How to wrap Z4 facelift bumper lower lip!
Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2017 6:03 pm
Hello all,
Here's my experience with vinyl wrapping the lower lip of the facelift front bumper.
Difficulty: 4/10
What you'll need:
- 1x facelift Z4 (same method for pre-facelift)
- Vinyl wrap (not sure on size as I had some left over from my roof wrap)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321614960363? ... EBIDX%3AIT
- Felt tipped squeegee - £1.90
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321508705192? ... EBIDX%3AIT
- Clay bar / clay mitt - £10.94
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321803616839? ... EBIDX%3AIT
- Spray bottle filled with soapy water
- Heat gun / hair dryer
- Sharp craft knife
- Scissors
- Preferably a warm, dry day
Time to complete: 1-2 hours
1. Thoroughly clean & clay all areas of bumper in question (including underside!). I used a clay mitt for this (you can also get this exact one from Halfords). I highly recommend it. Make sure to lubricate with soapy water! Bumper should feel perfectly smooth, like glass.
2. Offer vinyl up to bumper and cut roughly to size. You'll need approx 30cm in width and leave extra for length too (always better to have more than you need!)
3. Thoroughly lubricate bumper with soapy water from your spray bottle.
4. Remove backing paper from vinyl sticky side.
5. Lubricate sticky side of vinyl.
6. Place vinyl onto bumper in roughly where you want it. The lubrication will stop it sticking, but slightly hold it from sliding off.
7. Cut strips into top of vinyl to help it conform around the lateral curve of the bumper. See picture for rough size (this is very rough).
8. Starting from the middle and moving to one end, use the squeegee to smooth vinyl out onto bumper. Create more relief cuts if necessary. Then repeat for other end.
9. Repeat for front face. Use more relief cuts were needed.
10. Tuck the vinyl under the bottom of the bumper and smooth out (this doesn't have to be perfect).
11. Use craft knife to cut to shape as desired.
12. Smooth out last few bubbles / creases
13. Remove top protective layer of vinyl and marvel! 
Tips:
- For the beginning when you're constantly lifting and shifting the vinyl, keeping both the bumper & sticky side lubricated will definitely help. It will dry out as it goes, slowly gripping more and more. Using the heat gun speeds this up.
- Having your friend pulling on the vinyl to make it flat on the bumper while you squeegee it down helps.
- Slightly raising the front end will also help.
Here's my experience with vinyl wrapping the lower lip of the facelift front bumper.
- 20170416_140911.jpg (145.61 KiB) Viewed 5803 times
What you'll need:
- 1x facelift Z4 (same method for pre-facelift)
- Vinyl wrap (not sure on size as I had some left over from my roof wrap)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321614960363? ... EBIDX%3AIT
- Felt tipped squeegee - £1.90
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321508705192? ... EBIDX%3AIT
- Clay bar / clay mitt - £10.94
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321803616839? ... EBIDX%3AIT
- Spray bottle filled with soapy water
- Heat gun / hair dryer
- Sharp craft knife
- Scissors
- Preferably a warm, dry day
Time to complete: 1-2 hours
1. Thoroughly clean & clay all areas of bumper in question (including underside!). I used a clay mitt for this (you can also get this exact one from Halfords). I highly recommend it. Make sure to lubricate with soapy water! Bumper should feel perfectly smooth, like glass.
2. Offer vinyl up to bumper and cut roughly to size. You'll need approx 30cm in width and leave extra for length too (always better to have more than you need!)
3. Thoroughly lubricate bumper with soapy water from your spray bottle.
4. Remove backing paper from vinyl sticky side.
5. Lubricate sticky side of vinyl.
6. Place vinyl onto bumper in roughly where you want it. The lubrication will stop it sticking, but slightly hold it from sliding off.
7. Cut strips into top of vinyl to help it conform around the lateral curve of the bumper. See picture for rough size (this is very rough).
- 20170416_130013_HDR.jpg (147.27 KiB) Viewed 5803 times
- 20170416_130800_HDR.jpg (123.91 KiB) Viewed 5803 times
- 20170416_133340_HDR.jpg (132.98 KiB) Viewed 5803 times
11. Use craft knife to cut to shape as desired.
12. Smooth out last few bubbles / creases
13. Remove top protective layer of vinyl and marvel!
Tips:
- For the beginning when you're constantly lifting and shifting the vinyl, keeping both the bumper & sticky side lubricated will definitely help. It will dry out as it goes, slowly gripping more and more. Using the heat gun speeds this up.
- Having your friend pulling on the vinyl to make it flat on the bumper while you squeegee it down helps.
- Slightly raising the front end will also help.