Page 1 of 2

Bye bye white window trim

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 5:35 pm
by StuBee
Well after a week of owning the car i'm still loving it :D

managing to get about 25mpg on the commute to work (better than i got in the evo 9!)

Got the car from Audi in Edinburgh and it was in fairly good nick apart from a couple of things.

1. Some of the piano black trim inside was all scratched. (both ash trays). Audi ordered replacement ones.

2. The sat nave screen has some scratches on it. Plastx on order to fix this thanks to some hints found on forums.

3. the supposed to be brushed aluminum round the doors was all foobar. Audi wouldnt fix this. However this didnt bother me as i wanted the car anyway. ;)

So i started attacking the trim today with the good old megs NXT and decided to strip off the white stuff!! Yeah i know its daft but i REALLY didnt like the look it gave the car. Fortunately the oxidised brushed aluminum finish is coming off and leaving behind a nice finish. I've just been doing it fairly quickly but its hard work! :(

Decided to have a break as my hand is killing me. Was going to use the machine polisher but didnt have any tape!!

heres some before and afters and a partial one. It still needs another going over to remove some of the little bits left behind. No doubt something terrible will happen when the shiney stuff is exposed to the elements but hey ho its better than the white and some wax might protect it ;)

RE: Bye bye white window trim

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 5:38 pm
by RS6chris!
What white stuff??? Youve lost me???

RE: Bye bye white window trim

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 5:45 pm
by Marcus-RS4
I think he means the 'chrome effect'?

They did look buggered, your right! not sure I prefer the afters though, if I am honest... Perhaps go down the vinyl wrapping route?

RE: Bye bye white window trim

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 5:47 pm
by lengster1
Do you mean youve polished off the brushed alloy finish?

RE: Bye bye white window trim

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 6:01 pm
by StuBee
yeah polished off the brushed alloy finish. Well if you can call it that, it was all white and wrecked.

RE: Bye bye white window trim

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 6:03 pm
by StuBee
Good call on the vinyl wrapping route though. Didn't even think about that as an option. I'll head back out now and finish the job then take a proper pic and put my flamesuit on :mrgreen:

Re: RE: Bye bye white window trim

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 6:20 pm
by Sims
StuBee wrote:yeah polished off the brushed alloy finish. Well if you can call it that, it was all white and wrecked.
The brushed finish suffers terribly from water marks, and Audi did replace the trim in the 1st 2 years, but not in the 3rd year of the manufacturer's warranty.

The shiny trim now adorn the new generation cars, but I do prefer the brushed effect.

RE: Re: RE: Bye bye white window trim

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 6:49 pm
by sonny
Lets just hope it does not corrode.

Have you thought about having the black optics fitted?

Any more pictures of the polished trim?

RE: Re: RE: Bye bye white window trim

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 8:36 pm
by daytonamc
I've used PlastX on my Sat Nav screen. The way it works is by taking the anti-glare coating off. This is where the scratches are. My advice would be to use cotten buds to work into the corners. I was really pleased with the results. I'll get some pictures on later.

Re: RE: Re: RE: Bye bye white window trim

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 9:26 pm
by StuBee
I somehow managed to forget the footy started at 19:30, so didn't get much more done! its looking a fair bit better than the white mess that was there. Photos dont really do it justice as the car was in the garage. Got the fiddly bits left like under the mirror and the ends of each door. So its about half done, still got the other side to do.
daytonamc wrote:I've used PlastX on my Sat Nav screen. The way it works is by taking the anti-glare coating off. This is where the scratches are. My advice would be to use cotten buds to work into the corners. I was really pleased with the results. I'll get some pictures on later.
daytonamc, did you just use cotton wool to apply it to the main bit of the screen or just a cloth?

PlastX Screen Before/after

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 9:51 pm
by daytonamc
Sat Nav Before/After shots[/img]

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 9:53 pm
by daytonamc
After Shot, It takes a couple of applications.

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 9:58 pm
by daytonamc
Stubee, I used a Meguiars applicator pad on the screen. not too much pressure and let the mild abrassives do their work in the PlastX. The difficult part is the corners. I used cotton buds and patience. hope the pics help!

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 10:58 pm
by Borgelite
Where can you get PlastX from, my screen is not to bad but if i can hold of some PlastX from Halfords i my have a pop.

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 11:11 pm
by Borgelite
Or just might use some toothpaste.