Painted square-tail bumpers?

[Hodgepodge]

I am working on little details on my '74 Chamonix 2002 and suspect that maybe, possibly, the diving board bumpers have been painted.  Hard to tell from the image below but the finish on them is not like any of my other diving-board BMWs.  It is perfectly uniform and, except for the scratch, there is no pitting, dings or blemishes of any kind.  Except for that scratch, they look damn good!  I know the bumpers on my E28 M5s are painted and I know some folks like Worzilla have polished their bumpers, but has anyone seen silver painted bumpers on a 2002?  Any reason not to do it?  

[Conserv]

I admit: it does look pretty damned good! Powdercoating? I’m thinking it doesn’t work (well) on aluminum...

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

Edited April 29, 2019 by Conserv

[rstclark]

I have painted them with Hammer Mill finish spray silver  and I've seen them powder coated in a gray color. Neither one is attempting to look like the bright coat anodization on the originals but they look good 

They can be taken to a plating shop and have the coatings chemically stripped to bare aluminium  Then they can be polished. It's a lot of work but they can look like chrome.

There are a few places that can still do Bright Dip and it will look like new.

Just a few options

[Mark92131]

Anodized coating removed and polished?

 

Mark92131

 

 

[Conserv]

Re-anodized: bright-dip anodization by King of Trim — bad name but good work.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

[7502]

When I bought my car besides a box of old parts the PO also had a set of painted white diving boards bumpers complete with hardware and rubber bits. I'm never going to install them.  I keep telling myself this summer I'll finally recycle the metal or try to sell off for beer.  They actually would look pretty good if cleaned up.

 

 

[robsanab]

Powder coating works great… I’m very happy I did mine. I get lots of compliments. They don’t really stand out as different unless there are other 02’s around to compare.

 

To consider: mine were in much worse shape than yours. Also, I have bits of other trim painted the same since I had the car stripped of all trim for paint and new seals in 2008. My bright trim was also bad and dinged… hard to find and very expensive at the time as well… so I had it and roof rail coated too. That MAY be why it doesn’t seem to stand out as much (And now even my engine matches… Just finished my EFI project and coated the intake and valve cover!). All that plus I just hate polishing ‘chrome’ or high gloss finishes on anything… prefer lower gloss for ease of maintenance as well as prefer the look.

 

This picture is a decent representation… shows direct and shadowed lighting, and the contrast between the Rota wheel (royal silver) and the stock pieces not painted… close enough not to clash.

 

I can’t remember the color name/number, gloss level (70-80%?) nor the brand (Cardinal ?) but it’s very aluminum or light grey color. Go see it in real life or get a swatch. I’m sure you can find something closer to original look… a vast array of colors and finishes.

[Hodgepodge]

6 minutes ago, robsanab said:

Powder coating works great… I’m very happy I did mine. I get lots of compliments. They don’t really stand out as different unless there are other 02’s around to compare.

 

To consider: mine were in much worse shape than yours. Also, I have bits of other trim painted the same since I had the car stripped of all trim for paint and new seals in 2008. My bright trim was also bad and dinged… hard to find and very expensive at the time as well… so I had it and roof rail coated too. That MAY be why it doesn’t seem to stand out as much (And now even my engine matches… Just finished my EFI project and coated the intake and valve cover!). All that plus I just hate polishing ‘chrome’ or high gloss finishes on anything… prefer lower gloss for ease of maintenance as well as prefer the look.

 

This picture is a decent representation… shows direct and shadowed lighting, and the contrast between the Rota wheel (royal silver) and the stock pieces not painted… close enough not to clash.

 

I can’t remember the color name/number, gloss level (70-80%?) nor the brand (Cardinal ?) but it’s very aluminum or light grey color. Go see it in real life or get a swatch. I’m sure you can find something closer to original look… a vast array of colors and finishes.

 

 

That is a great idea!  I have been giving a lot of business to my local powdercoat folks lately with 3 cars in the midst of restoration...  He has some amazing finishes.  

[NYNick]

For the love of gawd put that poor car on a diet and get rid of those bumpers!

[Hodgepodge]

3 hours ago, NYNick said:

For the love of gawd put that poor car on a diet and get rid of those bumpers!

 

I've had this discussion here before and although I respect everyone's opinions about diving board bumbers, a collision with a Chevy Suburban many years ago (my damage: one bent bumper and 2 new bumper struts.  Suburban damage: whole new front end including grill and fenders) has also given me great respect for these bumpers.  They will stay.