Bring your side moldings back to life!

[VAPORBLADE]

Sweet they are all off! :) Thank you!

[matthew-mayhem]

good idea and, i use stuff called black from BAV auto

[jflip2002]

Nice job. I use the Mothers "Back To Black" once a month or so. I use it on the side mouldings, mirrors, and the faded black around my windshield and rear window. It works great, and isnt pricey or time consuming.

[kyle wilson]

i got this stuff .called black jack and it does the same thing brings your black back to new it . it was about $5.00

[new2bmw]

question

hate to bring up an old thread but would this be the absolute best method for shadowline around the windows? also if i dont shadowline is there any paint or method to get the chrome/aluminum bright again?
thanks guys

[Jand3rson]

Aluminum polish will bring the life back to the trim. If you paint them, this is probably the best method, but they will eventually chip. I have chips in my side molding chrome.

[LivingLegend06]

The best way to avoid chipping is to get shadowline off of a car that came factory with it. I think it might even still be available from the dealer but its pricey$$.

If your on a budget or dont want to dig for parts then the method above should work pretty well. Ive never painted my trim before, but id be willing to bet that good prep work before painting would make a world of difference.

[apathy]

Great write up! I plan on doing this once the weather gets warmer..I plan on painting my grill as well, Should i use the same step by step? or should i use different sandpaper?

[RJ 325is]

Great write up!. I'm planning on doing this on my 88 vert which has the chrome on the moulding. I see how you said to tape up the moulding to sand the metal, but my mouldings are colormatched and I want to respray it all black. What grit sandpaper should I use to sand the painted areas before repaint? Thanks

[VinniE30]

Thanks for the write up. I will be doing this.

[bmwstephen]

have people tried sanding with 400 grit sand paper and just applying acetone after? I was a bout to paint it afterwards but I realized the acetone melted away a new layer of rubber.

[!kid]

400 grit, i am guessing would be a bit to fine. you want a somewhat ruff surface for the paint to "grab" onto. because of how strong acetone is you might be better off cleaning it with soapy water with a brush or rag a couple of times. you can even try using another cleaner that does not leave any residue behind.

[bmwstephen]

i think I miscommunicated my post. What I meant was I didn't end up repainting it. simply after sanding it down and rubbing it with acetone, it appears that a new layer of black came out of it to the extent I didn't have paint it. Anyone else experience this? I've only tried it with the rear fender moulding and didn't want to risk destroying my other mouldings until I got confirmation

[Panici]

(NOTE - In this procedure, I'll be covering how to refinish side molding trim, as well as how to shadowline the chrome strips in the molding of 84-87 cars. If you simply want to refinish your 88-91 moldings, skip the steps on masking and self-etching primer)

If your car hasn't been repainted, or if you haven't looked at your side moldings in a long time, it's a good bet that they're probably looking pretty bad by now. 20 year old hard rubber doesn't exactly stand up well to the elements and keep it's color. When I undertook the project of swapping my car to plastic bumpers, I noticed that when I had all fresh painted bumper trim, my faded, grey side moldings were not going to look very good against the newly painted trim.

I'm sure that some of you out there have tried products like Back to Black and other rubber trim products that claim to bring the black back to bumper and side trim, but it doesn't work. It looks good until about the next time you wash the car. What you need to do is actually prep and repaint the moldings using specially formulated trim paint.

Here's what you're going to need:

- Bucket of warm, soapy water with scrub brush
- Acetone and a clean rag
- One can of SEM Trim Black or Duplicolor Bumper Trim paint (your choice)

For shadowlining of 84-87 chrome strip molding:
- The supplies listed above
- One can of SEM Self Etching Primer
- One sheet of 3M 80 grit sandpaper
- Masking tape

The first thing you want to do is remove the side moldings from your car. On 84-87 models the section of trim in front of the rear wheel, and the door moldings are bolted to the car at the end of the trim with 8mm plastic nuts. The door molding bolt is inside the door, in the jamb. Remove these first. Once the nuts are removed, take a clean towel and flathead screwdriver, and with the towel under the screwdriver (so as not to damage the paint), VERY carefully lift up the end of the trim that you just unbolted. The rest of the trim is held on with plastic clips, you just have to pull the trim firmly and carefully, and they will snap free. You're bound to break a few of them, so check RealOEM.com for the part numbers, and order accordingly. For 88-91 cars, I do not believe the trim is bolted anywhere, but I could be wrong. Best way to know is to look.

Once you have all the trim off of the car, wash it thoroughly with warm, soapy water, and let air dry in the sun. Paint doesn't stick very well to dirt. After you've washed the parts, take a clean rag and wipe them down with acetone to remove and stray dirt or grime left behind. If you don't have acetone, this step is optional. Just wash it very well.

(For shadowlining 84-87 trim)

Take each piece of trim individually, and mask off the entire piece, leaving the chrome strip exposed. Be sure to get the masking tape right up against the edge of the chrome strip, as you're going to be sanding this with 80 grit sandpaper and using self-etching primer on it. You don't want either of those hitting the actual molding.



After you've finished masking, cut a small piece of 80 grit sandpaper, and start sanding on the chrome strip. Be sure you get all the way to the edges, and really get it sanded up well. The better you sand it, the better the primer and paint will stick.



Once you're satisfied with your sanding on the chrome strips, spray the strips with 2 even coats of SEM Self Etching Primer. This primer has an acid ingredient that actually burns into the metal, causing the primer to bond to the metal itself. You only need 2 coats max, only enough to hide what is being primered is required.



After the primer has had time to dry (about 20 minutes), remove all of the masking tape from the molding pieces. You can now paint the entire section of molding, chrome strip and all with even coats of SEM Trim Black or paint of your choice. I stick with SEM because I've always gotten stellar results, but others like Duplicolor or other brands, so whatever you prefer. SEM flash dries in about 5-10 minutes, so you can do several coats in a short amount of time. I applied about 5 coats to be sure I have a thick, even coat on the trim.







Give everything about 24 hours to fully dry, and then reinstall onto the car. Installation is pretty much the opposite of removal, but some of the clips can be tricky. Take your time, and when you're done, your side moldings will look as good as the day your E30 showed up in the showroom 20 years ago.

Pictures fixed, grabbed them from:

https://web.archive.org/web/20141217061735/http://e30werks.com/

[dishwab]

Bumping this with my experience... I found that sanding with 200, 400, and 600 grit sand paper + wiping down with a generous amount of acetone brought my faded black trim back to life without any need for repainting.