Painted reflector installation fail

[kosd]

I had considered doing this same mod but didn’t think the painted reflectors were worth the cost. I decided to use some scraps of vivid light smoke taillight tint that I had to tint them. I’m pretty happy with the result - it muted the awful orange and sort of matches the black accents and the wheels better. Took about 15 min to do both. See before and after pics attached.

[mpizutti]

Did mine the other day

[gatorfast]

Originally Posted by BoostinChick

Even with the extra cameras in the bumper? I have small girly hands but wanted to give myself enough room to get it out cleanly.

Yep even with the cameras. Just need to undo a few of the screws on the wheel well bumper liner and it's easy to pull the plastic away enough to fit your hand back there.

[allinon72]

Originally Posted by gatorfast

Yep even with the cameras. Just need to undo a few of the screws on the wheel well bumper liner and it's easy to pull the plastic away enough to fit your hand back there.

Consider that all DIYers are not created equal. We just had a guy completely ruin his paint attempting a relatively simple job, as an example.

I'm an advanced DIYer and I removed the fender liner. Did I have to? Probably not. But I like to work smarter.

[didit70]

Originally Posted by gatorfast

Yep even with the cameras. Just need to undo a few of the screws on the wheel well bumper liner and it's easy to pull the plastic away enough to fit your hand back there.

And no heat gun was required... The plastic squeegee/knife thingy helped a lot...

[MisterF80M3]

I'm surprised people don't plasti-dip them

[shay2nak]

Originally Posted by MisterF80M3

I'm surprised people don't plasti-dip them

I had mine wrapped in gloss black on a MG car, until I replace mine. I bought a set of painted ones and tried it, but it was a bitch. Wrapped it temporarily until the weather cools down so I can try again.

[BoostinChick]

I ended up doing mine. Wasn't as awful that I made it out to be. My heat gun has variable temperature settings so I was able to start low and bump it up to get the glue and push the reflector loose. I did not take the wheels off but those dang bumper cameras and wiring did make for a fun time contorting my wrists. Took me maybe an hour and that was mostly waiting and making sure the Goo-Off was dry.

[Zero_Cool]

I did this on my 2018, and it was a major PITA. I looked at the IND DIY guide and figured how hard could it be. Well I figured wrong. After screaming forearms and scrapes. It looks great, but I wouldn’t do it again. I was lazy and just opened a couple of liner pins and used one hand to pry the reflector from behind. Probably not the preferred method..

[ptper]

Got to hand it to MB...they do a really nice job on diy videos.

I'm going to skip the heat gun (thanks for posting OP) and try a hair dryer (in the back) if my thumbs can't take it anymore. Didn't think about a bungee cord, haha.

[M3insf]

After reading all the difficulties most had installing the reflectors, I was a bit hesitant to try it tonight, but I gave it a try and it was much easier than I had anticipated. I learned a lesson a couple of months ago while installing the rear spoiler. WD40 is the key to removing adhesive tape.

So I sprayed WD40 along the edges of the reflector while covering the camera/sensor. Wipe off excess spray from the body with cloth. Let it sit for 10 minutes while removing the screws from the wheel cover. No need to remove wheels.

The WD 40 will collect at the bottom of the reflector so start pushing it at the bottom with your finger. Once it starts to separate at the bottom keep pushing and the whole reflector will pop out.

Remove the remaining adhesive tape in the hole by just rolling it along with your fingers. It takes about 5 minutes or so to remove all the tape. Once tape is removed, wipe the edges with alcohol wipes to remove WD40. You may want to do this couple of times and finally wipe with clean tissue/cloth to be sure all WD40 has been removed before installing the new reflectors.

It took me about 45 minutes to do both sides. No heat gun or hair dryer was needed. Wheels didn’t need to removed and car was not lifted.

[G35POPPEDMYCHERRY]

LOL this was such a PITA for me. That one side is mineral the other is still amber. been this way for over a year .

some heat really works. a heat gun with low setting would be best

awaiting

[kevolution]

I thought about doing this but then I felt like the cosmetic improvement wasn't worth the risk.

In addition to maybe botching the installation like I usually do, it could be an annoyance if there was an insurance claim situation where the other party claims it didn't see your car due to no front reflectors.

[allinon72]

Originally Posted by kevolution

In addition to maybe botching the installation like I usually do, it could be an annoyance if there was an insurance claim situation where the other party claims it didn't see your car due to no front reflectors.

I mean, if you're going to take a situation that has such a minuscule probability of occurring that seriously, you might as well keep your car stock. In fact, you might as well just sell your car and buy a Volvo.

[msmching]

Originally Posted by allinon72

I mean, if you're going to take a situation that has such a minuscule probability of occurring that seriously, you might as well keep your car stock. In fact, you might as well just sell your car and buy a Volvo.

Originally Posted by M3insf

After reading all the difficulties most had installing the reflectors, I was a bit hesitant to try it tonight, but I gave it a try and it was much easier than I had anticipated. I learned a lesson a couple of months ago while installing the rear spoiler. WD40 is the key to removing adhesive tape.

So I sprayed WD40 along the edges of the reflector while covering the camera/sensor. Wipe off excess spray from the body with cloth. Let it sit for 10 minutes while removing the screws from the wheel cover. No need to remove wheels.

The WD 40 will collect at the bottom of the reflector so start pushing it at the bottom with your finger. Once it starts to separate at the bottom keep pushing and the whole reflector will pop out.

Remove the remaining adhesive tape in the hole by just rolling it along with your fingers. It takes about 5 minutes or so to remove all the tape. Once tape is removed, wipe the edges with alcohol wipes to remove WD40. You may want to do this couple of times and finally wipe with clean tissue/cloth to be sure all WD40 has been removed before installing the new reflectors.

It took me about 45 minutes to do both sides. No heat gun or hair dryer was needed. Wheels didn't need to removed and car was not lifted.

I used WD40 on almost everything when I want to remove something at home.. i have no idea why i didn't think of using that for the reflector........ #dumbme lol. :

Originally Posted by allinon72

I mean, if you're going to take a situation that has such a minuscule probability of occurring that seriously, you might as well keep your car stock. In fact, you might as well just sell your car and buy a Volvo.

Well, he does make a point though lol. That's what the reflector is there for.

[MisterF80M3]

Originally Posted by allinon72

I mean, if you're going to take a situation that has such a minuscule probability of occurring that seriously, you might as well keep your car stock. In fact, you might as well just sell your car and buy a Volvo.

[shay2nak]

Originally Posted by M3insf

After reading all the difficulties most had installing the reflectors, I was a bit hesitant to try it tonight, but I gave it a try and it was much easier than I had anticipated. I learned a lesson a couple of months ago while installing the rear spoiler. WD40 is the key to removing adhesive tape.

So I sprayed WD40 along the edges of the reflector while covering the camera/sensor. Wipe off excess spray from the body with cloth. Let it sit for 10 minutes while removing the screws from the wheel cover. No need to remove wheels.

The WD 40 will collect at the bottom of the reflector so start pushing it at the bottom with your finger. Once it starts to separate at the bottom keep pushing and the whole reflector will pop out.

Remove the remaining adhesive tape in the hole by just rolling it along with your fingers. It takes about 5 minutes or so to remove all the tape. Once tape is removed, wipe the edges with alcohol wipes to remove WD40. You may want to do this couple of times and finally wipe with clean tissue/cloth to be sure all WD40 has been removed before installing the new reflectors.

It took me about 45 minutes to do both sides. No heat gun or hair dryer was needed. Wheels didn’t need to removed and car was not lifted.

Good tip. I wonder how much more or same Goo Gone would work? I have that stuff, too. Used it for removing the badges on my DD.

Originally Posted by G35POPPEDMYCHERRY

LOL this was such a PITA for me. That one side is mineral the other is still amber. been this way for over a year .

some heat really works. a heat gun with low setting would be best

awaiting

[kevolution]

Originally Posted by allinon72

I mean, if you're going to take a situation that has such a minuscule probability of occurring that seriously, you might as well keep your car stock. In fact, you might as well just sell your car and buy a Volvo.

Well I am keeping my car stock so...

Painted reflectors just aren't worth the hassle and risk for a minor aesthetic improvement IMO. Yes I know the probability of it mattering in a insurance claim or getting pulled over is low, it's still non-zero and gives cops and insurance people another reason to bone you over. That's kinda the point of the reflector. I understand some people value aesthetics over the minor potential situational consequences, though -- which is totally cool. I was just stating my own view on it.

Also what does owning a Volvo have to do with anything? It's not like all M3 owners have to rice out their car to make it look good / perform well.. it's still an M3 regardless of whether it has an amber reflector or a painted one.

[blaccm3]

Ouch... that hurts me I just recently did mine as well. Easy installation and took about 30min or so. Removing the adhesive was the longest part. All you need is some WD40 to remove adhesive, microfibers, and my thumbs. (No heat gun/hair dryer) Just push it out with your thumb from the top and bottom until it gets loose then pop it out from in the middle.

[NPuter]

WOW -- makes me scared as to what could've happened considering I tried using a heat gun when I did mine.

I ended up using fishing line...

My post detailing the process from another thread:

Installed mine (well only one side) yesterday. HUGE PITA even with taking my wheel off and removing the fender liner. Even with using a heat gun, I was afraid I'd hurt the bumper with how much force it was taking to break the glue.
I ended up being able to get a piece of fishing line through a gap I created (going through the reflector cutout) and used that to then saw away the adhesive. If doing this, you have to be extremely careful that the line doesn't touch the painted front edge of the reflector cutout, because that would destroy it (I beat up the back edge pretty good doing this, but that makes no difference). With being really careful to keep the line only touching the reflector up front, it made the job a whole lot easier.

You can see I did not hurt any visible parts at all using this method. Although it did have me extremely nervous...

[SD ///M4]

We did my wife's '18 M3 CP a couple of weeks ago, the day after redelivery at our dealer. I previously did my '16 M4 when it was new and the second time was much, much easier.

This time I took off each front wheel. The '18 fender liner covers the camera and the reflector so I removed three of the bolts that attach the fender liner from the front to the top. Then I folded back the fender liner (it's really flexible) and held it aside with a bungee cord.

I used a hair dryer on the hottest setting and ran it around the back of the reflector where the adhesive is. I constantly checked the outside of the fender to make sure it wasn't getting too hot. With my wife pushing on the top of the reflector from the outside, I used a plastic pry tool and started prying the reflector from the top. Once the adhesive broke free at the top, it came out in just a couple of minutes. We heated up the remaining adhesive with the hair dryer and used the pry tools to remove the rest of it. Installing the new painted reflector is a piece of cake once everything is cleaned up.

This method of removing the wheel, pulling back the fender liner, heating up the adhesive from the inside, and using a plastic pry tool, was far easier and took way less time overall than my '16. From start to finish, including jacking up the car and removing the front wheels one at a time, it took less than an hour overall.

What was way worse was removing the M3 stock rear spoiler (Gurney lip) and installing the MP CF rear spoiler. That took hours...

[TTGator]

Originally Posted by MisterF80M3

I'm surprised people don't plasti-dip them

Dammit, great idea! If I hadn't already done the color matched I would do this instead. Would look really good on my AY