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      09-20-2020, 02:10 PM   #181
argento
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Drives: 2013 X5M
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Houston

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Playing around with vinyl wrap...

This is a teaser pic, I'm far from complete. Please don't judge me on the diffuser wrap just yet, it's completely prototype, lol.

I've been toying with wrapping my diffuser versus buying an aftermarket carbon fiber diffuser. With vinyl wrap so cheap, I had to try and see if I could find something I liked...plus it's fun. I've been purchasing different carbon fibers and in the image below I used some Vvivid Black True R Carbon Fiber vinyl wrap on the diffuser. As you can see it's very black and to me, from a distance, it looks like I'm missing a panel (like the wheel well). You can see a rectangular patch of Generic 5D Premium HIGH GLOSS Black Carbon Fiber that I put on for comparison. High gloss is the way to go, the light reflects off the glossy curved body surfaces. The matte tends to hide any curved body surface, imo. Subjective, but I think the color needs to be a dark gray..so I've ordered some Autospeed 5D and some Vvivid High Gloss Carbon Fiber films to try.

I will say wrapping this diffuser looked easier than it really is...it took some trial and error, very frustrating. I finally got it to look as-is by sticking the sheet across the top, stretching it down over the middle section of the diffuser, then working outward. Start at the middle raised fin leaving a smooth air bubble on either side (inherently appears there when you stretch it down over the diffuser). Then once you get the surfaces pretty much complete, come back and heat the sides of the fin and press the film into place. So the lesson here is don't give up, I almost trashed the whole piece two times, but on day three this worked out. It didn't help that it was steaming outside in the mid-90's. The Vivid wrap is awesome, as I've posted before. Any mess ups, I would un-peel, heat, and it's almost new and ready to try again.

The next issue is that the exhaust tips are in the way. For me to do a single wrap I need to remove the rear bumper. Below you can see I cut out the diffuser exhaust cutouts. I then made a template of that inside surface and started to place some 3M Matte Deep Black in there, I started it, but didn't finish. I decided that if I go this route I'll just remove the rear bumper and use one piece.

Another problem, I didn't plan ahead on how I would cut the excess off the diffuser. I had some 3M Knifeless Tape on hand, but never thought I'd get as far as I did and I didn't want to waste it. As you can see, I wasn't very good at cutting the excess with a box cutter.

Lastly, and this is subjective, I feel the rear of my X5 is a wall of white. The black roundel and black emblem help...and the diffuser will definitely help. But I felt it still needed something else. So as you can see I added some 3M Matte Deep Black to the taillights. It was just a test, but I REALLY like the way it looks from all angles. I just did this today and it's overcast. I had to create a template to capture the curve in the taillight. I can't wait to get out in some sun to see how it looks. Our taillights are pretty big, compared to the new models, so I figured taping off some of it wouldn't hurt...plus like everything else it's reversible. Let me know what you think, good/bad, all comments are welcome.

Oh, I wrapped the small bumper trim pieces and just haven't installed them...

AND, I tinted the third brake light...

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Last edited by argento; 09-26-2020 at 09:07 AM..
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