Subject: Yes, my wife and I did everything ourselves Author: DavidC (moderator) : member since December, 2003 : 11918 posts Posted on: 2004-07-22 00:47:56

The bumpers and chrome looked absolutely awful when we started. We stripped the anodized coating off of the bumpers (using a kit from Classic Trim Coat -- tell them I sent you!) and then polished the bare aluminum and sealed it with another Trim Coat polymer product. The same stuff was used to refinish the chrome around the windows.

All of the black rubber pieces, including the pieces around the bumpers, were refinished, too, with the Classic Trim Coat bumper refinishing kit. It was a lot of work, but the results are outstanding and I don't think I'll ever have to do anything else to it, beside washing, to keep it looking this way.

I sprayed black Dupli-color Truck Bed Liner on the rocker panels and they look outstanding, too.

We could've done most of this on the car directly but, for the best results, we decided to basically de-trim the car and work on the parts off the vehicle. That meant removing the bumpers, the rubber strips on the doors, the side pieces of the rear bumper trim, the grills, etc. While we were at it, we also painted the lower cover below the front bumper. All of the metal pieces below the rear bumper, including the shield behind the fuel tank, were removed, cleaned and rustoleum painted as well. It looks new again.

The whole effort took a week of evenings and a full weekend.

David Cecil
'97 740iL, 125k miles
'86 735i, 94k miles

www.e38.org has links for everything about your BMW 7-series automobile

• Updated pics of 'Oscar' after rubber trim and chrome refinishing (pic) - DavidC 2004-07-21 23:54:12 (2880 views)
  • Re: Updated pics of 'Oscar' after rubber trim and chrome refinishing - bcbmw 2004-07-23 08:24:52 (670 views)
    • You mean the aluminum around the 'kidneys'? (pic) - DavidC 2004-07-23 10:48:12 (853 views)
  • You took years off that car and now should have many > - kff 2004-07-22 11:08:50 (482 views)
  • Bravo David - you have one sweet car there - looks so factory - philipuk 2004-07-22 06:03:57 (446 views)
  • wow that looks awesome... - LoneRider 2004-07-22 00:27:32 (426 views)
    • Yes, my wife and I did everything ourselves (url) - DavidC 2004-07-22 00:47:56 (695 views)
      • ok last q. do you use this car as a daily driver? (nt) - LoneRider 2004-07-22 11:55:14 (410 views)
        • Yes, but really only for around town. My wife isn't quite (m) - DavidC 2004-07-22 11:57:10 (519 views)
      • Re: Yes, my wife and I did everything ourselves - LoneRider 2004-07-22 11:06:13 (415 views)
        • Yes, one of the bolts on the rear bumper had seized (m) - DavidC 2004-07-22 11:31:58 (474 views)