Worn buttons -Decals or replacement?

[xxkiasu]

Hi all! Just purchased a 2009 Z4 23i sDrive. I was wondering if anyone has the same OCD-ness as I do.

Basically the seat heater button & roof button console in front of the gear stick has worn off. Does anyone know if I can get decals to stick over the imperfection or would the buttons need replacing? Any ideas of how I can fix it?

It's just a minor cosmetic but it's annoying me. Thanks

 

[jamie_z4]

have you got a pic? I find it odd Bmw printed the logos on the buttons as they are Defo rear illuminated on my e86! They must have had some serious hammer to wear off! I would imagine a new centre console ash tray section would be the solution

 

[xxkiasu]

Thanks jamie. See link below. This is one i got off the internet and it isn't worn but mine is.
I don't know if decals would work but i would suppose like you said, a new centre console perhaps
Thats going to be costly i'd imagine.

http://e89.zpost.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=821484&stc=1&d=1361278078

 

[vld]

I just bought a 2012 model with similar issues. It has less than 30k km, so I guess the button labels are just not made to last. Given that when they peel off the background is white, I fixed mine with a sharp permanent black marker applied in a couple of layers.

 

[jimbo1958]

Was gonna ask the same question today......my roof down and drivers heated seat buttons could do with replacing.

 

[xxkiasu]

i'm glad i'm not the only one with OCD I was thinking of getting some stickers made to the right size to cover the imperfection. don't know where to look though

 

[Nictrix]

How have these worn off?
Our 2010 buttons are still mint looking.

 

[vld]

The parking sensor button was just a white blob, so I had to recreate something from scratch. It's no work of art, but now people can tell what the button is for, both in daylight and at night:

I'm guessing the previous owner had long nails, otherwise I can't imagine how it scratched the button so badly.
If you have steady hands you can fix it easily, with permanent marker or nail polish. Stickers would just peel off again.

 

[xxkiasu]

@nitrix they have worn off indeed and you're probably right, previous owner had long nails
@vld i'll attempt with fine black marker and see how it pans out, thinking about stickers, that won't quite work if it is rear illuminated.

 

[imported]

That's crazy, I use the seat heating button several times a day for ages and it's still like new. Also you would have thought the engine start/stop button would have worn first on yours haha.

You really only have 2 options before your zed starts turning into a toy:
1. Buy replacements from a scrapyard. This can be cheap or expensive and can take time.
2. Deal with it and remember to buy new or almost-new next time . Also if you fix this then you'll probably start getting OCD on something else — at the moment mine is the drainage gap between the roof panels but this is of course part of the design :evil: