Turning grey plastic on car back to black?

Bromhead

Bromhead

Bromhead

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I drive my beloved bmw 316i. It's a 97 plate and has side skirting which is completely grey. There's no black there at all.

I've tried heating it, cleaning it, rubbing black polish into it.

Looks good for 2 minutes then back to that horrible grey.

Any tips or tricks?
 
Try vinyl dye spray. Rather than sit on top like paint, it's meant to sink into the plastic and dye it, so it's flexible and doesn't crack. Car places sell it for bumpers and other plastic trim. Ideally, you'd take the trim off and spray it.
 
As above there are several trim dyes available that will ultimately do a job. Biggest problem is getting even distribution without any brush or sponge marks. Ideally you'd spray the trim, but you'd need a compressor, gun and lots of dye
 
Shoe polish has worked great in the past but on my e36 I used normal car wax sort of by accident and it came out perfect
 
I used "Autoglym 325ml Bumper Care" on my focus. It didn't take long at all and brought the colour back completely. Hasn't faded so far after a few months of being on there, fingers crossed it stays for good!
 
Dr Who said:
Plasticare trim dye is best I have seen, used it on my 205 and it looked like new afterwards.
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I used it on mine also. It's excellent stuff. The Autoglym Bumper snot is good but it doesn't last a great deal of time. The Plasticare is a more permanent solution.
 
Here's a video i did a few years ago:


Worked a treat. Just make sure you don't stay on one spot more than a few seconds. Oh and that crack was there before I started :p
 
The grey sills on a poverty spec e36 are not plastic though, it's some kind of eco hippy paint on the sills. Just get some skirts to put over it tbh, they are cheap and plentiful.
 
Plasti-dip it.

It gives an original matt black finish, long lasting (can be washed, pressure washed etc) and you can peal it back off like latex.
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'll be heading into town today to pick up some of the mentioned items. It's an old car, but I love it.
 
Dr Who said:
Plasticare trim dye is best I have seen, used it on my 205 and it looked like new afterwards.
Click to expand...

Sanchez said:
I used it on mine also. It's excellent stuff. The Autoglym Bumper snot is good but it doesn't last a great deal of time. The Plasticare is a more permanent solution.
Click to expand...

I agree with these entirely. Use the trim dye on family members car and really makes trim go back to black. Been on 2 months now and still as black as day 1. I use the AG trim care on mine as it isn't really faded but does a good job of darkening and protecting the trim bit doesn't last long.

Edit: Taken from the car cleaning thread, this is how well the plasticare trim dye works.

4tje.jpg
 
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Bromhead said:
Thanks for the info. That pic looks great, I'll be very happy if it comes up like that.
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Most of the products on here will make it look like that. It's something that lasts which is more difficult.

C4 is the best for longevity.
 
I have seen good results of C4 but I know AG Trim care doesn't because I tried it. Certainly it darkened it but only to darker grey not the black it should have been. Though for longevity, people have reported on DW that the trim dye has lasted over 12 months. Also I have seen reference to people using the trim dye and then at a later date using some sort of trim coating/protectant to make is last even longer.
 
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