Did you wrap or paint that trim? Either way it's a good look

As far as appearance mods go, there's always the calipers

 

That's nice, how has your paint held up if you don't mind me asking? I am going to polish and wax my G and Q soon, decided not go the ceramic coat route. I also like the 3.7 badging.

 

3m vinyl wrap, left it to the professionals this time (local shop).

Just read thru your caliper caper, not quite sure I’m ready to take that plunge yet.

But brakes in Brembo gold, the shade used on the old G35 coupe, would do the trick for me


Not at all, the paint is doing pretty well overall. I’ve hand washed it pretty regularly (two-bucket method), but not much else. In 11 years and 52000 miles, I’ve only had the paint corrected once, so the clear coat shows some swirls. Planning to bring it in again soon for clay, 1-step polish and wax. I def need to look into ceramic coating, never had that done before.

The front bumper and lower hood have some rock chips that a paint correction itself won’t address. Oh and I street parked it in the city for about a year, which was a mistake

So I’m thinking about having some body panels repainted in the next year or so.

 

@STownSaint I really like the chrome delete on the black. I've seen others try it on white and silver cars, and I'm not a fan as there is too much contrast; on silver, the factory chrome seems to blend nicely (using a chrome polish every now and then makes it a little darker, which looks nice). I agree that professional vinyl wrap is the way to go. My front lip had gotten pretty bad, and years of Dr Colorchip touchup was no longer working and paint shops would only quote the job if I removed and delivered to them. As such, I had it done in a combination of Black/Carbon fiber vinyl and it turned out nice. I then did the rear valence to match and added CF mirror caps. The black part of the lip is getting whacked again, but I plan to return annually for touchup as I broke the front design up to make this easier.

 

That's good to hear, paint looks in great shape. I asked one place for a quote to ceramic coat my Q50 and the price was very high and then it would require maintenance washes over 5 years each costing a lot, just did not seem worth it.

I got some 3D products to try and get scratches and swirls out (ONE and Speed) to use with a DA. I also go their clay towel and lube and hoping that will do a good job at decontaminating before I wax. I got Fusso 12 month wax or 3D carnuba wax to try.

My G has some rock chips on the hood. I use Dr Color Chip over the years, it works well, can use it on scratches too.

 

Yep totally agree, contrast (chrome to paint color) is def a big factor for the trim wrap. Curious what the front lip wrap looks like, if you’ve got any pics?




Thanks, my car is one of those that looks great from a few feet away, but as you get closer, its age starts to show. But clear coat is 100% intact, so lots of the imperfections can be improved with a professional paint correction (shop near me charges about $700 for a 1-step).

I’ve never had great results with touch up paint, so I might bite the bullet and get a bunch of panels repainted this year or next. Front and rear bumper covers, hood, and maybe rear deck lid (looks like someone used it as their own personal shelf, prob when it was parked on a congested city street).

You’ve got your own DA? Brave man. Wouldn’t trust myself with any sort of buffer on my car, I’m sure I’d do more harm than good.

 

BTW, your center caps looks 10X better painted!

Here you go.
I used Hexis for the Carbon Fiver because the 3M CF Vinyl didn't look nearly as good. The black center in the front is 3M. I also have a small layer of PPF over the CF portions in the front, which helps.

I also use a Ceramic product from a company called Cerakote

The Vinyl wrap vendor also performs Ceramic coating for 100s of dollars, but I apply this product (entire car plus vinyl) 2-3 times a year (apply with one side of the towel, buff with the other side) because its so bloody easy, good exercise and looks amazing. In addition, I also apply before long trips to OC/LA up north as the roads here in CA are destroyed from a year's worth of rain and it seems that the Ceramic keeps the surface "slick" and impervious to small chips. I also changed the mirror caps to match the look of the vinyl (eBay vendor, excellent quality). The ones shown are M-3 style real CF, from an aftermarket vendor up north. They looked amazing, but would come loose all the time. The eBay ones fit like OEM.

 

Looks very neat, meaning the wrap is nice and evenly cut and applied. And the body lines around the lip and rear bumper valence are not very defined, so props for coming up with designs that flow smoothly. Came out great


And my center caps above aren’t painted, rather gunmetal caps that come with IPL wheels. Apparently the gunmetal caps also come with some EX or FX models, at least in the UK. Because that’s how they were marketed as by a UK seller on eBay

 

Yeah, I think most cars are like that when it comes to paint, you can only do so much lol.

In my experience the OEM paint pens are not great. I have had good success with the Dr Color Chip, can do scratches to, just takes multiple coats and the right technique. Though it won't beat a professional repair.

I do, got the least aggressive pad, 3D light purple and compound. I got some 3D 521 as well to remove some odd scratches on my windshield, DA will be handy for this.

 

Picked up my daughter from day care today and couldn't help to look back and snap a picture.

 

Already conjured up another mini-project: swap out my exhaust tips (4.5” round) with oval-shaped ones.

Ton of different designs out there, but think I’ve found “the ones”:



Not a rush, the round ones are fine. But ovals will fit the rear bumper cutouts much better, achieving a more OEM look.

 

Excellent idea.

 

OOh - what wheels are those? 18 or 19?

 

They are the old Velgen vmb5. Thinking of powder coating them black this year. Anyway, they're 19x9.5 in the front and 19x10.5 in the rear. And yes, 285/35/19 fits just fine back there lowered with stock alignment specs.

 

April 21st I cleaned the interior and engine bay with 303 interior cleaner and Sprayway interior detailer high gloss spray. I do think 303 is better than the Chemical Guys interior cleaner. I don't care much about the scents of the Chemical Guys products. Also, the sprayway high gloss spray does a fantastic job making things look fresh. I would suggest wiping it all down after spraying, though.

I also cleaned my dash with WD-40 and applied D3 RENEW PROTECT because I noticed my dash gets sticky when left in the sun (even through ceramic tint).





(Those of you who are cultured will appreciate something extra, but at least one mod won't appreciate it, lol.)

I detail my car all the time, but I detailed it on April 25th for a road trip I was going to take.





The car also lied to me about the MPG during my trip. I reset the fuel economy when washing the car the day before, and it claimed I had 29.8 MPG on E85. I calculated the fuele economy myself and it was 20.8 MPG...



Before leaving for my road trip, I changed my oil. After getting back, I received the latest BlackStone report...