Painted reflector installation fail

[Vegetable]

I did this mod today on my 19 M4 and it was 10x harder than it was on my 435i/328i.. I guess the ability to get those damn Orange reflectors off vary from car to car. Luckily I know how to use a heat gun, because those things were not coming off without one.

[zillymc]

Thank you OP for sharing. This post validates exactly why I did not have the balls to attempt this myself, and ended up never doing it on my 2016 M4 and 2018 M3. Godspeed OP, takes courage to post that and share this experience!

[gixxerboy63]

This is why my painted reflectors are still in the box.

[shay2nak]

LMAO

I will attempt again in 2 weeks on my winter break.

anyone ask their dealer to do it?

[milk242]

I just pried enough for a small crack and sprayed goo gone in there and eventually was able to remove the reflectors. Probably would be faster with a blow dryer or hair dryer but I had none on hand. I did open up the wheel liner to first put a towel down so it would catch any dripping goo gone.

[///Rival]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I wonder if something has changed over the years with the reflectors. My ‘16 was pretty easy, literally just a swift solid push an they were out. Seemed to help by concentrating the force on the top corner of the reflector. Maybe they changed the adhesive.

Was wanting to swap them out on my ‘18 but may give them a try before ordering new ones.

[msmching]

Originally Posted by ///Rival

Thanks for sharing your experience. I wonder if something has changed over the years with the reflectors. My '16 was pretty easy, literally just a swift solid push an they were out. Seemed to help by concentrating the force on the top corner of the reflector. Maybe they changed the adhesive.

Was wanting to swap them out on my '18 but may give them a try before ordering new ones.

I am sure it's going come off, just need the right way to do it.

[Brasko]

A heat gun to remove side reflectors. That's a first.

[desertfox73]

Originally Posted by shay2nak

LMAO

I will attempt again in 2 weeks on my winter break.

anyone ask their dealer to do it?

I asked a reputable shop (run by a bunch of former BMW dealer techs) to do it, and they quoted me 2 hours of shop time for the install- about twice what i paid for the reflectors.

I'll try it myself when it gets warmer. I don't plan to use a heat gun.

[SD ///M4]

Originally Posted by Brasko

A heat gun to remove side reflectors. That's a first.

A heat gun to soften and remove adhesive, pretty common.

[TRYM3]

Originally Posted by Brasko

A heat gun to remove side reflectors. That's a first.

yes actually very common and prob 99 percent of these installs required a heat gun if your not in 80 degree weather, I used it on mine and it worked perfect you just need to have common sense and heat slowly

[Foomanchu]

First off, like others said, takes incredibly huge nuts to post that. New bumper, I would never be able to live with any less. Your car is beautiful! Eat the cost and mark it up as water (and cash) under the bridge. Learn, like that makes it hurt less (lol) from this and move on. Spend the money, you can print more later get your baby back to factory condition. That's my $.02

[cionide]

Those little carbon noses you have above the splitters - are those aftermarket or are they m-perf? Where can I get those?

[Mrbangis]

Originally Posted by gixxerboy63

This is why my painted reflectors are still in the box.

same here

[ssgm1x]

Originally Posted by msmching

There's many installation guide online here and on YouTube.

For newbies like me, do not trust how easy it was to replace those reflectors as shown on YouTube lol.
Especially the IND's video, Take out the liner, pry it and pop it out. Ain't that easy to take it off. I have 2018, not like the reflectors on the car for years. Even with heat gun, it's no pushing/popping it out, it's tearing it out lol.

And never do them at night without lightings.
I used the heat gun (first time user) and I overheated the spot too much without knowing the paint is burnt already. Even the OEM reflector kinda melted.

Well, at least the the other side was good. (After learning the expensive lesson)

Embarrassing myself here but that's the point of forum... hoping there won't be a 2nd person making the mistakes

What front splitter is this? Looks Nice !!!
I have never seen one like yours. Looks slightly similar to M Performance but it is not.

[msmching]

Originally Posted by ssgm1x

What front splitter is this? Looks Nice !!!
I have never seen one like yours. Looks slightly similar to M Performance but it is not.

It's an eBay splitter.

[Spun Crankhub]

The moral of the story is take the extra time to remove wheel and front portion of the wheel liner that way you can apply heat and plastic pry tool on the inside while gently pushing reflector from the outside. Cutting corners to save time leads to chipped paint and bubbling clear coat.

[c0nrad]

Originally Posted by TacoChris

The moral of the story is take the extra time to remove wheel and front portion of the wheel liner that way you can apply heat and plastic pry tool on the inside while gently pushing reflector from the outside. Cutting corners to save time leads to chipped paint and bubbling clear coat.

tried it myself yesterday and couldn't get it done. being 40 degrees in the winter made the heat gun kinda useless. didn't risk it. WD40 did not seem to get inside the cracks to help loosen the adhesive.

will probably wait til summer and get a pry tool to help.

[Spun Crankhub]

Originally Posted by KLNLQIm

tried it myself yesterday and couldn't get it done. being 40 degrees in the winter made the heat gun kinda useless. didn't risk it. WD40 did not seem to get inside the cracks to help loosen the adhesive.

will probably wait til summer and get a pry tool to help.

Being from NorCal I definitely cannot speak to that sort of cold, but a 500 degree+ heat gun I would think could overcome those ambient temps. My heat gun $12 and plastic pry tool set $8 are both from Harbor Freight.

[c0nrad]

Originally Posted by TacoChris

Being from NorCal I definitely cannot speak to that sort of cold, but a 500 degree+ heat gun I would think could overcome those ambient temps. My heat gun $12 and plastic pry tool set $8 are both from Harbor Freight.

I didn't take the wheel off and didn't remove the entire wheel liner, so wasn't able to get good heat on the back of the reflector.

If I had a pry tool I think it would be doable, but I'm going to have my dealer do it or wait and do it when it's warm out

[M3Jae]

[theox05]

I installed these last year on my '18 M4 ZCP. Used a hair dryer and made sure to not hold it over once place for too long. Required a little elbow grease, but was not terribly difficult. Just make sure you're constantly moving the heat gun/hairdryer and use your hands to check surface temps. It doesn't need to be lava to get that adhesive to unstick.