IND Painted Reflector Installation Procedure

[Andrew115]

Btw this looks so much easier than it is. Mine were a total pain to take off. Plus the residue left behind is a massive pain to remove to get a flush fit. Having to reach in and work at that angle isn't a help. Good luck with install. If you don't have patience farm it out to soneone you trust - you will be happy you did.

[M3Fury]

I'm not claiming to be a hero mechanic or genius, but my stockers came off pretty easily with the recommended hair dryer and no prying. In fact, I'm really lucky because the adhesive ring came off with the reflector without any solvent/scraping.

Now, my car is only 3 months out of the factory, so its possible that the longer the stocks are in, the harder the adhesive is to remove.

[Sterrico]

Can someone post a pic with this done on a SO car please? Side and back if possible. Thanks!

[CosmosMpower]

How do you get the fender liner pulled back enough to access the reflector from the wheel well? I removed the three 8mm screws, one at the bottom one in the middle and one at the top and I can peel the bottom of the fender liner back but it gets stuck about at the same height as the reflector.

It appears there's a boxy shape that protrudes from the fender liner that sits inside two plastic channels on the inside of the bumper and I can't figure out how to get the fender liner loose at that point.

[yungster]

Originally Posted by CosmosMpower

How do you get the fender liner pulled back enough to access the reflector from the wheel well? I removed the three 8mm screws, one at the bottom one in the middle and one at the top and I can peel the bottom of the fender liner back but it gets stuck about at the same height as the reflector.

It appears there's a boxy shape that protrudes from the fender liner that sits inside two plastic channels on the inside of the bumper and I can't figure out how to get the fender liner loose at that point.

There are two tabs (above and below the box) that come in from the bumper that hold the liner in place, I pulled my bumper out slightly while pushing the liner away from the edge. Pulling the liner out at the bottom first helps

[CosmosMpower]

Originally Posted by yungster

There are two tabs (above and below the box) that come in from the bumper that hold the liner in place, I pulled my bumper out slightly while pushing the liner away from the edge. Pulling the liner out at the bottom first helps

Thanks that did the trick, you do have to pull fairly hard.

[dom_cmh]

All - As others have said no reason to take the wheel off even if you have cameras. I used a heat gun on the INSIDE bottom of the reflector while simultaneously pushing with my thumb on the bottom. Came off in about 10 seconds and took most of the old adhesive off also. A couple minutes of cleaning and I popped the new one in and stitched her back up. Maybe 15 minutes per side tops if you go at it the right way.

Good luck!

[Acturater]

The reflectors popped right out for me, no heat gun or pry tool required. I did this maybe 2 weeks into ownership in 70F weather so maybe the original adhesive was still soft. Didn't need to remove wheels or side cameras either.

One thing I did notice was bottom popped out much easier than top so I worked my way upwards.

By the way, note to iND, your latest mineral white reflectors are perfect (at least on my F80)! I really have to look for it to see it. Thanks much!

[nineofspades]

I started with the top, and omg... my fingers hurt. Looks nice now though.

I tried it a few days ago and gave up, but I went back at it with a heatgun, and it really helped out.

[MthreeComp]

Originally Posted by Ryan@IND

DIY Reflector Video

any videos or tutorial on how to install the front reflectors on a 2016 x5 35i

[Blksnowflake]

Definitely something I recommend doing like the first week or before the tape on the oem reflector cures 100%.
I did mine a few days after ownership and it was a MASSIVE pain in the ass to remove the reflector and then rub off any residue. However it is a relatively easy job, the issue for me was the angle, my fingers and knuckles were raw.
I didn't use a heat so that sounds like it would go a long way to making this easier.
One thing is clear "be patient!", take your time and don't rush it. I was very scared bending the fender back that I'd break something and was extremely nervous working around the side view camera, so that also can make it difficult, without the camera it would probably be about 30-40% easier to fidget with.

[brandonm3]

Did mine two weeks ago. Entire process took an hour. 45 mins for first one because I wanted to make sure I was doing it correctly- once I did that, second one took 15 mins. Very easy to do and looks awesome now- mine's Azurite Black.

[SD ///M4]

I did mine last week. I had previously done my wife's 2011 335is coupe five years ago after her Euro Delivery. That one was a bitch, my M4 was worse. For what it's worth, my car completed production on 4/7, my Euro Delivery was on 5/13, it was redelivered on 7/19, and I did the reflectors on 7/20, so it was roughly 3.5 months after production.

I literally spent several hours trying to get the driver side one off. I would try, couldn't get it to budge, so I'd go back and watch the IND video again, try again, search for other DIYs, try again, give up, try again, etc. Each time I tried pushing harder. My car has the side cameras and they're definitely in the way, plus there's a raised plastic ridge around the reflector, leaving about a 1/2" or so gap, so it's very difficult to get a plastic pry tool in the right position.

I was able to get the old reflector out only after I used my wife's craft heat gun. I was only able to use the heat gun on the outside and I was really worried that the paint was going to blister. You have to get it very warm to the touch. Also, if you look at the IND painted reflector, you'll see that the lower corner is where you should be prying with your fingers on the inside, not the upper side. You want to be prying on the sharp corner that corresponds to the corner on the IND reflector where there's no paint. You have to push REALLY HARD on the lower edge while trying to pry with your fingertips on the lower corner. I stress REALLY HARD because it was way harder than I was initially feeling comfortable with.

Once it starts to budge, it comes off pretty quickly after that. I was able to do the passenger side literally in 5 minutes after finally figuring out what had to be one on the driver side. I really didn't have a problem getting the old adhesive residue off, you just have to persistently keep rolling it up on the inside.

The backside of the side cameras have some very sharp plastic bits on them. I had trimmed a couple of bougainvilleas that we have in the front yard a couple of days earlier, so my arms were already pretty scratched up. After doing the gloss black front grills and having to shove my arm behind the front bumper, and further scratching my arms getting the front reflectors off, my right arm was literally dripping blood and had to be wrapped for two days. In addition, from all the pushing and prying, my finger tips and thumbs were very tender for a couple of days. Getting the adhesive residue off probably contributed to this. After I was done and washed my hands in warm water, my fingertips felt like they were burned. I'm not exaggerating any of this! Fortunately, all of the side effects went away in a couple of days.

Bottom line, they look great! Just be prepared that it might be a lot harder than it looks.

[TDotBMW]

I just finished mine a couple days ago. Took me 30 days

Ok for 25 days or so in between I gave up because I couldn't remove the reflectors.

However, the advice about using a heat gun really helped. I used a heat gun at the bottom portion of the reflector and used my thumb and pressed really hard. I worked my way up the reflector with the heat gun while continuously pressing.

Hand and arm is sore but finally done. Best advice I could give is to use the heat gun and press very very hard with your thumbs. Start from the bottom.

I had no problems with the residue as i just scraped it off with my fingers and used a mirror to see if its all off. Gave it a quick clean and installed the new ones.

For those having a tough time, just hang in there...they will come undone.

The video makes it look very easy (maybe it is for brand new from the factory cars but not for those that have settled for a few months)

[BhamDavid]

Just take the tire off. It's just not that hard to do. Once the tire is off, you can get easy access to the reflector with something to pry it off. So simple. Why the reluctance to take the tire off?

[AJF80]

Big shout out to MIKE at IND! Thanks again for the support and super fast shipping!!!! I could not wait to get these installed, I personally think they look amazing. I was a little nervous about the color match since "Austin Yellow" is not a standard color thats been around..

In direct sunlight some might say that the color is off but that is not true, it is just the angle.

PS.. Install only took about 10-15mins total. I followed the video IND posted and it worked perfectly. I also HIGHLY recommend the plastic tool.

THANKS AGAIN!

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by AJF80

Big shout out to MIKE at IND! Thanks again for the support and super fast shipping!!!! I could not wait to get these installed, I personally think they look amazing. I was a little nervous about the color match since "Austin Yellow" is not a standard color thats been around..

In direct sunlight some might say that the color is off but that is not true, it is just the angle.

THANKS AGAIN!

Looks good!

[M_Schmidty_3]

Has anyone done this without taking the fender liner out and just doing it all from the outside?

[GOLFFRR]

side note, just received my iND painted reflectors, as always TOP NOTCH. This is the only place to go for these. Perfect quality and amazing customer service every time!

[gatorfast]

Originally Posted by M_Schmidty_3

Has anyone done this without taking the fender liner out and just doing it all from the outside?

Won't be able to. Besides it just takes a minute to move the liner.

It took me an hour to do mine with 99% of that time used struggling to loosen the reflectors. I ended up using a hair dryer to warm the bumper a little which helped.

[M-Pilot]

This DIY is definitely not as easy as it seems on the video. I tried really hard to remove the first reflector without using a hair dryer and a pry tool. Basically just wasted my time... Hair dryer and pry tool help a lot. After figuring out how to do it on the first reflector, the second one took about only 10min.

[SD ///M4]

Originally Posted by BhamDavid

Just take the tire off. It's just not that hard to do. Once the tire is off, you can get easy access to the reflector with something to pry it off. So simple. Why the reluctance to take the tire off?

In hindsight, if I had to do this again, I would definitely try this approach. If this gives you a better angle and easier access to use a pry tool, it would be totally worth it.