Naked e86
- Thread starter TomK
- Start date
Looks great and from what I’ve seen online it looks like a good place-hope they’ve lived up to their reputation 
The lights look ok in the pics but you could always see if they’ll flat and clear them before picking it up. That said, if the original uv protection is still in tact I’d probably leave them until they need it. I put a bit of 303 protectant on mine from time to time and it gives them a short term boost and a touch of protection.
Are you going to put any sort of film on the front and sills for all the track work? I picked up a couple of real bastard chips on mine from just a couple of laps of the ring this summer-right by the bloody fuel flap so I always see them :lol:
The lights look ok in the pics but you could always see if they’ll flat and clear them before picking it up. That said, if the original uv protection is still in tact I’d probably leave them until they need it. I put a bit of 303 protectant on mine from time to time and it gives them a short term boost and a touch of protection.
Are you going to put any sort of film on the front and sills for all the track work? I picked up a couple of real bastard chips on mine from just a couple of laps of the ring this summer-right by the bloody fuel flap so I always see them :lol:
beanie said:Looks great and from what I’ve seen online it looks like a good place-hope they’ve lived up to their reputation
The lights look ok in the pics but you could always see if they’ll flat and clear them before picking it up. That said, if the original uv protection is still in tact I’d probably leave them until they need it. I put a bit of 303 protectant on mine from time to time and it gives them a short term boost and a touch of protection.
Are you going to put any sort of film on the front and sills for all the track work? I picked up a couple of real bastard chips on mine from just a couple of laps of the ring this summer-right by the bloody fuel flap so I always see them :lol:
Thanks, yes I hope so.
I'll ask them for some advice on the lights, I always thought they looked ok but in that photo not so much. Thanks for the headsup on the orginal uv protection, as far as I know they've never been cut into, I imagine once you start you have to keep it up.
Not really sure about body protection either. To do it properly costs a lot of money.
I'm tempted to try something like this with some additional clear 3m in the obvious places around the car (I wouldn't have included near the filler cap in that!)
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fits-BMW-Z4-M-E85-02-2008-CLEAR-Bumper-Stone-Chip-Guard-Paint-Protection-Film/132848652044?hash=item1eee658f0c:g:mUcAAOSwjNdb5F7U
Anyway I have some time to think about it, the paint needs a few months to cure properly I believe and have not planned any days in the near future for other obvious reasons
Solved the whippy/stubby argument too
That’s the problem with fresh paint, everything else looks tired and old :lol:
Once you’ve sanded back the original coating the lights will oxidize and lose clarity pretty quickly if they aren’t covered with something so I’d guess yours are original and possibly just a little dull from fine chips and scratches like most 14/15 year old cars. It also might just be the angle of the photo!
The very top edge of mine are showing signs of minor breakdown but they’ve been that way for years so I’m in no rush to strip off what is mostly a perfectly good oem finish. I occasionally go all ‘detailer’ on them and polish/wax them and that seems to keep the wear at bay an keeps them looking presentable.
I’m always amazed at the cost of full PPF kits so I don’t think I’d bother doing the whole car on something that I intended to drive hard, certainly not around the filler cap anyway :lol:
All that said, there’s only so much you can do. With fresh paint like yours I think I’d try something like you linked to to at least try to help things and having had my sills done and seen how quickly they pick up chips I’d probably have those done too. Beyond that I don’t think I’d bother.
Once you’ve sanded back the original coating the lights will oxidize and lose clarity pretty quickly if they aren’t covered with something so I’d guess yours are original and possibly just a little dull from fine chips and scratches like most 14/15 year old cars. It also might just be the angle of the photo!
The very top edge of mine are showing signs of minor breakdown but they’ve been that way for years so I’m in no rush to strip off what is mostly a perfectly good oem finish. I occasionally go all ‘detailer’ on them and polish/wax them and that seems to keep the wear at bay an keeps them looking presentable.
I’m always amazed at the cost of full PPF kits so I don’t think I’d bother doing the whole car on something that I intended to drive hard, certainly not around the filler cap anyway :lol:
All that said, there’s only so much you can do. With fresh paint like yours I think I’d try something like you linked to to at least try to help things and having had my sills done and seen how quickly they pick up chips I’d probably have those done too. Beyond that I don’t think I’d bother.
beanie said:
Yep, I want to keep it presentable but I can't care too much about it. I'll order one of those cut outs and see how I go.
Anyway, picked it up yesterday, looks good to my very untrained eyes. I did find something that I had flagged which wasn't done, so it will unfortunately have to go back for an afternoon when it's a bit warmer! No big deal though, on the whole I'm pretty happy (bear in mind I was loathe to spend any money on the look of the car, I don't care that much about that
:? ). Done now though, rust was one of my kind of concerns and drivers to do it which I needn't really have as it turned out (other than underneath the door mirrors). Peace of mind though and very shiny 
North West Surrey
