I ran across these vinyl mirror skins over at Bimmian.com several months ago, but did not have a set of white mirror caps to put them on - every time I bid on some on eBay I'd lose at the last minute... Grrr. Then I received a set of white caps for Xmas - yay! - and I placed an order.

As you can see, I think they came out pretty nicely - can't wait to see them actually on the car. Maybe in a few weeks, when it gets warmer. These are Orange/Blue but I ordered a second set in Black/Silver in case these are too bright. I think they'll work out nicely.



BE WARNED that if you want to try these out, they're much less expensive than the painted, $100 ones you see around, but the installation, while not difficult, IS a bit... exacting. The vinyl, however, is pretty forgiving and the instructions are very nicely done - without clear directions, making sense of the cut vinyl peices would have been virtually impossible. Using their diagram reduced it to "merely challenging".

 

Dude!

Please post this on the Union Jack-ification Thread!

Very nice find - I had never even considered combining Hot Orange and UJ...

 

They're not really HOT orange (Bimmian doesn't have a metallic orange vinyl) but this was as close as I could get. I was going to post to the UJ thread when I finally get the mirror covers on the car - for now, they're just a curiosity sitting on my dinng room table.

 

how hard was it to put them on? Did you have to stretch the vinyl? any bubbles?

 

The instructions say to use a hair-dryer to shrink the vinyl, so that's what I did. It made them VERY smooth. The installation uses the "wet" technique (put water with 2-3 drops of dish soap in a mister bottle and wet the mirror cover before applying the vinyl) to help you slide the vinyl around on the cover. When you get it where you want it, you hit the vinyl with the hair dryer and it locks down smooth onto the plastic.

Honestly, it wasn't HARD but it was EXACTING, as I mentioned above. Really, though, since you use a wet application technique, you have a few minutes to align things before you have to commit to a position, so it's a very low-stress project. I did these on the kitchen table in about an hour and a half, while watching TV.

I'm thinking I'll put my OTHER set of skins (metallic black and dark silver) onto my chrome covers and see how THEY look.

 

I am curious about the chrome covers. I was told my clear bra would not work on them. Would the vinly?


Art

 

They should... The vinyl is pretty sticky and the chrome can't be smoother than the white mirror covers I got for Xmas. I'm going to put a test peice on them just to be sure, though (they give you a few extra of certain peices in case you goof) - more to test the color than anyhting, but I can check the adhesion as well.


I predict a 97% chance of success.

 

Man alive... Getting the mirror covers off is a real PITA until you know the (very simple) trick of it... I found several threads and such detailing how to use a pick or small screwdriver to release the clips on the inside of the cover but was having no luck getting them off... Then I discovered that if you simply grasp the bottom edge of the mirror itself and pull gently upwards and out, the entire mirror "glass" pops right off. With the mirror off, you simply use two fingertips to push the clips off, no muss, no fuss. Once I got the mirror off, it literally took me 90 seconds to swap out the covers:





To replace the mirror, simple center the bracket and push the mirror peice straight in, and it will snap on. Easy.

Sorry about the crappy pics, but it's raining and nasty outside...

 

Matt, Maybe it's the photos and they look different in person, but... if you say those are not an exact match for Hot Orange, they must be seriously close. They appear to be a great match to your HO MCSC !

Very nicely done, as we have come to expect from you, sir.

 

those look awesome
and i evny how clean your car is

 

The orange is lighter and not metallic, but it's close enough for government work...

 

Yep... close enough for my old-ISH eyes.

So, when are you going to tackle that rear view mirror cap ???

 

Man, I still have nightmares from the time I tried pulling down the cabrio's dome light assmebly... I'm never touching the rear-view mirror ever again.

 

The rearview mirror cap was the easiest mod I've done yet. Even easier than changing the valve stem caps, no lie !

But I remember your post about that dome light...how many cuss words did you yell out while doing that one ? (Rhetorical question)

 

I'm planning on ordering these. Can you tell me if you can put them on without removing the mirror caps? (I'm a little wary of taking them off because I have heard of so many people breaking the clips.)

 

lol another nice set of DIY imagox.
looks awesome

 

I don't think so - the vinyl has to wrap around the edges of the cap for proper adhesion.

All you need to do to remove the cover without breaking the clips is NOT use a tool!! They're designed tor fingertip removal. Here's how you do it:

1. Push the upper edge of the mirror glass into the mirror housing as far as it will go.

2. Grab the now exposed LOWER edge of the glass and pull gently but firmly outwards. The entire glass peice will pop out (it's heled in by a ring of maleable plastic clips).

3. Using 2 fingers, remove the cover clips - they're perfectly shaped for two fingers. Replace cap with new one.

4. To replace glass, center it in the housing and push it straight back - it will "snick" into place with minimal pressure.

MUCH easier then trying to use a tool to free the caps - I messed with the caps with a small screwdriver for about 30 minutes before popping off the glass by accident while trying to get more clearance for my tool. My second cover lilterally took 90 seconds to swap out with the method above.

Thanks very much!!