Well, since the car was getting painted I couldn't leave the stock bumpers looking as they were (almost like they were dipped in milk!). I tried to sand them following Rod Paine's page suggestions but after one hour of work and no progress I gave up (plus the wife was not to happy of me having a dirty bumper over the dining table!). A co-worker told me that he knows this guy who polishes metals. So we talked and I give him the bumpers. Three long weeks later here are the results:
I say it was worth the wait! Now to protect this I wanted to use Eastwood's Diamond Clear for bare metal but the local rep was out. Instead, I used Eastwood's Metal Protect that it is also specifically designed to protect polished metal by creating a barrier over it. It is a temporary one but it is better than having nothing at all and they look a little bit duller now.
I'll post pics of the completed car hopefully this weekend.
$225 per bumper. I don't know if they are still available new but when I checked at getbmwparts.com the front one was $300 and the rear one was $350. I didn't went that route because since I'm in PR now shipping would have been a killer!
I'm assuming they were re-chromed, then polished yes?
Was about to have all the chrome trim on my e28 re-done, my younger brother has a mate who works for a BMX shop, and said he'd be happy to do it for cheap. Hopefully the results are the same!
Das_Prachtstraße wrote:I'm assuming they were re-chromed, then polished yes?
Actually, those are the giant US aluminum units.
And to elaborate further, they are clear anodized from the factory in a sorta shiny finish. They get really dull over the years. To polish you have to remove the anodize and polish, then protect to prevent corrosion.
You have two options (that I know of) and both are from Eastwood products. One is Diamond Clear for Bare Metal which basically is what is sounds like, a clear formulated to stick to bare metal and Metal Protect which is a temporary product that creates a layer that protects the metal from oxidizing. I couldn't find the clear here in PR (the local rep didn't had in stock and waited about three weeks for it to show up) but they had in stock the Metal Protect. It does dulls the shine some so they might end up looking more to new units. Here is the product info:
Yes, from the factory they come with an anodized clear finish to protect them from the environment. This same coating turns duller and eventually "whitish" almost like milky white so they look really bad! As they said, you first have to cut through the coating to get to bare aluminum so it takes a lot of work (and sanding paper!) to get there. You guys didn't had to deal with this because you have the either shiny or painted factory euro bumpers in your cars so consider yourself lucky!
That is the plan as I'm still looking for a set of Style 5's here in PR. I saw one advertised locally but didn't had the money at the time. I just saw the thread on the car from clongo with the Style 5's and 245/40/17 tires and loved it. Specially since I have the M-Tech fender flares painted and ready to be installed!And the plan is to paint the centers gold with polished lips (car is Arctic Blue).
Ok guys, here are some pics of the bumpers with the coating on them and installed. They are not that good and the car was being given its final fine polish. I'm really desperate to get the car back but it looks like it will be Monday.
