square_1

Hey guys,

So I (as I am sure more of you) really like the look of carbon fiber. I don't really care that it is expensive or lightweight because most "carbon fiber" stuff you buy is just fiberglass with a layer of carbon fiber on the top. A friend of mine showed me this vinyl wrap (he used it on some pieces in the interior of his 330i) that you can pretty much put on top of anything and it is pretty high quality. My center console was a little worn out and scratched up and instead of replacing or painting it I thought I would rock this stuff. It doesn't have a glossy finish. It is very flat which makes it look more like you literally wrapped the pieces in carbon fiber fabric. I like this look as opposed to the glossy, cured carbon fiber look.

I thought I would show this to you because I know there are places that sell the carbon fiber interior kits and they are super expensive. This stuff is kind of spendy but mostly it is just time consuming. It looks great and I am really pleased with the results!

Here I wrapped those little trim pieces. (Sorry for the picture quality. I used my phone. I will get new pics when I get it all done, with a real camera.)

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d2...0313001713.jpg

And here is the bottom portion of the center console after I finished wrapping it.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d2...0313001909.jpg

And here is the center console after I got it all put back together.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d2...0313001934.jpg

I couldn't get them to resize properly so I just posted the links. Sorry. (According to my computer they are 640X480 but they won't post that way)

I am planning on wrapping the upper portion of the center console too, but I have to order more vinyl. These stuff I used here was just what my friend had left over. I would also like to wrap the interior door handles but I haven't figured out how I would do that yet so I might just leave them alone instead of going overboard.


****************APPLICATION TIPS**********************

This stuff is pretty high quality and a little bit expensive but worth every penny. They claim it won't harm any painted surfaces and from what I can tell it doesn't seem like it would.

It is peel back adhesive and it is made by 3M. You can find demos of this stuff online where they wrap entire cars. It is pretty sick.

The way I did it was to apply it slowly to the part and then just have it laying flat on the part. Then I would have a heat gun on low setting and kind of run an edge along the heat gun and then fold that edge backwards really tight. That way you get a nice clean edge when you install it. For the corners I just heated it up and tried to manipulate this stuff for the smoothest most consistent edge. When it gets hot it has the consistency of saran wrap so it is really easy to shape, but only for a couple of seconds before it cools. And if you get it too hot then it starts to look nasty and melted and it will lose its adhesive properties. So basically I just ran that stuff back along the edges with the heat gun, trimmed the excess to make it look cleaner and I was done! Just make sure you go slowly and don't be afraid to use the heat gun. Just don't over do it.

You will run into little issues where you are applying a flat piece of vinyl to a curved surface and it will want to bubble, but if you use the heat gun on that spot you can make it sit flat and the bubble will go away to another portion of the excess vinyl. It is kind of hard to explain.

You can also find demos on how to apply it too!

Here is the website we got the stuff from in case any of you are interested.

http://www.metrodecals.com/store/htm...iber--113.html

Let me know what you guys think!

Type-Spaz

looks great man good work

ErikV

I was just looking for something like this for my EJ9 Sedan, looks great!

DaveSi677

This came out a long time ago but damn you made me want to do it to my ep center console too as I got some little scratches on it!

mitchell_2kSiR

how did you make it work out to not crease in all the indentations in the lower piece around the hazard button, shifter and other hole... or are there tiny folds to make it work out

josh's ep3

I had the one from JHPUSA but I never got around to putting it on. That honestly I think would look better anyway!! Good job on the wrap as well.

cloumep3

that's sweet, nice clean job!!! I'm def. gonna look into this option, cuz I really don't like the silver dash color..., What size did you use/order to do just the consor area?

CommanderNoPant

Damn, me likey...

MadLorGLK

Im gonna do this for sho

thanks for the info

square_1

So basically when you hit it really quick with the heat gun it cause it to become really flimsy. But when it is like that it stays tacky. So you just hit it with the heat gun and form it how you want it and when it cools down it gets stiffer again. On the corners I sort of stretched it, so the overlap happens way over the edge and not on the front where it is visible. One of the toughest parts was at the bottom of the center console. The console slightly curves so the vinyl wants to bubble. When you heat it up you can force that bubble out without warping the vinyl.

I had the 12 square foot size which is more than a enough. Just do the math and measure out how much you need.

The real important thing I would recommend would be to buy a larger piece than what you need and practice wrapping random things around the house to get the techniques down. That way it will turn out perfect on your car.

Everyone that has seen it in person is really impressed (even my girlfriend who could care less thought it was really sweet). I will post up better pictures when I get the whole thing finished.

cloumep3

good info.

DaveSi677

I spoke to my friend who used to do it and said the best thing to do is what Square1 did... heat it up and make it overlap.

92manny16

that looks real good, good job

wu99wu

sup guys i did this to my friends tl check it out!

Vicep3

Dam... That looks really good. I'm thinking on doin it to my ep3 too cuz I hate silver center console.