really? what is so different about it vs. other similar trim stuff? Just curious. Although I thought the bumpers would be simple too, and they weren't.
most trim on most cars of that vintage were held on with a set of plastic retainers affixed to the car body first, and then the trim is 'snapped' onto those plastic retainers. I've attached a picture of this type of clip. E3's are this way for the upper belt-line trim, for example (also E21, E12, etc). With this approach, there's no installation force squeezing the metal trim to the body, and because the plastic retainers don't move around as they are attached to the body, there simply is NOT a way for the trim to be (a) held tight against the paint and (b) to move as the trim retainers are tightened up. In point of fact, on E3's and 2002s you can often slip piece of very thin piece paper between the polished trim and body because these clips don't force the trim tight against the paint.
FWIW, When these retainer clips are installed on a freshly painted car, they will distort the paint (esp if there are LOTS of coats of paint and the paint hasn't cure for months). You can see these marks if the trim and the retainers are removed. But this is irrelevant because the trim strips cover up any marks that may occur.
As another example: on later 2002's, the lower trim is attached with studs in the trim and plastic nuts, somewhat like the E9 belt-line trim. But on 2002's the body contour and trim are all flat/straight. On an E9, that belt-line trim fits up against a curved panel just above the body "cut-line" This curvature and the nut/stud scheme both contribute to the propensity of the trim to move as it gets pulled tight against the fresh paint. BTW, the use of plastic acorn nuts is nice because you don't have to tighten them down to ensure they won't come loose. That means you can install the lower trim on 2002's less tightly against the body. So, everything on E9 belt line trim is, unfortunately, working against you.
But, as you said, Benny stands behind his work. If he tears the paint, he'll repaint the whole car for free. So, I don't see any reason to beat this dead horse anymore.
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