» Site Navigation | | » Recent Threads | | | 1999 M3 Swap 09-07-2023 10:10 PM 06-01-2024 03:04 PM 7 Replies, 426,515 Views | | | | | | 01-05-2011, 05:22 AM | #1 | Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Gilbert Posts: 621 | i need an outside opinion first. i bought a black on black sedan, i think i posted pics when i picked it up. question is euro tails or oem? and second, while waiting for parts i got bored at the shop and started cleaning off the nasty mess on the valve cover. i honestly think it doesnt look too bad left in brushed aluminum finish. dad thinks it looks trashy, and insists i paint it. i was thinking the light blue on the badge or something but here are pictures of what it looks like now. half cleaned off, and what it would look like with the coil cover. obviously, im going to try to get all the swirls cleaned and in one direction instead of the mess they are in. Thanks. __________________ *IF ITS FAST AND CHEAP, ITS NOT RELIABLE* *IF ITS CHEAP AND RELIABLE, ITS NOT FAST* *IF ITS FAST AND RELIABLE, ITS NOT CHEAP* | | | 01-05-2011, 06:47 AM | #2 | Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: MD/PA/DC Posts: 1,629 | I like the brushed/satin finish. __________________ No more ti. | | | 01-05-2011, 03:08 PM | #3 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Leesburg. VA Posts: 122 | I like the Euro tail lights with silver-coated amber bulbs for turn signals, and prefer the engine compartment to contain elements of silver or black. | | | 01-05-2011, 04:51 PM | #4 | Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Potomac Falls VA DMV Posts: 1,794 | I have the full Depo clear corner lights kit. With l.e.d's and it looks awesome. I also have the silver coated amber bulbs all around the car. Looks good. Just my 2 cents Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk __________________ Im guessing im the youngest member on here with a S52 power'ed Ti at 16 years old! | | | 01-05-2011, 07:23 PM | #5 | NOBODY F's with the Jesus Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Ventura California Posts: 7,824 | Get yourself some 400 grit sanding pads. They kind of look like a sponge with sandpaper attached to them. Get some 00 or 000 steel wool and some BlueMagic metal polish from your local auto parts store. Start by sanding the bare aluminum until it's nice and smooth. Use a lot of elbow grease at first to get all of the deep scratches off. Then apply less and less pressure while sanding to make the scratches as light as possible. The whole thing should be a uniform dull grey or almost white. Once eveything is sanded evenly, no deep scratches, pits or gouges, take a tiny piece of steel wool, dip it in the polish(just a little bit of polish goes a looooong way), and firmly press on the aluminum while making small circles with your finger. Continue doing this in one area until the polish turns black and disappears. Wipe the area clean with the inside of an old tshirt. Then take the tshirt, wrap the edge of it around your finger so the inside is facing out, dip it in the polish and do the same thing you did with the steel wool. Small circles, hard at first, gradually reduce pressure, then buff Last edited by cooljess76; 01-06-2011 at 08:54 AM. | | | 01-06-2011, 03:08 AM | #6 | Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: asdfasdf Posts: 10,002 | Quote: Originally Posted by THAT318 dad thinks it looks trashy, and insists i paint it. | tell him he's not the one who has to drive it I think it could look great if you do what Jess said polished>painted | | | 01-06-2011, 06:23 AM | #7 | Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Gilbert Posts: 621 | haha i went to go pick up a 328i we are selling from a body shop who insisted on more and more money by the day for a deposit. when i get back he had primered it, gouges and all. im making him wire brush it all down again and hes going to smooth it and ill polish and buff.. he thought it was funny... i was tempted to take spray paint to his 530. but in other news, my coils should be in tomorrow so i should get to fire up the 325... i let you guys know how open headers sounds.. everythings been open headers this week. __________________ *IF ITS FAST AND CHEAP, ITS NOT RELIABLE* *IF ITS CHEAP AND RELIABLE, ITS NOT FAST* *IF ITS FAST AND RELIABLE, ITS NOT CHEAP* | | | | Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests) | | Thread Tools | | Display Modes | Linear Mode | Posting Rules | You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts HTML code is Off | | | |