[CV335]

In the process of "blacking out" my space gray e92 I ordered the black/silver carbon fiber emblems. It turned out that the wheel caps I received were not the new style with the thin chrome border. So I asked myself: why not paint the border black? I know as far as DIYs go, this is a fairly simple thing to do. However, I assume some people might be interested on seeing a finished product, so I decided to take some step-by-step pics of how I did this in case someone might be interested.

Materials:
painter's tape
razor blade
spray paint
gloves

Steps:

1) Put the painter's tape on top of the emblem. I used 1" tape since I already had some at home, but with wider tape you can cover the area in a single shot.

2) Using your fingernail, tuck in the tape between the main section of the emblem and the gray border (Second pic).

3) Using the razor blade, carefully cut the tape. Pic 3 is just an example of my first try, but you can do it faster by cutting the tape once the emblem is fully covered with tape. If you tucked in the tape as deep as possible, there should be no emblem area exposed once the tape is cut (Pics 4 and 5 are emblems with tape trimmed and ready for paint)

4) Keeping a good 6" distance spray paint the emblems; preferably spray going from the center of the emblem to the outer edge so that you fully covered the border as deep as possible. Since the wheel area tends to get hot, I decide to pick a high-temp resistance paint so I bought Rust-Oleum Specialty High Temperature (marketed for painting bbq grills, etc)

NOTE: I did a first paint coat with semi-gloss paint, but didn't like how they turned out. I decided to switch to a flat black, so in between I had to use a thin sandpaper to remove the gloss from the previous paint. If you start with flat black, you won't need sanding but I still recommend putting 2 coats of paint just so that it holds on longer.

Last three pics show emblems installed on my car.

[Hoothout]

very nice, looks alot better, i may have to try this.

[CV335]

Originally Posted by PaCman328

very nice, looks alot better, i may have to try this.

+1. Regardless of car color, I think it looks a lot better with the black border

[I335]

Looks great! How about another shot a bit farther away?

[CV335]

Originally Posted by CV335

+1. Regardless of car color, I think it looks a lot better with the black border

You mean a pic of the whole car? I'll try to get one over the weekend.

[CV335]

Ok I just added an extra pic (last pic on first post) that I got today while re-adjusting the coilovers.

[enycejason]

quick note...
instead of masking the bmw logo. you can remove the rim by itself and then painted
you can remove it by prying the side taps a little on four of the tabs...

[CV335]

Ohhhh thanks....I was afraid to brake them so I made this more complicated method. I guess I'll try your suggestion whenever is time for a touch up