AW Vinyl Roof Wrap - Opinions Needed

[eleven11]

I'll be taking delivery on an AW e82 135 soon. I'm very interested in wrapping the roof in black vinyl. I'm leaning away from doing the carbon fiber pattern (e.g. 3M di-noc), though it does look pretty good in pictures. My other dilemma is shiny versus matte - I realize it's a personal preference thing, but thought I'd see what others thought. Let me know what you think.


Also:
-brands you trust/recommend (I know a few that have been mentioned in posts)
-thickness, etc
-is it possible to wrap the window/gutter line or does than require painting?
-is it best to remove the shark fin for its wrap?


As always, thanks!

[R0n1n]

Go with the shiny as it looks as if your roof was painted on. The carbon fiber didn't look right, it was not glossy at all and you can tell it was a wrap on top. My roof and sharkfin is all done and I had the roof hooks covered over since I won't be skiing or installing a roof rack any time soon. On the other hand my buddy had his roof hooks cut around in case he wanted to use it. If the shop is very good they will tuck in the vinyl inside the gutters and seals, other shops mostly just use a razorblade and just cut off the excess. This is an issue once the vinyl settles it will shrink due to the heat so therefore you need excess that is hidden under the rubber flaps near the window area.

Not sure if this makes sense but I went through it a few months back. Make sure that the sharkfin is secured as much as possible, any gap will cause water to leak and into your interior. There are two holes in the roof where the feet of the antenna go in, this is where water leaked in for me.

[UdubBadger]

either gloss or matte will look better than the CF. Too bad you probably couldn't do the CF then get it clear coated

[BMW86]

Subscribed. I'm in the same dilemma as the OP.

[Itanius]

If you have shadowline trim, the glossy black look (or a satin/semi-gloss) would look better than a matte black, imo.

I'll be doing mine in black as well at some point, but I'm still undecided myself as to what finish it'll have. I'm not a big fan of carbon fiber really.

[Dackelone]

Well... I really like the look of 3M's Di Noc C.F. I am leaning towards a fake C.F. look myself. I got a quote for 220 euros to do my roof with a 2 year garranty, here in Germany.

I have been talking to some people over here who have painted thier 1-er roofs. They tell me not to go with a glossly black vinyl, bc it shows scratches very well. This guy told me that when you have the glossy wrapped roof... and you simply touch or swipe the roof when its dirty... it will then always show scratches in that area you just touched/swiped.

This was the reason why they went and had their roof's painted glossy black and clear coated. Having your roof paited black will run about 340 euros - they tell me. Personally, I did not care for that look too much. Just some food for thought.

[randomquickness]

I did mine gloss black a while back and like the way it matches the shadowline trim. I got it from bmwshadowline.com

[Irishace]

I did matte black to match my powdercoated matte black rims.

[eleven11]

Anyone care to comment on why no love for the matte?

[Das732]

I think the shiny black would match the best

[eleven11]

My car hasn't arrived yet. With the M-Sport package, is the Shadowline trim glossy or matte? I'm guessing glossy. I think I'm going to steer clear from the CF at this point.

My eventual goal (again, my car is AW) is to have tinted windows, and an aftermarket rear diffuser and front diffuser/lip (I'm looking at you, iCarbon). With this is mind, which do you all think would look best for me - glossy or matte. If the stock trim is in fact glossy, suppose I wrap it matte (or vice versa) - would that change your stance?

Thanks again!

[ianc]

You left out the choice: Leave it stock because CF is a silly fad...

ianc

[MarkR171]

Where's the option for keeping it white?

edit: D'oh, hit the reply button before reading all replies, ianc beat me to it by 6 minutes


If it was a real CF roof, then it's fine to have the CF look (E92 M3 for example.) You will have a white roof, with a sun roof, that looks like it was painted black. It will look odd to 99% of the people who see it and it doesn't even add to the aesthetics. I think AW is a fine color and looks good on it's own. With black (carbon looks black from more than 5 feet away) lips and diffuser, along with a black roof, tint and shadowline trim... your car will look like a rolling panda bear.

[eleven11]

Originally Posted by ianc

You left out the choice: Leave it stock because CF is a silly fad...

ianc

Only one of the 3 choices is "CF"

[eleven11]

I'm still considering leaving it white. I disagree about the 99% though - as you said yourself, CF looks "black" to most onlookers from 5+ feet. The M3 looks amazing and the roof looks, well, black, to the majority of onlookers (who, again, will likely be looking from this 5+ feet distance). There are many great looking vehicles I've seen on here, but my favorites have definitely had the AW with various black trim on them. I've read posts on here and from 3 owners who absolutely love this mod (most with AW). Please don't take offense to my counter opinion - I really do want to hear all sides to this look.

P.S. Why no Panda love?

Originally Posted by MarkR171

Where's the option for keeping it white?

edit: D'oh, hit the reply button before reading all replies, ianc beat me to it by 6 minutes


If it was a real CF roof, then it's fine to have the CF look (E92 M3 for example.) You will have a white roof, with a sun roof, that looks like it was painted black. It will look odd to 99% of the people who see it and it doesn't even add to the aesthetics. I think AW is a fine color and looks good on it's own. With black (carbon looks black from more than 5 feet away) lips and diffuser, along with a black roof, tint and shadowline trim... your car will look like a rolling panda bear.

[UdubBadger]

how hard would it be to CF vinyl and then clear coat over the vinyl so it looks like OEM CF roof on the M's?

[TEUFELHUNDE]

i own a bodyshop cant do that bud clear will not stick or sit properly on the vinyl....best bet is to actually paint the roof gloss flat black over time the vinyl wont hold up.