Getting Rid of Grey Trim...Painting is Really Easy
 

Haven't posted in 2 years...but I am back to share something cool! My 318ti is still going with 175k on it...

Want to get rid of grey trim? It isn't hard to paint it. The difficult part would be matching the body paint if you want them paint matched, but I opted to go with a flat black finish on my side skirts and bumpers. It took maybe about 4 hours of my time to paint it. I did not paint the molding on the side of the car or bumper (it was black enough), though if you really wanted to mask it, you could easily paint it on the car as well.

Tools Needed:

2 cans of Rustoleum flat black bumper coating or any other color you'd like to try (Krylon fusion is known for adhering to plastic rather well)

Miscellaneous wrenches, sockets, screw drivers
Masking tape
Newspapers
4-5 hours of time on a clear day
Patience

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Step 1 : Remove Front Bumper

http://www.318ti.org/gallery/showpho...umper&cat=1062

1. Jack car up and remove both front wheels. Use wrench to remove inner fender well liner.

2. Pop the plastic black bumper strips off the front of the bumper. On each side, there are 2 nuts which need to be removed.

3. There are two floor panels which create a floor area to the inside of the bumper. My screws that held these guys on gave out a long time ago. Remove them if they are still there.

4. With the fender trim off and the four nuts removed from the front mounting points, the front bumper should slide out, leaving the brake ducts falling out on the floor.


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Step 2: Mask off the front bumper

http://www.318ti.org/gallery/showpho...umper&cat=1062

1. Lay bumper on cardboard or plastic or other back drop.

2. Carefully mask off the area you want to paint. I just painted the grey area, which was pretty easy. There is a seam/crack which serves as a dividing line. I just over masked the entire thing and ran a razor down the seam/crack to leave a straight line. Remove the front license plate trim if you need to.

3. I removed the lower grill insert just so I could paint it from a better angle.

NOTE: The front grill insert has trouble staying in...I used black zip ties to hold it securely to the vertical posts of the bumper when re-assembling. If you take yours apart, you can figure it out if you need to do it.

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Step 3. Mask off rear bumper and side skirts

http://www.318ti.org/gallery/showpho...kirts&cat=1062

1. Using the same method for the front bumper, mask off the rear bumper and side skirts. These are easy to paint without removing them. Mask the seam and using the razor blade along the seam, make the edge super straight!

2. Rubber band a zip lock bag over the exhaust pipe

3. Use care when masking the curves of the rear bumper...You need to use shorter strips of newspaper

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Step 4. Spray the Bumpers!

http://www.318ti.org/gallery/showpho...rs-21&cat=1062

I did no prep work other than a wet paper towel and rinsing the loose pollen off the trim. I did use a straw bristle brush/broom head to just rub them down...spent maybe 20 minutes total doing this for all 4 pieces and then let them set and dry for about 20 minutes in the sun.

I sprayed a light coat on the front bumper, front grill insert, rear bumper, left side skirt, right side skirt, and waited 20 minutes before I repeated the same order.

I got 4 even coats out of 2 cans of Rustoleum flat black bumper paint.

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Finished product!

http://www.318ti.org/gallery/showpho...ct-21&cat=1062

Let the paint dry. I let it sit for about 3 hours before I rebuilt the front end.... check it out! Flat black isn't quite a body matched body kit, but it beats the old faded gray for only 2 cans of paint!

NOTE: The front grill insert has trouble staying in...I used black zip ties to hold it securely to the vertical posts of the bumper. If you take yours apart, you can figure it out if you need to do it.