For my recently acquired 2018 250S in black, I'd like to change all of the exterior chrome trim and wheels and replace with black. I've seen options for replacing with Jaguar parts (expensive), painting wheels (doable), and either wrapping trim with 3M film (looks challenging but doable and inexpensive) or plastic dipping (doable but questionably long-lasting).

Anyone had experience with either of these techniques and opinions on which is best path to pursue?

Thanks,

Bob C
Falls Church, VA, USA

 

Hi, I've used wrap on cars and I've done plasti-dip as well.

The trim bits have 3 dimensional curves which I think are quite hard to wrap for a novice, but it is very cheap to have a pro do it and it lasts very well and wears well, as long as the car isnt in the sun all day. I wrapped the sills in my car when I first got it 5 years ago and it still looks like new. If your car is in the sun all day, then wrap isnt a good option as it bakes on and can be a bit of a problem.

I wouldnt try wrapping the wheels, for them I'd have them painted or powder coated, although plasti-dipping is an option.

Plasti dip is better for cars that are out in the sun. I sprayed the spoiler on the back of my daughter's Mazda 2 with plasti-dip about 2 1/2 years ago and it is left outside in our very hot summers, it has weathered fine. The finish isnt as good as paint, but if you practice a bit and give it plenty of coats and have some patience, it works very well. I also sprayed the chrome trim on her car and it has stuck very well, though that was a fiddly and frustrating process, it needs a little more patience than I have as it is easy to tear the plastidip when you are cleaning it up, and I ended up having to redo bits. But as long as you put plenty of coats on it comes up nicely in a satiny kind of finish, if you are moderately handy you shouldnt have a problem. The cans do give a lot of overspray so it can be quite messy, treat it like real paint and take your time.

Plenty of people plastidip their wheels to good effect and again if you put on enough coats there is no reason why it shouldnt work well, and last a long time. I havent tried it but probably would give it a go, I would try a colour like gunmetal grey in satin rather than a gloss black.

Have fun!

 

Peter, thanks for experience you shared. Car does live in sunlight (no garage) so wrap not a good idea. I'm thinking about painting the wheels myself. Also maybe spraying the chrome insert just in front of driver and passenger doors. That leaves the trim around the windows, which sounds like isn't a good idea to get wrapped even professionally, because of the sunlight (we are in southern U.S. so gets hot regularly).

I may stop there - I think getting the wheels and side insert done will go a long way to improving the look. Do you think this path is a good compromise?

Thanks,

Bob C

 

Cheers, if it is only the window trim wrap might last, check it out with the local wrap people, they will usually tell you if it isnt a good idea, if they are reputable. Otherwise I'd have a go at plastidip on that trim. Plastidip comes up pretty well, but you really have to take a sedative before doing it because if you are impatient (like me) you make more of a mess, or tear it, and then it take 3 times as long. Personally I'd do all of it, because I reckon the murdered out look (all black if you arent one of the cool kids) looks fantastic. There are heaps of videos online of how to put plastidip on, and anyway it is fully reversible. Just make sure you cover up everything that you can, because the overspray goes everywhere.

You can also do the badges on the back but I used paint on those, generally you get them off by sawing through the adhesive with some dental floss, then spray them and stick them back on with either double sided sticky tape or some silicone. There are plenty of how toos for that on the F Type forum