[Alen E90]

Hey everyone!

I’m about to have a body shop take my wood trim from my E90 and refinish it in some type of cool matte finish. However, I wanted to know if anyone has ever done this before? I’m wondering if after the wood trim has been sanded and primed, will the finish that I’m desiring come out exactly how I’d prefer it to be?

Thank you!

[djh2]

It’s common to wrap your trim, you can find many examples on the forum.

I don’t think I’ve seen much on actually painting the trim but probably because DIY vinyl is easier?

[jeddo45]

Originally Posted by Alen E90

Hey everyone!

I’m about to have a body shop take my wood trim from my E90 and refinish it in some type of cool matte finish. However, I wanted to know if anyone has ever done this before? I’m wondering if after the wood trim is sanded and primed, will the paint that I’m desiring come out exactly how I’d like it to come out?

Thank you!

In short, yes. Sanding it down and roughing it up is key. I'd say consider DIYing it especially if your going to to paint them. Should be cheaper than wrapping them.

[Alen E90]

Originally Posted by djh2

It’s common to wrap your trim, you can find many examples on the forum.

I don’t think I’ve seen much on actually painting the trim but probably because DIY vinyl is easier?

I was originally going to wrap it, but that was until the ridiculous quotes that I was getting lol. That’s when I told myself that it makes more sense to pay the same amount but get the trim painted instead lol.

Originally Posted by jeddo45

In short, yes. Sanding it down and roughing it up is key. I'd say consider DIYing it especially if your going to to paint them. Should be cheaper than wrapping them.

I’m not a DIY type of person or else I would’ve done it myself. Thanks for your input tho.

[ahlbe1cl]

Go with Vinyl wrap. Easy to reverse when you hate it in a few years. Paint is forever and will impact the value of your car

[King Rudi]

Originally Posted by ahlbe1cl

Go with Vinyl wrap. Easy to reverse when you hate it in a few years. Paint is forever and will impact the value of your car

This!!

Sarcastically you could have it powder coated. Cross thread jokes coming at ya!

[Alen E90]

Originally Posted by ahlbe1cl

Go with Vinyl wrap. Easy to reverse when you hate it in a few years. Paint is forever and will impact the value of your car

Originally Posted by Not_Judy

This!!

Sarcastically you could have it powder coated. Cross thread jokes coming at ya!

I was going to wrap it at first, but the quotes that I was getting came out to be the same price as painting it. At the end of the day, I’ll be paying money for a sticker basically lol. As for the value of my car, I’m planning on keeping this car for another 10 years probably, so at that point this car won’t even have much value left to it anymore.

[ahlbe1cl]

You are over thinking it. Buy some wrap and do it yourself with a hair dryer.

It appears that amazon sells a bunch of choices and it could cost you $10 - $20...

[Psyphertext]

Originally Posted by Alen E90

I was going to wrap it at first, but the quotes that I was getting came out to be the same price as painting it. At the end of the day, I’ll be paying money for a sticker basically lol. As for the value of my car, I’m planning on keeping this car for another 10 years probably, so at that point this car won’t even have much value left to it anymore.

So buy a hog trough and learn to hydro dip, redneck style.

Been considering a wrap or hydro dip myself. I simply cannot stand the sold grain interior trim on that space gray finish. It is screaming carbon fiber.

[K9Leader]

I just painted mine - see here (starts at Post 6634 but scroll for follow ups):

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showt...4#post23494954

I tried vinyl wrapping and was never satisfied. Also tried Plasti-Dip but it wasn't quite right. Finally painted and happy with it. I did, though, buy an extra set of trim pieces so I can swap it back to the stock Burlwood look if I need/want to. Having it professionally painted would be even better.

[Alen E90]

Originally Posted by ahlbe1cl

You are over thinking it. Buy some wrap and do it yourself with a hair dryer.

It appears that amazon sells a bunch of choices and it could cost you $10 - $20...

I don’t want to risk ruining the trim pieces and wasting vinyl if I mess up. For mods like this, I’d rather have a pro do it instead.

Originally Posted by Psyphertext

So buy a hog trough and learn to hydro dip, redneck style.

Been considering a wrap or hydro dip myself. I simply cannot stand the sold grain interior trim on that space gray finish. It is screaming carbon fiber.

Never liked dipping anything on these cars. IMO dips look super cheap.

Originally Posted by K9Leader

I just painted mine - see here (starts at Post 6634 but scroll for follow ups):

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showt...4#post23494954

I tried vinyl wrapping and was never satisfied. Also tried Plasti-Dip but it wasn't quite right. Finally painted and happy with it. I did, though, buy an extra set of trim pieces so I can swap it back to the stock Burlwood look if I need/want to. Having it professionally painted would be even better.

I hate vinyl wrapping at this point now and I’ve always hated dipping lol. IMO they both cheapen the look of these cars as opposed to getting a nice, clean, and professional paint job on the trim. Thanks for the link to your post. I will check it out!

[ahlbe1cl]

Originally Posted by Alen E90

I don’t want to risk ruining the trim pieces and wasting vinyl if I mess up. For mods like this, I’d rather have a pro do it instead.

If you paint the trim, you are instantly "ruining them". I stand corrected about the hair dryer. Looks like 3M is all stick on stuff.

Wasting Vinyl is one thing (minimal loss associated with a learning curve), painting stuff is irreversible.

[Alen E90]

Originally Posted by ahlbe1cl

If you paint the trim, you are instantly "ruining them". I stand corrected about the hair dryer. Looks like 3M is all stick on stuff.

Wasting Vinyl is one thing (minimal loss associated with a learning curve), painting stuff is irreversible.

My bad, I said that wrong. What I meant by ruin was by breaking the tabs of the trim pieces since I’ve heard they are fragile. However, I’m certain that the paint job will come out nice and professional. I’ll see if the body shop would be willing to paint a sample trim piece for me first.

[tadaska]

Would it not be better to buy a bog standard silver trim off ebay and paint that instead? Don't know about the US but here in the UK they are dirt cheap and plentiful. The plastic ones have good paint adhesion, don't even need to sand.

[cheeseforlunch]

Speaking from experience, I hate the wrapped trim. I wrapped mine in silver CF weave pattern and has been this way for a year now. I know it all depends on how well of a job you can do with the wrap, and I've even considered re-wrapping it with the same roll I have leftover.

However, a few days ago, I decided to take a risk and I ended up painting the steering wheel trim (DIY). Sanded, primered, painted, and clear-coated. Looks magnificent. I painted it with an electric blue-ish color (matches the BMW logo perfectly). I am 99% tempted to do this on the rest of the trim and peel all of the wrap off.

[Jesda]

[Bali]

The best E39 and E46 trim refinishing seems to be painting, not wrapping, and I agree. But like anything it depends a lot of the quality of the work done.

I painted my E39 wood trim a dark metallic grey, and that goes well with the dove grey and black interior colors.

The E46 has a sand beige and black interior, so I found a dark brown that matched up well.

[Alen E90]

Originally Posted by tadaska

Would it not be better to buy a bog standard silver trim off ebay and paint that instead? Don't know about the US but here in the UK they are dirt cheap and plentiful. The plastic ones have good paint adhesion, don't even need to sand.

It is a little cheaper even here in the U.S., but the only problem is that I’m not interested in the factory brushed silver trim and also if I buy an extra trim set, I’ll be stuck with my old set and it’ll never end up selling lol

Originally Posted by stellarbaboon

Speaking from experience, I hate the wrapped trim. I wrapped mine in silver CF weave pattern and has been this way for a year now. I know it all depends on how well of a job you can do with the wrap, and I've even considered re-wrapping it with the same roll I have leftover.

However, a few days ago, I decided to take a risk and I ended up painting the steering wheel trim (DIY). Sanded, primered, painted, and clear-coated. Looks magnificent. I painted it with an electric blue-ish color (matches the BMW logo perfectly). I am 99% tempted to do this on the rest of the trim and peel all of the wrap off.

Yes I agree vinyl wrapping is terrible. I think in the long run it end up costing more to vinyl wrap than to paint the trim instead.

Originally Posted by Jesda

Thank you for sharing this vid

Originally Posted by BaliDawg

The best E39 and E46 trim refinishing seems to be painting, not wrapping, and I agree. But like anything it depends a lot of the quality of the work done.

I painted my E39 wood trim a dark metallic grey, and that goes well with the dove grey and black interior colors.

The E46 has a sand beige and black interior, so I found a dark brown that matched up well.

IMO painting just seems to look so much more professsional than a wrap will any day.

[tadaska]

Originally Posted by Alen E90

It is a little cheaper even here in the U.S., but the only problem is that I’m not interested in the factory brushed silver trim and also if I buy an extra trim set, I’ll be stuck with my old set and it’ll never end up selling lol

I'm not talking about brushed aluminium. I'm talking about plastic trim. Don't you have them in the US? As for selling yours you might be surprised. Put them up on ebay all pieces separately people sometimes look for just one piece because theirs been damaged. I recently started putting on ebay all the crap i used to throw away and almost all of it sold and it wasn't that cheaply priced either.

[Alen E90]

Originally Posted by tadaska

I'm not talking about brushed aluminium. I'm talking about plastic trim. Don't you have them in the US? As for selling yours you might be surprised. Put them up on ebay all pieces separately people sometimes look for just one piece because theirs been damaged. I recently started putting on ebay all the crap i used to throw away and almost all of it sold and it wasn't that cheaply priced either.

Oh okay I see what you’re saying now. However, I just feel more comfortable taking my wood trim and refinishing it as opposed to buying another set. Thanks though.