Carbon Fibre wrapped interior

Best of luck Chris. I took mine of as it didnt hold up to well. Too many hot days meant it started to wrinkle and pull. I mentioned it in another thread about this i think.
Just waiting to get round to having the pieces sprayed now.

Edit: just seen your PM, will see if i can dig out the links to center console removal later for you.

This has the first stage detailed quite well:
http://www.unofficialbmw.com/images/6042EN.pdf

The second part is taking the transmission tunnel section out. Not sure there is anything online about it. From memory its....

Remove 'knee pads', the leather sections on the sides you rest your leg against. This reveals screws to undo.
Remove ashtray/buttons, unplug everything.
Pull of leather U shaped section that goes around the handbrake
Pull gear knob of.
Remove gear surround, pull small plastic section underneath handbrake forward and out.
Leather on handbrake is held on with a cable tie so you will need to cut that of and have another one handy to replace it with.
Unscrew anything you see and lift it out.

Now its out you'll see on the reverse that the ally section (or wood for you) is held on with lots of little screws, easy from there on.

Someone else will be along with more advice probably :)
 
Peddy - Not sure yet, either Sterling grey or gloss black or a shade of silver to go with the door handles. Really dont know, but the alluminium looks so dull / lifeless and really doesnt go with my cream seats at all.

If i could be arsed to take the car apart again it would have been done ages ago :D
 
Dreamer - did you wash the trim with washing up liquid then working in some alcohol/meths to make sure that the years of cleaning products, wax, grease, and dirt were non existent making a good contact for the adhesive?
 
Chris i did. Just that once this stuff gets really hot, it starts wanting to stretch back to its original form. I was in the south of France with the roof down and the heat was too much for it.
I really want something glossy in the cabin to give it some glam :)
 
dreamer - your trim looks very nice I must say. Would love to do this myself. So if Im following right you no longer have the CF wrap as the heat made it loose its shape on the trim pieces? So you would you not recommend it then?

I was actually thinking of taking off the plastic black trim pieces on each side of my M steeering wheel and my silver door handles as the plastic is starting to flake off in places. Do you think this would be possible as well?

Thanks
 
doofus4000 said:
dreamer - your trim looks very nice I must say. Would love to do this myself. So if Im following right you no longer have the CF wrap as the heat made it loose its shape on the trim pieces? So you would you not recommend it then?

...
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As vinyls go, this type of vinyl is quite easy to apply. There are however one or two important points to be aware of;

Firstly, it will allow you to distort it to an amazing degree - in fact too much for it's own good.

If stretched too far it will try to return to it's original state when it next gets hot.

3M state that excessive stretching will result in subsequent shrinkage.

As with all cast vinyls, it is important to apply at the right temperature - 3M Di Noc vinyls need to be heated to around 60-82 degrees Centigrade.

So-called "Post Heating" (heating -up after application) is also a good idea to both ensure adhesion, but also to check if the vinyl hasn't been over-stretched (it will rapidly shrink back if it has).

Finally, 3M also recommend using the proper Primer around the edges to greatly reduce shrinkage. This I think would be a very good idea to do.

Having said all that, I Carbon wrapped a spare dash and console months ago and wimped-out big time when it came to fitting it :oops:

I'm hoping to find someone to hold my hand sometime - removing the centre-console just looks too scary, despite all the excellent help on the Forum :cry: .

Maybe next year, it would be a shame not to see it fitted, as it does look nice. Here's the pics I posted of mine when I did it: http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=23904
 
Doofus - yes mine didn't look to good after a few months. Just in the nooks and crannys it started to 'web' if you like and did some wrinkling where the heat really shone through the windscreen onto the dash pieces top edge.
Maybe it was that i overstretched it in parts, i dont know. But one things for sure you wont know until its all back in the cabin fitted and if it warps in the heat your faced with dismantling the interior again to undo all your work like i was :cry:
 
thanks dreamer. say that did happen..could you take the wrap off and reuse the trim? Would it leave behind any staining etc?
 
I used 3M carbon wrap on all the dash trim pieces and door handles of my 320d. I didn't have to heat it, and mine had no instructions so to do; in fact there were none at all beyond cleaning the surface before applying.
I just stuck it to the face of each trim piece, with enough overhang to wrap behind. As long as any air bubbles are excluded, it looks great, and it seems hard wearing - my driver's side door handle has survived regular use for months :thumbsup:
 
o very good bmwz4mc - would this carbon wrap be different to the stuff dreAmer has used above - the 3m di-noc stuff? I just ordered up some of it :|
 
I don't remember mine being called "di-noc", just 3M carbon fibre vinyl wrap. I bought it ages ago from ebay for next to nothing :thumbsup:
 
Hi guys,
sorry about the picture quality - iphone at dusk.
Thanks to Dreamer for the inspiration,
CF vinyl £10 from ebay - not dinoc, whole process took a few hours, just got to wrap the rest of the center console either side of the hand brake - I have decided to keep the ali finish around the rest of the centre console for the contrast.
Anyone who is considering attempting this IT IS EASY, start with something easy like the door handles...... :D
photo-6.jpg
 
guys, sorry to be a party pooper - but this vinyl is a quick fix! I had it a year ago and after 6mths the edges started to peel, small bubbles appeared etc. just a small warning. :!:
i also covered the handles and they were ok, actually took quite a bit of punishment and stayed fast - just the gear surround and the main dash.

good luck!
 
I did this ages ago to all the nasty grey painted plastic bits on my 320d, and it still looks great, even the door handles. Definitely recommend buying decent quality vinyl though.
 
marksdesigns said:
guys, sorry to be a party pooper - but this vinyl is a quick fix! I had it a year ago and after 6mths the edges started to peel, small bubbles appeared etc. just a small warning. :!:
i also covered the handles and they were ok, actually took quite a bit of punishment and stayed fast - just the gear surround and the main dash.

good luck!
Click to expand...

Interesting point ,so I would guess spraying them professionally is the long term soloution, I had been dabbling with the idea up till now. Has anyone on the forum had them sprayed, sorry slight post hijack :oops:
 
BettyBMW03, my 320d interior is still going strong after what I think is over a year now, even the door handles which I use at least four times a day...
Markdesigns said above that he had no problems with the handles though, just the centre console, so it might be vulnerable to UV in a roadster.
 
I wrapped all of the interior trim of my 320d with 3M carbon fibre wrap a couple of years ago and there have been no problems with rips, peeling, bubbling, shrinking, etc even on the door handles. It looks today exactly as it did when I fitted it :thumbsup:
 
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