Im a wrapper.... a vinyl wrapper!!!

[ghicks99]

Well I was starting to get a little bored with cars color and had always thought about changing it. Ive always been a fan of the matte and satin colors but didn't want the typical matte black. I was a huge fan of the frozen colors that bmw came out with a couple years back and happened upon a company that made a vinyl that looked very similar.

So I painstakingly took apart my car a got to it. I removed the front fenders, front and rear bumper, all the upper trim and handles, side mirrors, and the list goes on. I got it totally done in about a week. The 1st 2 days over the weekend I managed to get the everything done besides the front and rear bumper and trunk lid. The bumpers took FOREVER to do. Other than that, the flatter panels were cake. All I can say is definitely use a quality vinyl, it makes laying it down much easier. The color is matte frozen grey metallic.

 

[Tailwalker]

Looks fantastic! I was actually thinking of getting the same wheels, so good to know they look great as well! Build is coming along nicely.

 

[ghicks99]

Thanks. I think im pretty much done with it for now. Im thinking of powdercoating the wheels since one got a little curb action. Also im not too sold on the color with everything so muted. Im thinking of plastidipping them black and seeing how I like it. And yes, the wheel style is amazing. A few on here have them or have esm004's. Classic mesh will never be out of style. I still really want to do copper. I had copper plastidip on for a little while. Ill have to find a pic of it. But I really want that light new penny copper color

 

[Tailwalker]

I think the copper/penny would look fantastic with that color.

I actually have a set of SSR MS1's that are just a bit too aggressive in the rear for me to run right now. Ed's looking into camber and toe arms, so if that happens I might be able to run them. 20x11+11. Just about 3/4" too meaty for our fenders, even with max factory camber. I really don't want to run much past -3.5 either way.

I wish I had the patience to wrap. I can't see dropping 2k on someone else doing it...

 

[xiaphin]

Looks really good in the second photo. I'm a big fan of the matte metallic's as well. Quick question for you. To remove the rear bumper did you have to remove the inner trunk panels on each side?

Did you use Avery or 3M wrap? How wide and long of a roll? and lastly did you use any of the knife-less tape?

I have been thinking about wrapping my car for a few months now just haven't bit the bullet yet.

 

[dmitriylm]

That looks great, work looks pretty clean too. I've always wanted to do a wrap but also not willing to pay someone to do it and not willing to invest the time required to do it properly myself.

 

[Tailwalker]

Matt - if you decide to wrap, i might be down for a diy weekend or something.

 

[Huddleston]

looks great!

 

[xiaphin]

Matt - if you decide to wrap, i might be down for a diy weekend or something.

If I decide to do this I'll let you know. Sounds like it took a bit longer than a weekend.

 

[dmitriylm]

Just noticed, what's going on with the exhaust tips?

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[dareckibmw]

Looks beautiful! love the contrast with black roof.

 

[ghicks99]

Honestly, if 2 ppl are doing it, you can accomplish it in a weekend. My mistake was using a girly girl to help. The brand I used was hexis, they are right in line with oracal and 3m as far as quality and ease of use. They have a handful of much nicer colors as well. I didn't use any knifeless tape, not really any areas that you would have to on our cars. Plus its expensive as hell, lol. The roll I got was 5ftx50ft. From what ive seen, 5ft is the widest from most manufacturers although to cover our entire hood with out stretching would require 6ft. The length gave me enough to do the whole car with bits to spare, and its a good thing I already had my roof another color or I would have had to get more. Only panel I wasted and had to restart on was the hood. 60-75ft would be a better length just in case

To remove the rear bumper, there 6 bolts to the inside rear of the spare tire well with 3 on either side, 2 bolts behind the liner just to the outside of the tail lights, and then the taillights them selves. The lining didn't have to be totally removed. Well I hacked off the rear exhaust to see how I liked it, plus I needed to install a hitch because I was looking for a jetski. I just haven't decided what exhaust I want to replace the factory with.

But yeah, with 2 car savvy ppl that don't mind working on things, you can definitely get it done in a weekend or a long weekend. I'd definitely look at the videos online from 3m, avery, and oracal. They give good pointers on heating, using the squeegee, doing certain parts of the car that are tough, etc.