Quote:
Originally Posted by NorCal Einstein
I use to work in the automotive aftermarket area for European cars, and in my experience it is hard to come across a place that does wet carbon overlay on existing pieces that looks good. There's a lot of places where it can go wrong. The few of them I remember off the top of my head: bubbles in the resin, uneven carbon weave, fitment issues now that the part is larger due to the overlay process. These quality issues don't just plague the DIY'er, but the "shops" that sell carbon fiber overlay as a service.
With that said, DB Carbon is a very well known and respected player in the carbon fiber interior space. Their prices are extremely high as you've seen, but many say that their quality rivals OEM carbon fiber. DB Carbon is very popular with the Porsche guys because of this.
If I were in your shoes, I'd either spend the money and buy DB Carbon, or get the parts wrapped in 3M Carbon Fiber Vinyl. The 3M wrap looks good (for what it is), and you won't have a issue with uneven carbon weave, resin bubbles, etc. You stated that you don't like the 3M wrap since it looks cheap and doesn't have the glossy finish that real CF has. Just so you know, there are 2 types of carbon fiber...wet and dry. Glossy carbon fiber pieces is generally wet. The "dull" carbon fiber is generally dry carbon. Dry carbon is superior to wet carbon as it is stronger, lighter, and has better tolerances. Dry carbon is MUCH more expensive than wet carbon though. The 3M vinyl mimics dry carbon.
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Thanks for the advise. I'll have to think about what I want to do. I may end up spending the money and getting the authentic CF from DB Carbon.
When I bought my car, I opted not to get any of the "lines" because I wanted 17" wheels for the better ride quality (the roads are awful around here). I also preferred the styling of the 17" wheels as opposed to the ones that come with the sport line.
So I feel like I am free to spend $2-3k on some custom styling to make up for that since that would have been the cost of getting the Sport or M-Sport packages. So $2k for Carbon Fiber trim, and another $500 to paint the silver bumper strips in the front and rear to body color would sort of give me my own sport package customized the way I want it.
My car is sapphire black with black interior, so I think doing both of these mods along with the black sport grills would give me that blacked out look in both the exterior and interior, which is what I'm trying for.