Repaint bottom side black "area"?

[Earendil]

My lack of terminology makes for a rather stupid title, and 15 wasted minutes on google. All I want to know is if it'd be a bad idea to spray paint the chipped and faded black "side" area below the painted area. I don't know what that area is called.

I didn't care until I installed the front lip. Now the lack of a black border on the side kinda bugs me :)

[Simon S]

Not a bad idea at all.
People do it all the time..

Mask it off. Spray it. Done.

[carguy101]

Here is a DIY

http://bmw.e30tuner.com/articles_pvcpaint.php

[StereoInstaller1]

Rocker panel.

Do it gloss.

[Earendil]

Not a bad idea at all.
People do it all the time..

Mask it off. Spray it. Done.

Sweet. That's what I couldn't tell, if it was "done all the time".

Here is a DIY

http://bmw.e30tuner.com/articles_pvcpaint.php

Awesome! That's exactly what I was looking for, and couldn't find because I didn't know they were called...

Rocker panel.

Do it gloss.

So that's what they're called :)

And gloss? Are you being serious? :)
None of the rest of the trim is really "gloss", but I can't find good images of rocker panels in OEM condition that make it obvious whether it is gloss or not.

The reason this entire thing occurred to me is because I have a bunch of high temp ceramic flat black spray paint. When installing my lip, I took a look down my rocker panels and remembered how ugly they are.

How bad would it be to go with the ceramic spray paint vs a rubberized undercoating product? If I go ceramic, it costs me almost nothing, and will be done before the E30 picnic. If I go rubberized, it'll set me back a few bills and may not get done before the picnic. I generally try and avoid all-out-stupid decisions on my car, but semi-stupid can be acceptable as long as it isn't a safety issue :)

[Bimmerista]

Its called your rocker panel or "rockers" & yes, do it gloss.

[Tha Driver]

You don't want anything hard on the rockers. The reason they are undercoated, is to bounce off rocks instead of chipping the paint.
Definitely NOT gloss. I'd go with 3M rubberized undercoating - it's semi-flat.
Once it's taped off (assuming it's clean), go over the rocker with a stiff wire brush to "sand" it down so the new coat will stick.
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

Custom Fiberglass Parts

[StereoInstaller1]

Absolutely correct...but, I did the red car 4 years ago with WalMart gloss black after a quick wipe with a scotchbrite and "paint thinner"...still looks excellent 40K miles later.

Pauls way is correct, but if you want a quick improvement, mine looks terrific.