Costmetics

Deepseaskateboard

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Has anyone painted these bars behind the grill?

Wondering on the method, are they simple to remove? Or paint in place after removing the grills?

What paint did you use? I’m thinking some smooth matt black hammerite or something similar.

I want to keep it OEM and unnoticeable.

I notice them now the paint has been eroded by insect bombardment.

Any advice
appreciatedIMG_3768.jpeg!
 
On the E85 it's actually one bar held with four torx screws.
Speak to Barry (@Umfaan ) as he has previously covered them with heatshrink in any colour you like.
 
Yip ..Enuff Zed is right .

Get yourself some Black ( or any colour ) Electric Shrink On ….25 mm Flat will fit ..will need a decent heat gun .

Or I can do it for you on a swop basis + postage costs .
 
Mine looked shite…I thought a repaint was necessary…on examination a clean with a vinyl/ plastic cleaner and they came up a treat…imho the painted red versions etc look really naff..
 
Shrink wrap is a good option.

I have painted them with Hammerite previously, with perfectly good results.

Either way, best to remove from the car rather than paint in situ. The torx screws can be an absolute sod to get off cleanly if they haven’t been off before.
 
The torx screws can be an absolute sod to get off cleanly if they haven’t been off before.
After almost taking a BMW apart pretty recently, I found that the problem with their TORX screws are that they are not deep enough for a standard TORX bit/ socket to fit snugly into. So you can round the splines really easily if they are tight.

I found that grinding the very end off the TORX bit, to make them shorter and flatter, solved the problem. Knowing BMW, they did it on purpose to then sell a 'special tool' type of TORX bits!
 
Thanks for the replies.

What are the torque settings people used?

Also, are they single use bolts or anything?

Heat shrink looks good, but I might try hammerite in the first instance.
 
Really easy to take off on mine. I just hand tightened when I put them back, as far as i know they haven't fallen off yet.

I wrapped, but really any paint would do. I'd suggest spraying for a better finish.20250125_093618.jpg
 
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Just thought I'd add a photo of my naff red-painted one!

Front 090422.jpg

To be fair I bought the car like that, but I thought it tied in with the matching brake calipers. Shame I had to have the front ones replaced a couple of years ago. :LOL:
 
Just thought I'd add a photo of my naff red-painted one!

View attachment 285779

To be fair I bought the car like that, but I thought it tied in with the matching brake calipers. Shame I had to have the front ones replaced a couple of years ago. :laugh:
Looks like there is a fire smouldering behind there, Iain. :)

I would be tempted to put a couple of slices of bread through and see if it toasts. ;)
 
So, a Torx 30 bit and some hard work got them out.

Shrinkwrap would have been better for my lungs, my makeshift paint booth needs some better extraction. Hammerite fumes are bad.

Mistakes made: not shaking the can long enough.
I have some paint runs, you can’t see from where they are installed, but might need a re-do at some point.

All in all, quite an easy job.

IMG_3846.jpegIMG_3847.jpegIMG_3848.jpegIMG_3853.jpeg
 
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