After considering removing and painting or just buying the whole oem kit from the dealer in order to replace my burl wood with piano black, I decided to order some 3M wrap, pull off a panel and give it a try. I have to say, it looks spectacular. But I could not be happier. It took me about 2 hours and cost $40 in wrap. And I love that its reversible.

 

that looks fantastic!

 

Nice! I did the same with my XJR.

 

Outstanding. And it being reversible is an added bonus.

Great job!

 

Looks Great!

Judging by your reaction I take it the 3M wrap is a good match for the original piano black finish? I was wondering about that.

Also, did you have to use a heat gun to get the wrap to conform to corners etc?

 

I'm very picky, and it's close enough for me to live with. I doubt anyone would question it, it looks that good. I used my wife's blow dryer, I think a heat gun may be overkill, the material doesn't need much heat. But does get pretty stiff at low temps.

 

Sounds like my kinda guy.

I'm gonna order some of that foil tonight, will let you know how it goes!

 

Very interesting mod. I wonder how it will hold up to scratches/swirls over time. Black is pretty unforgiving, especially up close.

 

Good luck! Two tips, don't use a squeegee to work out bubbles, I used my fingers and it worked fine, if I had to do it again I would wear some soft cotton gloves. I think a squeegee may scratch the black. Also, the dashboard piece is a good place to start, it's pretty square and easy to hone your skill on before the more intricate parts.

Have fun!

 

I'm curious too, the material is surprisingly robust though. People wrap exteriors with it.....

 

Where did you buy the parts? Do you have any close up pics after the install?

I wonder what the original trim will look like if you have to eventually remove the 3M film.

 

I purchased on eBay. I am attaching a close up for you.

 

Wow, it really does look great!

I'm not a huge fan of my wood in my XKR. I'd rather have the carbon fiber inserts, but what you have looks great as well!

 

3M makes a great looking carbon fiber wrap.

 

As an update, I have noticed that the areas that I didn't wrap around the back of the panel heavily, especially squared off edges, like the panel around the shifter, have loosened ever sp slightly, not noticeable, but noticeable to me. My advice would be to allow for 3/4 inch of material on the back and stretch as much as possible. If I had to do again. Cheers

 

Another pic

 

Looks great!

I'm actually getting ready to do this myself. Finally figured out how to get the ashtray cover off - whew! I was quite surprised at how easily the other trim pieces came off. This is going to be a fun project.

 

Im considering doing this as well, the only thing is that I have wood trim around my steering wheel as well. I'm just concerned that the heated steering wheel may have an adverse effect to bubbling or something... not sure. Does anyone know?

 

I'm not sure how the material would react to the heat but considering that they use this stuff on the exterior of cars, I would imagine it would just fine.

 

Please tell me how. I couldn't figure it out and wrapped it in the car.....