E90Post
 


The Tire Rack
 
BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Technical Forums > DIY Guides > DIY: PlastiDip your LCI bumper



Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
      03-30-2013, 02:09 PM   #1
Otruba_843
Lieutenant Colonel
Otruba_843's Avatar
United_States
93
Rep
1,509
Posts

Drives: 2009 E90
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Egg Harbor - Athens

iTrader: (0)

DIY: PlastiDip your LCI bumper

Guide for Plasti Dipping your LCI bumper for M-Sport rear look.

Materials- 1 can of black Plasti Dip, painters tape (1 7/8 inch i think), crappy clothes, a clean surface, and newspaper.

Directions:

1. Wash your car and dry it properly

2. On the top part of the bottom diffuser like panel, start with one strand of tape starting and stopping before the molding curves downward. Make sure the edge of the tape is flush with the panel.

3. Now for the time consuming part. Take your time on perfecting the curve with the masking tape otherwise it will look awful. Start from your 1 long piece of tape that you already placed on the top part of the diffusor. Start ripping off pieces of tape that you think look like a good size (they should not be long). Follow the curve down with the tape angling each piece a little more downward as you follow the curve. Do this till you reach the bottom of the bumper then go to the other side and do the same thing for the other curve. If you follow the ling very well with the tape, it should come out very good. Here is a picture to help show you what it should look like



4. Take your newspaper and rip it in half down the crease. Make it horizontal and start taping it onto the car. Make sure on the bottom part of it to put one long piece of tape along the whole thing so there is no overspray. Do this until you have good coverage. Im extremely anal and I went really far up with the newspaper because it was a little windy when I did this. You should only need it to about where the trunk starts. Wrap the news paper around the bumper till you reach the wheels. Also, to cover your exhaust, use a grocery bag and tape it tight. Make sure you get your car where you want it first before doing this.

5. Now for the easy part. Shake the can for a good minute or two. The first coat should be light dusting. Start with sweeping motions and spraying on and off with the can. After your first coat, Let it dry for 15 minutes.

6. Repeat step five 3-5 times depending on how many coats you want to do.

7. Now let the last coat dry for 25 minutes. After the 25 minutes is up, you are going to want to spray the edges of the tape line and the Plasti Dip itself again and get them wet. Once you do this, hurry, but carefully take the tape of that way the Plasti Dip will not dry and bond thus ruining your edges.

Materials:


The Curve I was talking about:


How the top tape line should look:


The exhaust with grocery bag:


How I masked the whole thing. Its doesn't need to be this overkill, but like I said it was windy so I wanted to be on the safe side.


Make sure you activate the tape edge before spraying for crisp edges by rubbing it with your finger.


After the first coat:


5th coat drying:


How it looked after 5th coat dried:


Finished product came out great!


__________________
2009 E90 328i Monaco Blue
premium/idrive/convience/logic-7/cold weather/ xenons/ saddle brown interior

Last edited by Otruba_843; 03-30-2013 at 11:46 PM..
Appreciate 0
      03-30-2013, 07:11 PM   #2
scward
Enlisted Member
scward's Avatar
3
Rep
38
Posts

Drives: 09 E92 328i
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Atlanta, GA

iTrader: (0)

Someone needs to try this on a white or red 328, but looks very clean on yours!
Appreciate 0
      03-30-2013, 11:36 PM   #3
scooby9
Major
scooby9's Avatar
Canada
61
Rep
1,120
Posts

Drives: 2007 E90 BMW 335xi
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

iTrader: (6)

Looks great! Also good job on taping that off.
__________________
2007 BMW 335xi 6MT TiAg
Appreciate 0
      03-31-2013, 11:14 AM   #4
DUI Elite
///M at Heart
DUI Elite's Avatar
90
Rep
1,954
Posts

Drives: 06 SGM E90, 15 BSM E84
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Chicago, IL

iTrader: (4)

Instead of newspaper for the entire back, I used a big garbage bag.

Cut the seam on both sides, and opened it to fit over to the top of the trunklid. Much easier to do.

On the sides, theres no doubt you have to use newspaper or something of the sort though.

like this:



Just something to change to make it like 5 min faster of a DIY.

Good write up. Never really thought to do one when I did mine lol.
Appreciate 0
      03-31-2013, 06:42 PM   #5
minivan
Private
3
Rep
60
Posts

Drives: 335i
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Austin, TX

iTrader: (0)

Lol you can't even tell on a black car
Appreciate 0
      03-31-2013, 07:46 PM   #6
2M
Colonel
2M's Avatar
United_States
503
Rep
2,200
Posts

Drives: Mineral Grey M2
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: New York

iTrader: (2)

Someone do it on a white one !
__________________
E9X Picture Game: 8 points: (High visibility jacket; Strip Club; Pizzeria; Sobriety Test; E9x dressed for Halloween, Billiards, Oil Change, Orange Cone)
Appreciate 0
      03-31-2013, 07:53 PM   #7
Otruba_843
Lieutenant Colonel
Otruba_843's Avatar
United_States
93
Rep
1,509
Posts

Drives: 2009 E90
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Egg Harbor - Athens

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Alpine3 View Post
Someone do it on a white one !
Ask and you shall receive
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=784739
__________________
2009 E90 328i Monaco Blue
premium/idrive/convience/logic-7/cold weather/ xenons/ saddle brown interior

Last edited by Otruba_843; 03-31-2013 at 08:10 PM..
Appreciate 0
      04-02-2013, 11:25 AM   #8
chilled_fire
Private First Class
United_States
8
Rep
175
Posts

Drives: 2015 M235 2009 328i xDrive
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: NJ

iTrader: (1)

planning to do this over weekend, and i have never tried plasti dip before.
quick n00b question - did you take off the masking tape after the plasti dip dried out ? cause i feel after it dries out it will be difficult to get the mask out clean.
Appreciate 0
      04-02-2013, 11:39 AM   #9
Otruba_843
Lieutenant Colonel
Otruba_843's Avatar
United_States
93
Rep
1,509
Posts

Drives: 2009 E90
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Egg Harbor - Athens

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by chilled_fire View Post
planning to do this over weekend, and i have never tried plasti dip before.
quick n00b question - did you take off the masking tape after the plasti dip dried out ? cause i feel after it dries out it will be difficult to get the mask out clean.
This was my first time using it too. I posted that in the DIY about the removal. Get the dip pretty wet again with another coat especially around the edges and remove the tape ASAP.
__________________
2009 E90 328i Monaco Blue
premium/idrive/convience/logic-7/cold weather/ xenons/ saddle brown interior
Appreciate 0
      04-02-2013, 01:36 PM   #10
chilled_fire
Private First Class
United_States
8
Rep
175
Posts

Drives: 2015 M235 2009 328i xDrive
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: NJ

iTrader: (1)

kool, thanks
Appreciate 0
      04-04-2013, 07:24 PM   #11
Skeevald
Registered
0
Rep
2
Posts

Drives: 2008 e90 335i
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Florida

iTrader: (0)

Looks good
Appreciate 0
Reply

Bookmarks


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 10:32 AM.




e90post
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
1Addicts.com, BIMMERPOST.com, E90Post.com, F30Post.com, M3Post.com, ZPost.com, 5Post.com, 6Post.com, 7Post.com, XBimmers.com logo and trademark are properties of BIMMERPOST