Gray skirt removal failure - United Bimmer Community

**Dudesky** · 10-29-2005, 06:48 PM

Well I hope your day was better than mine. I tried removing the gray off my side skirts, to no avail. I used Greased Lightning cleaner & degreaser, same stuff as the Castrol brand, recommended by some folks over at BF.c. Saturated a small area with a napkin full of the cleaner for a 1/2 hr. . .

Then scrub the crap out of it . .

But nothing. It took off a thin layer of the gray, but no more. Plan B: go postal on it, soak the whole side for an hour . .

And wallah . . . still nothing, Now it looks worse than when I started

I dunno . . some people can't get this stuff off no matter what they do. Maybe some factory applications are more stubborn than others. Maybe I'll just get them painted along with my bumpers in the spring

**defkon99** · 10-29-2005, 07:38 PM

lmao damn you practically bleached um , and im guessing it only looks like that on 1 side?

**Orefus** · 10-29-2005, 08:25 PM

paint over it

**bitcore** · 10-29-2005, 11:02 PM

Sandpaper, then finer grit papers, then polish, then glaze, then wax.

**Dudesky** · 10-30-2005, 04:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by defkon99@netscape.net

. . and im guessing it only looks like that on 1 side?

Yup

Anyone have a really big Sharpie?

But never fear, there has to be some easier way to do this, and I'll figure it out sooner or later. Time for a trip to the corrosives cabinet in our shop at work

**c1apton** · 10-30-2005, 04:19 AM

"D" - if you're just getting them back to black again, try some fine grit sandpaper, wipe it with Isopropyl alcohol then mask bottom of doors and spray "rubberized rustproofing" (3M or Duplicolor) you can get them at any parts store. Just make sure it says "rubberized". Regular rustproof stays tacky and greasy. The rubberized stuff drys and is paintable

**Dudesky** · 10-30-2005, 04:46 AM

^^^ Nah dude, all I wanna do is get the undercoating off so the skirts match the car color. Some have better luck than others when doing this I guess

(Edit): Through further research, it appears that some earlier E36's do not have body color paint under this grey. Some are pegging the models at '94 or earlier. But there appears to be not definitive concensus about this. Hmmm . . .

Storamin · 10-30-2005, 08:43 AM

my 94 had color beneath it, and my 92 had color beneath it.

just buy some real sideskirts.

**bitcore** · 10-30-2005, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Storamin

just buy some real sideskirts.

Yah, the ones you have come off or rather the new ones go over it... one of the two

Storamin · 10-30-2005, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bitcore

Yah, the ones you have come off or rather the new ones go over it... one of the two

the new ones go over it.

i recommend this because i love the look of the m3 sideskirts. it really adds to the car.

**Spieluhr** · 10-30-2005, 03:03 PM

^^^
From when I had my 93 I remember I had color underneath the coating. However, I don't think you can remove those side skirts, they are welded on. And I am also not so sure about adding M3 skirts either.

From what I have heard about most people trying to do this, when they got done, the paint underneath was no where near the other paint quality. Would require a lot of polishing and waxing.

as you already stated, the best and safest bet would be to get them painted when you get your bumpers done.

**jrhaile** · 10-30-2005, 04:04 PM

for the time being, get some fusion paint and paint them... it'll look better then what you got going there. Then get them professionally painted in the spring....ORRRRR buy some M3 skirts, have them painted and installed. 300-400 at most for this entire operation.

**TJsBimm** · 10-30-2005, 04:17 PM

Buy the stuff that turns your trim from faded back to a darker colour. Maybe Mother's Back to Black might work for the time being, might darken the gray... worth a try, cheaper for now.

**Dudesky** · 10-30-2005, 05:13 PM

^^^ That's what I did today, and the faded look is gone, thank goodness. I like the M3 skirts but I want my jack plugs accessible. I'll just wait till spring to get everything done . . too many expenses right now. Oh well.

**TJsBimm** · 10-30-2005, 05:29 PM

Glad it worked.......ya M3 skirts would be sweet!!!!!!They have jacks that are actually low enough if you've lowered your car, but if not you should be ok.