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      09-01-2014, 05:04 PM   #1
Eric5273
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Carbon Fiber Interior?

I've been considering doing something to change the silver plastic pieces inside my X1 to carbon fiber. I know there is the route of having them vinyl wrapped with carbon fiber look vinyl, but that seems to look a bit cheap and does not have the glossy finish that real carbon fiber has.

There are 6 pieces I'm interested in changing:

- the 4 door strips (one on each door)
- center console (the piece that surrounds the shifter and iDrive controls)
- dash (the narrow strip on the passenger side of the dash)

I found a place called DB Carbon that actually sells replacement carbon fiber pieces for the X1, but all 6 of those pieces together goes for around $1800 which seems kind of pricey.

I also found a local place that can do it for me at a lower price, but I would have to remove the panels myself and deliver them, and they would then add the carbon fiber layer over the plastic.

I'm probably the least handy person in the world, plus I have a bad back which makes working on my car myself almost impossible. How easy or hard is it to remove those 6 panels? If I were to bring it to the dealer for them to remove (and later reinstall) for me, how many hours of labor do you suppose it would cost me?

Lastly, can the car be driven without those panels in place? It sounds like it would take a few days for them to be converted, and it is my only vehicle.


My other (and cheaper) option is to go with the brushed aluminum trim that is optional with the M-sport package. I found out I can order all 6 pieces for around $800. Maybe someone who has that trim can comment on how nice it looks? Because right now I think the silver plastic is the only really cheap looking thing on my interior and I would like it to look more upscale.
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      09-01-2014, 05:15 PM   #2
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You tube how to lay carbon finer and make the pieces yourself. Make molds out of fiber glass, then lay the carbon finer in it.

Yes you drive the car without those trim pieces, they mean nothing except aesthetics.
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      09-01-2014, 06:33 PM   #3
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Google 3M Carbon Di-NOC. Plenty of DIY videos and articles out there. Done correctly it looks fantastic. Here's one example:

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=635324
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      09-01-2014, 06:45 PM   #4
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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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      09-02-2014, 02:25 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NorCal Einstein View Post
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.
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.
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      09-02-2014, 02:39 PM   #6
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Why not just do the OE gloss black?
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      09-02-2014, 03:04 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Bread View Post
Why not just do the OE gloss black?
I could do that, but not as nice. Any of the OE options cost about $800 for the parts, about $1k less than the CF pieces from DB Carbon.
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      09-02-2014, 03:07 PM   #8
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Whatever works for you. I'm not a fan of carbon, but that shouldn't influence you at all. The 2015 trim with aluminum accents looks nicer than our 2013 trim, but not nice enough to make me change.
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      09-04-2014, 11:48 AM   #9
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I had oCarbon make a set of silver CF trim pieces for my 135. It took him a while but they came out great.
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      09-04-2014, 11:57 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Kleen View Post
I had oCarbon make a set of silver CF trim pieces for my 135. It took him a while but they came out great.
Not really an option here since I can't be without the interior panels of my car for an extended period of time.
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      09-05-2014, 05:59 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric5273 View Post
Not really an option here since I can't be without the interior panels of my car for an extended period of time.
I put down a deposit, oCarbon bought interior parts, oCarbon made the CF parts and shipped them, I swapped out my interior parts for the CF ones and shipped them back, oCarbon refunded my core deposit.

Also, the car will operate just fine without the interior parts if it comes to it.
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      09-05-2014, 09:31 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Kleen View Post
I put down a deposit, oCarbon bought interior parts, oCarbon made the CF parts and shipped them, I swapped out my interior parts for the CF ones and shipped them back, oCarbon refunded my core deposit.
Can I ask what the cost was? (not including the refundable deposit)

And how well did the pieces fit in the car? That is somewhat of a concern for me too. Since they are adding the carbon fiber to the pieces, obviously the thickness is slightly more than stock. Was the fit flush or did they stick out around the edges?

Also, I assume the issues mentioned above by NorCal did not exist with oCarbon? The quality was very good?
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      09-08-2014, 04:04 AM   #13
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oCarbon doesn't do overlay, he makes new trim using the existing trim piece as the frame. I don't remember exactly how much it was. It wasn't cheap but it was cheaper than the BMW CF trim. It took him a while to finish the parts but the quality is very good and worth the wait.

I've yet to get a good looking interior shot, but at our Alpine driving meet up last weekend Dackelone saw it and remarked how good he thought it looked and one of the German guys from Leipzig wanted contact info for oCarbon.

One night this week I'll try to shoot a quick video of the interior and post it.
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      09-08-2014, 03:57 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Kleen View Post
One night this week I'll try to shoot a quick video of the interior and post it.
Thanks. That would be great.
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      09-14-2014, 01:54 PM   #15
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I just found this...

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Carbo...863896854.html

The price seems too low to be real, but the pictures look really good and it says that it is real carbon fiber. I wonder what the catch is....
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      09-14-2014, 02:48 PM   #16
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Made and sold from China???
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      09-14-2014, 05:23 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fw_fw View Post
Made and sold from China???

Don't feel bad. I just heard about a report by an Ohio student who traced the Asparagus his school served for lunch from growing it in South America to packing it in China to storage for transport in San Diego to his school for lunch. An 18,000 mile journey.
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      09-14-2014, 06:50 PM   #18
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I'm not brave enough to be the guinea pig - but that CF trim looks very nice.


If anyone tries this - definitely post your thoughts on them.
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      09-14-2014, 06:52 PM   #19
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We use OCarbon for lots of cars in our shop and his work is always top notch from audis to bmws and benz.
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