Grease Monkey
February 16th 2008, 15:43
Want to have some fun with your Z8's appearance? A company called "Bimmian" sells laser-cut vinyl appliques which go over top of the colored portions of the BMW Roundels. I have never particularly liked the look of the blue and white Roundels on my titanium silver Z8 so I tried covering them up with black and titanium silver appliques and the effect was amazing. While the originals always looked like add-ons to me, the black/silver Roundels looked like they were specifically made for the car. The company offers a variety of colors so you could put together a combination to compliment just about any color Z8. My favorite ended up being black and silver dynamic carbon fiber overlays which are very realistic (unlike some offered by other companies) and carry forward the carbon fiber theme under my hood. The nice thing is they are easily removed so if you don't care for the effect, you can go back to stock with no lasting impact. They are supposed to hold up well to UV light and car washing but if you find a combination you really like, I suggest you clear coat the entire Roundel which will make them impervious to wear and tear. They come on a sheet with various size appliques pre-cut so you can do the hood, trunk, side gills, steering wheel, and wheels. They are a little tricky to apply so I highly recommend ordering duplicate sheets so you'll have spares in case you make a mistake. Other companies offer similar products but they don't have the correct sizes for the Z8's Roundels so I recommend going to www.Bimmian.com and look under Z8 products.
After settling on the carbon fiber look, I decided to try to find Roundels with real carbon fiber instead of vinyl approximations and was able to come up with replacements for the hood, trunk, and steering wheel which feature real black and silver carbon fiber. Unfortunately, these carbon fiber Roundels have slightly different mounting tabs so new holes had to be drilled in the hood and trunk. No big deal since they are covered by the Roundels but not for the faint of heart. Also, no one makes real carbon fiber Roundels in the correct size to fit the side gills so I had to stick with the clear-coated vinyl appliques for those. Fortunately, they are so realistic that it is hard to tell the difference. In the mean time, I am working with the supplier to see if they will do some real carbon fiber Roundels in the correct size to replace the side gills.
Have fun!
After settling on the carbon fiber look, I decided to try to find Roundels with real carbon fiber instead of vinyl approximations and was able to come up with replacements for the hood, trunk, and steering wheel which feature real black and silver carbon fiber. Unfortunately, these carbon fiber Roundels have slightly different mounting tabs so new holes had to be drilled in the hood and trunk. No big deal since they are covered by the Roundels but not for the faint of heart. Also, no one makes real carbon fiber Roundels in the correct size to fit the side gills so I had to stick with the clear-coated vinyl appliques for those. Fortunately, they are so realistic that it is hard to tell the difference. In the mean time, I am working with the supplier to see if they will do some real carbon fiber Roundels in the correct size to replace the side gills.
Have fun!