1990 325i matallic blue wrap

[CaffeinatedSoul]

I am a first time wraper. It's not hard, honesy, all I did was watch some youtube pointers, started from the middle and worked out on parts. It's very forgiving stuff, it's the corners that got me. It's easy to wrap a flat hood, it's completely different to wrap a curvy spoiler, or the edges of the fender inside the trunk line. Looks good from a far and close, but if I pop my trunk it's all wrinkled and kinda messy. I've learned from it that's for sure.
Here is a few tips for those interested.
1. By the edge sealer.
2. Seriously, by the edge sealer.
3. Start with was your stuff till you grasp it. Hood, trunk, doors.
4. Don't do what I did and be lazy. Take your front fenders off so you can secure the edges between the front door and fender. Put fender on AFTER you do your front doors.
5. Magnets really help hold stuff in position.
6. 65ft can accomplish this task, but if you butcher a fender, hood, trunk, or roof, you're skrewed. I have enough to rewrap my mirrors, and slitter.
7. Cut about an inch extra on all sides, peel to the middle and work middle out. Doesn't matter if that's up and down or left to right.
8. Get a friend to help once you're done with the easy stuff. Roof, bumpers and spoiler are a pain.
9. If you find yourself going to fast on the detail work, take a break. Slacking here is what makes or breaks you.
10. Wrap your car indoors, in constant shade so your wrap isn't constantly over stretching and getting too thin.
11. Heat makes wrap stretch, don't set your roll outside in the sun.
12. Drink lots of water, and have fun.
13. Wash the heck out of your car. Then was it again, and dry it really really well.

[kchase731]

1990 325i matallic blue wrap

Looks great. I am doing my coupe in the same color. I bought the wrap a few weeks ago and planned to get started this weekend.

I used to have a sprint blue Audi s5 and loved the color so I wanted a wrap that was similar in color, I think this is it.

I have a few questions for you.

1. Did you have any body work to do first? One of the main reasons I'm doing this is door dings and dents. My paint is actually in pretty good shape but I have a ton of small door dings that I want to fill and sand out. I guess I'm wondering if just shooting them with primer will be ok to cover with the wrap?

2. Did you put a seam on the c-pillar? I do not see a way to do this without having a seam, and was wondering if you can take a pic and show me how you handled that.

3. How did you manage the sunroof? Did you take the trim off or tuck the wrap under the trim?

4. How did you manage the bumper trim? Did you remove the black plastic to wrap it or did you tuck the trim under it?

5. Did you wrap the door jams, trunk jams, or under the hood?

I purchased 92ft from a "leftover roll" on eBay actually. I paid only $260 for the 92ft which came in perfect shape. So just a recommendation to anyone check eBay for Avery sw9000 or 3m wrap material. People sell leftovers off of the 150ft rolls all the time so might be an option to pickup so cheap high quality wrap. I was even able to get the exact color & brand I wanted.


Sorry I know that might be a lot but I am doing the same color, same material exactly starting this weekend.




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[Julien]

Looks great. I am doing my coupe in the same color. I bought the wrap a few weeks ago and planned to get started this weekend.

I used to have a sprint blue Audi s5 and loved the color so I wanted a wrap that was similar in color, I think this is it.

I have a few questions for you.

1. Did you have any body work to do first? One of the main reasons I'm doing this is door dings and dents. My paint is actually in pretty good shape but I have a ton of small door dings that I want to fill and sand out. I guess I'm wondering if just shooting them with primer will be ok to cover with the wrap?



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I'd try paintless dent removal first



OP: looks good!

[kchase731]

I'd try paintless dent removal first



OP: looks good!

The real issue is my hood. The painless dent guy said he wouldn't be able to get it right. So the hood needs to be sanded, skimmed and primed. I didn't want to paint just the hood, and I didn't want to permanently do a color change so I figured I'd go with a wrap.


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[CaffeinatedSoul]

Looks great. I am doing my coupe in the same color. I bought the wrap a few weeks ago and planned to get started this weekend.

I used to have a sprint blue Audi s5 and loved the color so I wanted a wrap that was similar in color, I think this is it.

I have a few questions for you.

1. Did you have any body work to do first? One of the main reasons I'm doing this is door dings and dents. My paint is actually in pretty good shape but I have a ton of small door dings that I want to fill and sand out. I guess I'm wondering if just shooting them with primer will be ok to cover with the wrap?

2. Did you put a seam on the c-pillar? I do not see a way to do this without having a seam, and was wondering if you can take a pic and show me how you handled that.

3. How did you manage the sunroof? Did you take the trim off or tuck the wrap under the trim?

4. How did you manage the bumper trim? Did you remove the black plastic to wrap it or did you tuck the trim under it?

5. Did you wrap the door jams, trunk jams, or under the hood?

I purchased 92ft from a "leftover roll" on eBay actually. I paid only $260 for the 92ft which came in perfect shape. So just a recommendation to anyone check eBay for Avery sw9000 or 3m wrap material. People sell leftovers off of the 150ft rolls all the time so might be an option to pickup so cheap high quality wrap. I was even able to get the exact color & brand I wanted.


Sorry I know that might be a lot but I am doing the same color, same material exactly starting this weekend.




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I am no pro at any of this, but from what I learned I will try and answer your questions.
1. No I didnt. Dents will all show up just like they do now. I've read that it's not fun to wrap primer so idk how well that will work for you to do that.
2. Yes I had to put a seam on the c-pillar. Roof over fender line to prevent water from getting in and I used some sealer.

3. I tucked it into the trim. When I did the roof (wipers to c-pillar) I cut out the front window so I had plenty to wrap the edges around the sunroof and used the window peices for the sunroof.
4. I took the trim peices off so it would hold better. 1 peice for top and 1 for bottom.
5. I did bits of the door jams but it's became more work than I wanted for something that shows for a few seconds. As for the hood and trunk, I did enough so when it's closed it looks like it's meant to be that color. If I pop the hood you'll see the lines.
Here are a few other pics.
No idea why this is upside down. Here is inside the trunk where the fender wrapped the edges. Not the easiest place actually.

Here is what a rock chips will look like after the wrap.

As for the bubble comment, you can peel this stuff up, stick it down, peel it up, and stick it down alot. I had a few bubbleseconds I didn't notice until I got to the ends. Use a sewing need and poke a tiny hole in it and press it down.

As for my tips earlier, I forgot to include one more. Wash the hell out of your car, every edge, and corner. This will not stick to dirt. I forgot to clean 1 corner on the bottom of my bumper about the size of a quarter. This was exactly where I wanted to end the wrap so I had to peel it back, clean the area, stretch the wrap so I could get a clean edge. If you think there is any kind of a chance of the wrap touching it, clean it.
Im cool with answering a more questions if you guys have them.

[kchase731]

Can you take one more pic for me? Can you show me how you ended under the car? There is the seam under the car That I planned to stop at, I'm just not sure if I should go down that seam (no idea what that might be called, by where the jack points are there is the vertical 1-2" strip that runs all the way down the car) or butt up to it and edge seal it.

Did you use a commercial wax, remover or just alcohol to clean the car before applying the wrap?

Thanks for your help your timing is literally perfect for me. It looks great. I love the color


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[CaffeinatedSoul]

Can you take one more pic for me? Can you show me how you ended under the car? There is the seam under the car That I planned to stop at, I'm just not sure if I should go down that seam (no idea what that might be called, by where the jack points are there is the vertical 1-2" strip that runs all the way down the car) or butt up to it and edge seal it.

Did you use a commercial wax, remover or just alcohol to clean the car before applying the wrap?

Thanks for your help your timing is literally perfect for me. It looks great. I love the color


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I know exactly what seam you're talking about. I tried to wrap over it, but no matter how much I cleaned I couldn't get a good seal. Then I realized, if I wrap it, I will destroy the wrap and it will peal up the first time I need to lift the car.
To be honest, I too it to a self wash and used the soap and a sponge I had, used spot free rinse and then when I got home just went over it once more with the hose and a clean sponge. Then made sure to dry it all with a cloth to make sure nothing stuck on.

I'll take more pics if need be, I'm off work in an hour so tell me what you'd like to see and I'll post it up for you.

[kchase731]

Are those ASA-AR1 wheels?


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[CaffeinatedSoul]

Are those ASA-AR1 wheels?

17x8 APEX ARC-8

[TURBOX]

Great Job, Looking to do mines soon, Thanks for the tips

[CaffeinatedSoul]

No problem. If you have any questions feel free to pm me.

[TURBOX]

I seen videos of knife-less tapes and how it adds a nice clean cut. and for 2 tones.
How does the sealer hold up in hot climates?

[CaffeinatedSoul]

The hottest it's been here since I applied it was about 97 or so. No issues with rain or heat so far *crosses fingers* I am told that we are going to have a hard winter here and this is my only car, so we'll see what winter does to it.