Go buy some high-build fast drying primer and some satin black paint and some Krylon fusion for the windshield lock strips. Take a quick 150 or 180 to the trim before priming to get any rough spots. Wipe with acetone or painting prep. Prime. Wait. Paint. Wait. Paint again and you should be done. In the meantime, paint the lock strip you removed and let it dry before trying to get it back in. Pray to the god of German cars and try to get the strip in without the proper tools without forcing it (too much) or you can crack your glass. Good luck. I'll be here or email me direct at paulm at directedvapor dot com.
Okay, the trim repainting has been almost fully completed. The main trim around and under the doors and rear windows has been fully sprayed and is completely matte black at this time. The removable trim that goes behind the rear windows has been removed and will be done tomorrow as those don't take much time. I am completely beat today; It took me well over 7 hours to complete the task from start to finish, not including the multiple trips I had to take to the auto store and not including the waiting time for the paint to dry. This was actual labor amount. I do have to say that it was a major PITA, but I still wouldn't buy the trim for $200 a side from the dealership. I am very glad I've had this experience and if someone was to come up to me and ask me to paint the trim on their cars (E30's only, of course), then I would confidently be able to say I know how to do it. Unfortunately, I can know how to do it and still make mistakes. Mistakes were evident in the form of some mysterious spots where there was supposed to be tape and there ended up not being any. Two of these spots happened to fall on the windows, which is an easy scrape-off, but the final spot is on the car's finish! That spot is outlined in one of the pictures that I have linked to. Does anyone know how I can get this off? Also, I noticed that when pulling the tape, it took off some of the car's paint in the process. I'm talkin' body paint here, not the trim black that I just finished doing. This angers me a bit because I know the paint job was a free job (including paint), but I expect a better result no matter how much it costs. I do realize that this car can't look too much better for its age, but I guess I'm very anal about my current and first car and will be anal about any future cars I will have. Another thing to note is that when I was sanding, the 80-grit sandpaper I used in certain parts really scratched the trim and it shows through the spray job. You can see that there are scratches on the surface, and while it doesn't actually bother me, it might bother other Bimmer owners who happen to look at my car at an event. Potential embarrassment! It is amazing how easily this whole thing scratches after painting as well. I accidentally pulled my (cut) fingernail along the trim towards the front and the scratch can be seen. For this I have some serious doubts as to how long this trim is going to last me and if I have to do this again, I am going to lose my temper and might actually go to the dealer and buy the trim instead of fixing my A/C compressor. THAT is how much I hate chrome trim. Anyway, here are the pictures: http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa192/az3579/CIMG0539.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa192/az3579/CIMG0540.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa192/az3579/CIMG0541.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa192/az3579/CIMG0542.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa192/az3579/CIMG0543.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa192/az3579/CIMG0544.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa192/az3579/CIMG0545.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa192/az3579/CIMG0546.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa192/az3579/CIMG0547.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa192/az3579/CIMG0548.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa192/az3579/CIMG0549.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa192/az3579/CIMG0550.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa192/az3579/CIMG0551.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa192/az3579/CIMG0552.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa192/az3579/CIMG0553.jpg P.S. - I ended up exchanging the Trim Paint you see in one of the previous pictures for Acrylic Enamel, flat black. I did this because I wasn't so sure in the Trim Paint being able to withstand all of weather's effects as my previous coating was bumper paint. The acrylic enamel had a message saying it's resistant to fading and weather, etc. and the other one didn't have that message.
And the final product, including the rear window piece: http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa192/az3579/Misc/Shadowline tape/CIMG0554.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa192/az3579/Misc/Shadowline tape/CIMG0555.jpg
Hey AZ...I'm just getting caught up on this...it looks like it turned out great!! Good looking car!! Hopefully you won't have any problems with the paint chipping, I'm not sure how brittle or chip-prone acrylic enamel paint is? You could still spray it with a clear coat of some kind to protect it if you wanted to. Eastwood has a satin finish clearcoat that would be perfect... http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=411&itemType=PRODUCT ...Since it's totally clear, you wouldn't have to be quite as precise with your masking job (but you would still want to be a little careful not to spray it all over...). Nice job!!
Too late for the clear. There's no way in hell I'm going to mask off the car again... only a brand new 135i will convince me to do so. I think it's going to chip easily. When I tried putting back the clips near the rear top of the window, I had a hard time putting them on, so I had to take them off again (halfway on) and there were some scratches exposing the silver near the bottom of where the clip would cover. They're on now and not visible, but it goes to show me how easily it might scratch. It's been a week and no visible scratches yet, but it took a few months the last time around to show any scratches.
