E46 Interior rubber coating on plastic parts

[zippy320]

Hi guys

Does anyone know , what exactly is the color , and brand of coating used on our E46 interiors?

Its the soft touch , rubber sort of black coating over all the hard black plastic on our cars , Found everywhere , center console , back ashtray, Front ashtray lid, center sunglasses box etc , Its the troublesome one that scratches after some time and starts to peel .

I want to respray some of my pieces , I have purchased various interior plastic sprays , but decided not to use them ,I don't like the hard plastic feel , I want to have that matt finish rubber look and feel back.

New parts are kind of pricy so for now (R3800 for steering wheel cover) (800 for ashtray , R1800 for the centre box with slider etc it just adds up ) so this is the option im looking at .

Anyone know what this coating is and where I could buy it ?

Does BMW sell this in a spray can? Is there a specific color used?

 

[GPGrobler]

Hi Bud,

I have just systematically started to remove the coating on all those parts, like the centre console covers, after that it still is matt and "soft touch", a little bit greyer but still looks good. I used Blade cleaner, a microfibre cloth and a lot of patience.

 

[zippy320]

Hi Gerbrant!

Its just the center console , middle storage compartment and the back ashtry thats peeling , ( my nieces kick those pieces alot! )

How are yours looking after cleaning it? I can see that If I do rub it off , it will have its black plastic look .

 

[DieselFan]

I have just ordered 3 cans of duplicolor vinyl and fabric dye. Which I'm going to use on the centre console. I'll post the results in 2 weeks

 

[Andrew]

Hi all - I had the same problem on the coin tray in my e39 - I wiped the rubber finish off with thinners and flatted off the marks - I finished it off with a few coats of satin black - I just bought a new "Titan Line"center consol so I didn't want a tatty coin tray.

 

[GPGrobler]

Hi Gerbrant!

Its just the center console , middle storage compartment and the back ashtry thats peeling , ( my nieces kick those pieces alot! )

How are yours looking after cleaning it? I can see that If I do rub it off , it will have its black plastic look .

I have cleaned the lids of the sunglass and ashtray compartments, my reasoning behind this was no matter what coating one is going to use, it is going to peel and scratch very easy again anyway, so why go through the same frustration again and again?

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Hi Gerbrant!

Its just the center console , middle storage compartment and the back ashtry thats peeling , ( my nieces kick those pieces alot! )

How are yours looking after cleaning it? I can see that If I do rub it off , it will have its black plastic look .

I have cleaned the lids of the sunglass and ashtray compartments, my reasoning behind this was no matter what coating one is going to use, it is going to peel and scratch very easy again anyway, so why go through the same frustration again and again?


http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=55981

 

[zippy320]

Thanks guys! Wiping off the coin tray and other pieces wouldn't be that bad , but wiping off the rubber coating on the steering wheel turns it an off white color , (plastic below it is white).

I still would prefer to have the other pieces coated though I kind of like the rubber coating feel that they have on in, Mine hasn't gotten gummy or gluey its just scratched up. Kids shoes at the back can do alot of damage.

Anyway!

I had a spare sunglasses cover that was really scratched up , totally a mess , peeling , scratched up , the works.
Thought I would experiment on it , I let it sit in Boiling water for a few minuts Used a toothbrush and kitchen sponge to clean off the remaining top rubber coating , then used Surgical Alcohol to wipe it down , then a normal cotton cloth to wipe it up again . It looks really really good! I must admit! If the original one on my car wasn't in good condition I would really have switched it. It looks good but I still kind of like having that Rubbery feeling on these pieces.

Here are pictures of the Sunglasses box after cleaning it and the steering wheel cover

As you can see , The steering wheel turns white . Other piece wasnt to bad .

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So I took Gerbrants advice and decided to clean the rubber off the center storage box after my last post . Came out really nice! I will miss that coating and the matt finish but anythings better then what it used to look like .

After

Before