Belt line trim

Gazz

Gazz

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Anyone experienced this problem?
I recently bought some new belt line trim from W&N and as can be seen in the pics the radius of the new trim is very different from the original. When fitted the new trim bows out from the car body where it curves around to the trunk lid. I tried it on my other E9 and the same problem occurs. I am loathe to try and bend the trim to the correct radius for fear of kinking it, and once kinked always kinked.
The front trim is too narrow across the car so consequently the ends won't follow the curve of the top leading edge of the fenders at the corners.
 

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I wouldn't risk kinking it, unless the old trim is really shagged, why not try to restore the old parts.
I did mine and they came up like new, first oven cleaner to remove the anodizing then lots of 'ebg' with wet n dry starting with 180/240 if the dings are bad all the way up to 1500. I polished and then buffed them and will coat with CA clear 2 pac. They look better than new and still fit.

Do not powdercoat, all sorts of problems... Ask me how I know

Just a suggestion.

Cheers. John
 
Hey John,

Yes I have done a similar thing with some of the trim - wet/dry in grades then a buffing wheel. Came up very well but a few pieces have severe dings too deep to sand without leaving a depression. I know it sounds mad but I was going to sand the anodizing off the new trim pieces to match the good ones I have already done. IMO the shiny look is better than the dull original.
When are you going to clear coat your pieces as I'd like to know how you make out?
 
Same experience

Yes, I had exactly the same problem with trim ordered from BMW through a dealer. The dealer acknowledged the problem and ordered new pieces but they were the same. I ended up sending the original trim to Speedway in So. Cal. and they did an excellent job. I used the new straight pieces from BMW combined with the refinished rear quarter trim from Speedway and it is very hard to tell the difference.

Bottom line is that many of the reproduction parts that BMW is selling through their dealer parts network are substandard. Mario Langston was compiling a list at one time to take to BMWNA, I believe. I don't know where that project went.

Image one, original compared to new. Image two, new test fitted to parts car.
 

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i guess i better check my new ones against my old ones and see. i got mine about a year ago or so.

guess i will send my old ones to speedway
 
belt trim

How much does speedway charge? (I realize that condition affects price, but ballpark?)...And is their's newly anodized, or clearcoated...? Thanks.
 
I think it's around $400, they polish and clear ceramic coat, no anodizing.

And don't assume W&N has some other supplier, it all comes from BMW.
 
same issue with nose trim

I was very disappointed with the nose trim radii when I did my resto. The factory trim did not fit at all and I returned it. Was able to find a really decent used piece from Carl and was over-joyed that it fit perfectly. THANKS AGAIN CARL! DCG
 
HB Chris said:
I think it's around $400, they polish and clear ceramic coat, no anodizing.

And don't assume W&N has some other supplier, it all comes from BMW.
Click to expand...
if i only did the rear belt trim (the other pieces seem to be good), would they match color wise ... or would i have to redo all of the pieces?

one of the other things that you can see in the pictures is that the very ends of the belt trim - new to old don't match - there is a reverse slope on the very end.
 
I was disappointed with their response especially since I have spent $1000s with them. He was, I thought, dismissive of my concerns and stated - QUOTE - [FONT=&quot]the trim lines are original BMW parts and they do not look like they are bend or damaged during transport.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]the aluminium material is very soft and it will come to the correct shape when you tighten the bolts. - UNQUOTE.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Well I'm sorry Herr Walloth but they simply will not do that.
[/FONT]


Stevehose said:
What does W&N suggest to do? Perhaps heat it up a little before install?
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I have a decent original trim piece for the leading edge of the hood. Would need to be refinished but it is the original shape. Anyone can have it for the cost of shipping as long as you really need it and aren't just hoarding parts or flipping on ebay. Shipping from 30677. Probably not cheap to package correctly. PM me.

Don
 
dbower said:
I have a decent original trim piece for the leading edge of the hood. Would need to be refinished but it is the original shape. Anyone can have it for the cost of shipping as long as you really need it and aren't just hoarding parts or flipping on ebay. Shipping from 30677. Probably not cheap to package correctly. PM me.

Don
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Use a guitar box. Those shipping places have all kinds of boxes. I used a guitar box for the nose piece and telescoping ski box for the straight parts.
 
dascoupeguy said:
I was very disappointed with the nose trim radii when I did my resto. The factory trim did not fit at all and I returned it. Was able to find a really decent used piece from Carl and was over-joyed that it fit perfectly. THANKS AGAIN CARL! DCG
Click to expand...

Let's have an event in Monterey 2016 where the bigwigs coming from the factory try to install the latest BMW repro parts. Shanon will stand by with a stopwatch or better yet an hourglass while they look to Don for guidance.

Broad categories:

1) OJ - If the aluminum trim doesn't fit you must acquit.
2) Kiwi glass - Oh, the glass is perfect, it is the Coriolis force in the southern hemisphere of course.
3) Less is more - Fun wind noise in your face with our smaller rubber seals.
4) Disposable Guibo - Learn how to pronounce Guibo by having to order one every year.
5) Origin - West German, East German? Too hard, lets make it in Turkey.
 
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New manufacturer ?

What a pity. A few years ago, they were ok. Not perfect but ok. The front wing ones were a bit too short and the stop piece at the rear of the door piece was too long, preventing the pin from entering the hole in the door. So I had to knock the alu locking piece in the groove out a bit, and saw it off, then file and push back. But the rear ones were ok, not like what you describe here. There is just one supplier, guaranteed, and BMW need to know about this.
 
I had to fiddle around quite a bit with my new belt line trim
Some needed filing on the ends to get right, the nose piece was not right by a long way and we had to tweak and bend this to get it to fit.( and yes, the anodising now has tiny cracks in it, but there is not much you can do about this)
The curve in the rear trim was wrong as well and had to be pulled around the curve of the car ( I put a couple of extra holes in the car and used extra fixing bolts to do this)
The rain gutter trims were not to bad, but at the rear they sort of twisted out a bit at the very end and didn't quite stay clipped on ( a re twist and a blob of urethane to hold the end fixed this problem)
As for the windscreen, don't get me started, this should be the first thing they should get corrected, the one I got was so bad it ended up in the bin ( brand new) as BMW here in NZ would not take it back, Glass being glass is not able to be tweaked to fit the car, so it's either right or wrong. I'm picking screens get busted often from stones etc so they really need to get this one sorted.

Maybe we could all write to the person responsible at BMW to try and get our point across? I would guess there are also problems on the 02's and maybe even other early models?
 
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