Vinyl Wrapping (Car/parts)

Just out of interest - as I'm sure some of you guys have done this - has anyone done any of their own vinyl wraps to their cars or any of their car parts?

I'm getting my new car soon but it comes with silver wing mirrors which I think looks pretty crap. The car is metallic blue (Estoril Blue for anyone who knows BMWs) and I'm getting the car with black kidney grilles as well. I was thinking about toning a few things in with more gloss black to match - the wing mirrors, spoiler, rear diffuser/valance etc - but I'm quite interested in trying it for myself rather than paying loads of money to get a few body parts done.

I watched a few tutorials last night and whilst they make it look simple enough they probably also have years of experience. Anyone got any tips or previous nightmares they've had whilst applying vinyl?

Have a chat with my mate James Stewart, his business is signage and wrapping. I'm sure he could offer some tips.

Have a look at hydro-wrapping on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKuXyeAGzEU

Hydro wrapping does look pretty awesome, I've seen them doing it before on Xbox controllers. Looks like it a bit specific to patterns though, as they seem to use the base colour a lot. I'm looking for something more like a thick vinyl to make it glossy black. Guess I'd just need to buy a bit and give it a go.

Deffo cheaper than the caps from BMW but you might find a bargain pair of non gen ones on ebay/gumtree etc

I started looking at Plasti Dip tonight as well. Looks to be easier/cheaper and I could have more shots at it if I fudge it up the first time



Can also make it pretty glossy if done right as well.

U;ve done vinyl lots of times over the years, and I have a feeling that the BMW mirror may be a more complex shape than one may expect, all compound curves to further complicate things.

For this reason, I'd go with paint. Most likely remove and install myself to save money, but take to a professional body and paint shop for the actual painting process. Something about a dustfree/bugfree spray booth...

I hear you on the difficulty or a mirror shape, I watched a few videos of people pre-stretching the vinyl to apply on a mirror to put the tension in the middle rather than on the edges. I'll see if I can find it again later. Good thing about the new BMW mirrors is that it's a relatively small area that needs done and they are caps, so they can be removed from the body.

Reason I'm looking at a vinyl or the plasti dip is so that I can remove it in the future. I don't want to paint parts incase it effects selling in the car. Same goes for a few other parts around the car.

TBH, I had never actually thought of Plasti Dip'ping body parts. I always thought it was just for wrench/spanner handles.

It is easily removable? Cool, good to know.

Yeah I was surprised as well, I've used the stuff at work once before for tools but it's a rarity. The wheels with the gloss finish he does is pretty cool.

This was the vinyl video I saw where they pre-stretched it for the wing mirror.