[nikitino25]

I Just detailed my interior using aerospace 303 and everything looks good except now I have noticed a large spot on the black vinyl at the top of the door (see photos in link). I'ts almost like the original finish is worn away in this area and it's now faded; I never noticed it before and I don't think the 303 had anything to do with it but now it's more pronounced. I don't know what it's from, maybe previous owner used to rest his elbow here or something but anyway, looking for some advice on how to restore the spot area to make it look new again like the rest of the door. I've tried spraying the 303 directly on and rubbing it in with my fingers and then wiping off but at soon as it dries, the spot is back. This is bugging me, everthing else looks gorgeous and this faded area kind of stands out now. Anybody got suggestions for what to treat this area with to get rid of the spot? Don't let me resort to Armour All......This is on an '07 335i by the way.

see faded area in photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4685706...7632788360407/

[Raja Ventureshield]

have you tried Black Wow? yeah that looks strange.

[pander5]

Have you tried to clean it first with a light apc mixture. Amost looks like a dirty spot. If you have tried that i'm stumped.

Orgasmic color combo btw...love the red/black with silver or space.

[nikitino25]

Originally Posted by pander5

Have you tried to clean it first with a light apc mixture. Amost looks like a dirty spot. If you have tried that i'm stumped.

Orgasmic color combo btw...love the red/black with silver or space.

Thanks for the color combo love, I either wanted silver/red or white red...
What is an apc mixture? I thought it might be a dirty spot too and I tried to kind of tried to scrub it a little with paper towel and water but nothing really happened and I didn't want to do any more damage....

[pander5]

Apc = all purpose cleaner.

[Gray_Panther]

Apc is all purpose cleaner like dawn dish soap and water. Try using a bit of that with a microfiber towel.

Make sure the water+dish soap is very warm. Hot compress. Don't scrub hard as that will wear away the material.

[Noncom23]

Almost looks likes the dye is worn down to the under coat.
Does it look that way to you?

[nikitino25]

Yep, it kind of looks like the original finish is worn away; I'm going to try one more time though with the apc solution and hot water just to make sure it's not dirt.....

[Noncom23]

Originally Posted by nikitino25

Yep, it kind of looks like the original finish is worn away; I'm going to try one more time though with the apc solution and hot water just to make sure it's not dirt.....

Have to be careful on these interiors. Sometimes the more
we rub, the worse it gets...

[nikitino25]

Well, I tried to scrub it with just some hot soapy water and a microfiber towel and still the same; I actually looked at it with a magnifying glass (yeah i'm not messin around) and it does look like the original shiny finish is worn off here so, I think I need some kind of paint/polish to restore the finish; I'm even thinking about black shoe polish....Anybody got any other ideas?
I hit it with some more aerospace 303 also but didn't help...

[nikitino25]

Anybody heard of Colorbond? Maybe I need some of this stuff, it's kind of like a vinyl spray paint that bonds to the vinyl. They even have a bmw black matched color:

http://www.bryndana.com/

[SHEEDI]

Try this http://www.amazon.com/Black-Jacket-L...408632-5563546

[nikitino25]

I think I'll try the Colorbond stuff especially since they have a BMW black; I'll post the results...

[SHEEDI]

or may be try to findout how much it will cost to replace that door part?

[Noncom23]

Originally Posted by SHEEDI

or may be try to findout how much it will cost to replace that door part?

+1

[nikitino25]

Originally Posted by SHEEDI

or may be try to findout how much it will cost to replace that door part?

Yeah I thought about that too but I think the upper section with the trouble spot is attached to the rest of the whole door panel so I would probably need a whole new door panel so that's kind of my last resort; probably not too cheap....

[nv_e92]

DUDE! I have had the same exact problem since I bought my car (in the same color combo too).

I agree re-dyeing is probably the way to go, but I don't trust myself with dye so I just hit it with 303 about every other week and I stop myself before I try and rest my elbow up there haha.

Sub'd for your results. Good luck!

[nikitino25]

Yeah I tried hitting it with the 303 a few times but it doesn't really help on the spot. I got that colorbond stuff and am in the process of painting some test material to make sure the color/texture will match ok; I just don't want to make it worse than it already is....It's too cold here to put it on the car just yet anyway but I'll update the post if and when I try it.

[hasta la pasta 27]

You rest your arm there and have caused the top coating to wear. Normal wear and tear. The 303 can leave a slight "nourished" look to your interior but since that spot is worn, it is not easily seen. Not much you can do.

Smoking, driving with left arm resting there or hanging your arm out the window easily wear it out. You don't even want to see my buddy's C63 lol

[nikitino25]

Well I tried the colorbond stuff and spot and would give it a mixed review. The color didn't exactly match, I think it's a little darker and I could have done a better paint job probably but overall I think it's an improvement. It did cover up the worn spot and it's less noticeable now. I kind of painted a bigger area than I needed to though but I still think it looks better than it did before. See pics below and it's actually not as noticeable as it seems to be in the pics...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/4685706...7632788360407/