Discoloured Trim

myshirt

What is the best way to restore the rubber and plastic trim around the doors and windows on an 09 m sport 520d?

Faded and blotchy rainbow type discolouration, oxidation at points, lightly visable white haze in sections.

Uses WD40 and looks fine.... for a 20 minute period

And on the same point, the annodised aluminium trim on a VW Passat?

What would Jesus do?

JAMES VTI S

boiled linseed oil seems to be getting good words

Curran

gtechniq C4 on the plastics and trims!!
Expensive but extremely durable - apply once, and should see 1+ year. Be sure to prep the surfaces correctly, especially if you've been using WD40

A light hand polish of the aluminium trim should bring it up - can you post a picture, to make sure what Im visualising in my head is actually what you mean!

MetzgerMeister

+1 for Gtechniq C4 Permanent Trim Restorer.

Since you were using WD40, you should prep the plastic/trim with alcohol wipes or something similar. You could use white spirits but if you do, get cotton pads and apply the spirits to the trim using the pads to keep it neat and off the paint (just in case).

As far as your aluminium is concerned, I had the same thing on my E92. The aluminium trim around the doors was oxidized a bit. I used Autosol metal polish and a dremmel-type tool and its attachments that I got in Aldi. Hand polishing won't do much as I found out.

myshirt

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

+1 for Gtechniq C4 Permanent Trim Restorer.

Since you were using WD40, you should prep the plastic/trim with alcohol wipes or something similar. You could use white spirits but if you do, get cotton pads and apply the spirits to the trim using the pads to keep it neat and off the paint (just in case).

As far as your aluminium is concerned, I had the same thing on my E92. The aluminium trim around the doors was oxidized a bit. I used Autosol metal polish and a dremmel-type tool and its attachments that I got in Aldi. Hand polishing won't do much as I found out.

So are you saying IPA wipedown, and then immediately apply the C4? It is 15ml of stuff for over €25. I know there is value to be had, but there will be no value if the attempt is eff'd up.

The WD40 blackens it, but it doesn't hold for long obviously. What ultimately looking for is restored trim that is black as can get it, and protected.

myshirt

On that note... Gtechniq.... I am reading some good stuff.

What is the best cloths to have for using G4, and buffing off some G1.

Is G1 really just the lazy mans G5... i mean if you get this stuff wrong, as in it looks crappy under light, some smears have crystalised or something... I'd imagine that would be very hard to correct, and annoying as you just wasted €25...

Then again, it is all confidence isn't it!

What would be the best approach to trim restoration, and glass polishing sealing for the unititiated, to build up some confidence.

God I love this detailing stuff. The wife will soon throw me out.

MetzgerMeister

myshirt wrote: »

So are you saying IPA wipedown, and then immediately apply the C4? It is 15ml of stuff for over €25. I know there is value to be had, but there will be no value if the attempt is eff'd up.

The WD40 blackens it, but it doesn't hold for long obviously. What ultimately looking for is restored trim that is black as can get it, and protected.

IPA wipe a few times, maybe even scrub with a toothbrush and IPA just to make the best conditions for the C4 to bond. C4 will blacken it to its factory colour and it protects from UV rays (the very reason they fade in the first place) and this 1 application will last over a year.

myshirt wrote: »

On that note... Gtechniq.... I am reading some good stuff.

What is the best cloths to have for using G4, and buffing off some G1.

Is G1 really just the lazy mans G5... i mean if you get this stuff wrong, as in it looks crappy under light, some smears have crystalised or something... I'd imagine that would be very hard to correct, and annoying as you just wasted €25...

Then again, it is all confidence isn't it!

What would be the best approach to trim restoration, and glass polishing sealing for the unititiated, to build up some confidence.

God I love this detailing stuff. The wife will soon throw me out.

G4 is just a very good glass polish so microfibre cloths from Aldi would be perfect. The G1 is such a good product, you'll wonder why you haven't found it before now. To apply this, you use a cotton pad and there is another bottle which is residue remover which is also applied with the cotton pads. You will need to buff this liquid off with an Aldi microfibre too.

G1 is a more permanent version of G5 so you apply it once and don't have to do the job again for another c. 30,000 miles or 2 years. It just saves a lot of hassle every few weeks.

I have a good bit of experience with the Gtechniq range as my car has G4 on the glass, C4 on the black trim, T1 on the tyres, I1 on the carpets and mats and C1 and EXO on the paintwork