-down-and-examine close).

Thank you for typing that all out. Very helpful. I appreciate it! =)

[alexwhittemore]

Originally Posted by Alexandra92

Thank you for typing that all out. Very helpful. I appreciate it! =)

No problem. For $5 a can and maybe half an hour of effort, it should definitely be your first resort. Professional (probably even non-professional, if you're good with a paint can) painting will look better, but if you're satisfied, you've saved a ton of time and money, and if you're not, peel it off and you're out $5.

[aph335i]

Listen; idk where you came up with 150 for vinyl but go here http://www.bmwshadowline.com/

This is vinyl wrap cut specially for our trims to make it easier. You can get it in GLOSS BLACK or MATTE BLACK. only 35 bucks.

Side note to you with matte grilles: I also had matte and didn't like the way it looked on jet black. I bought a can of clear coat and sprayed them and they came out perfect and a great balance between gloss and matte.. More on the gloss side. Keep it in mind if you get bored with matte.

[zamboni]

Please don't ruin the car doing it right with OEM parts, below is the link hope you can find the black shadow trim for your car.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...88&hg=51&fg=20

[gunsekun]

seems pretty fun

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...IY+window+trim

[cmyk]

I plasti dipped mine first to make sure I liked the look. I did, so I had OEM shadowline installed. That's really the only way to go IMHO.

[MrRetep]

I had mine vinyl wrapped, been over a year now with zero issues. In weather ranging from extreme cold to extreme heat, through heavy rain, weekly hand washing and occasional drive through gas station wash. Not a single issue I bought the black matte wrap from here http://www.bmwshadowline.com/ and had a local guy install it for $150 in my garage took about 2 hours. I tried doing it myself but failed. I also recommend removing your side mirrors to make the bottom trim easier to get to, it will also look nicer around that area.

[Plo_E92]

I got matte black shadowline trim off ebay for like 20 bucks, did it myself. took a good 3 hours though 0:

[Nikki.Alexa]

Originally Posted by Plo_E92

I got matte black shadowline trim off ebay for like 20 bucks, did it myself. took a good 3 hours though 0:

does it look good?

[edirtaynine]

gloss black trim > matte black trim

just fyi, on e92's, m3's and mtech packages have gloss black trim. only e90's have the matte black from the factory on base models only.