[gronberg]

I just bought an '07 e92 335i with the aluminum interior trim. The car is pretty much spotless except for the interior door trim, particularly on the driver's side. It is dented and marred in a number of places from the seat belt buckle. Has anyone attempted to remove and polish/re-brush the trim pieces? Or is replacement the only option?

Thanks!

[NavZ]

I have the exact same problem, was wondering what caused it...

[Sweattdogg]

I have done this somewhat by accident and I don't recommend it. The trim is aluminum yes, but it is painted. When I converted my interior the piece you mentioned was also marked up. This piece gets marked up from the buckle of the seatbelt hitting the soft aluminum. I figured I could just sand down this part of the trim then rebrush it with a scotchbrite pad and/or sand paper. I put sandpaper on a sanding block and got to work. I did get out almost all the dings, however the metal was very bright and looked horrible.

Luckily I had a can of German Wurth silver wheel paint that I've used to refinish and repair wheels. The color was an exact match so I painted the entire piece with 4-5 coats of paint then rebrushed it with a scotchbrite pad and some of my girl's nail files. In the end it looked great, but if I had not had the paint it would have been a disaster.

[ZJP]

Just wrap the trim with the variety of different 3M vinyl out there.