[groovybits]

Wanted to get some pics up of my blacked out Alpine White Sports Line.

I went with glossy black over matte black because it seemed to fit this car better.

I had the dealership powder coat my 19" rims before pickup. I then had a vinyl specialist black out the roundels, reflectors, kidneys (OEM), and tailpipes (OEM). After this work the only remaining chrome on the car was on top of the headlights which bothered me. Seemed to me like the nice black horizontal lines from the kidneys and surrounds needed to continue up and into the headlights, so I also added black vinyl eyelids. White time attack rings on the rims to bring in some of the car's color and add a little extra pow!

Black interior with red contrast stitching, brushed aluminum, and glossy black highlight.

The only blacking out left to do is on the tail lights. Considering that I have tinted front windows and no front license plates, I'm wondering just how much more I can push my luck before I become a highway patrol target. I think I can probably get away with a light gray tint. Any thoughts here?

Before you say anything, yes, I know I need a better camera and a cleaner lens!

Enjoy!

[yerffejleahcim]

Looks great! Tasteful mods.

[johntchow]

definitely unique... not sure im feeling the white lining around the outside of the rim though. looks like you are riding on oreos. ive never been a fan of the b/w roundels either.

i have 75% tint on my front windshield, can hardly tell any any difference from stock.

[tony20009]

That looks quite nice.

Normally I truly abhor black wheels, even on white cars, which if there are going to be black wheels, white's the body color with which they work best. On your car, however, the white ring you have on there takes them, for me, from tolerable to downright desirable by allowing one to see that there are wheels, rather than big black holes, present on the car. The first and third pictures above illustrate why I like them. When one looks at those photos, the brightness of white ring stops one from immediately thinking, "Oh, he put black wheels on the car." On all wheels, one expects to see a certain amount of dark/black area, but also some brightness. That white ring provides just enough brightness that the eye sees what it expects and doesn't belabor the fact that there are black wheels on the car.

I'm not sure about your idea of blacking out the tail lights. I'm certain it won't look bad. I don't know though if it won't be overkill. Sort of along the lines of what one teaches one's daughters: get dressed however you want, and then when you are done, remove one piece of jewelry/bling/flashiness. That little bit of restraint keeps them tasteful rather than tart-like.

As it is now, your mods are subtle. One's eye isn't drawn immediately to any one thing, and yet one nonetheless notices the niceness and ease of the whole package. Only after having formed that initial opinion does one seek the details effecting that impression. Once the enhancements get to the point where the eye rests on one or more of them, grace and fluidity is lost, as is the tasteful character of the modifications. In the case of the blackened tail light, I can imagine it might not become overkill for one reason alone: the lights are at the end of the car, a natural place for the eye to rest.

All the best to you.

[rconti]

I'd replace the blacked-out front side reflectors with white.

And I'm not a fan of black wheels either, although I guess, come to think of it, one of my cars has them..

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by rconti

I'd replace the blacked-out front side reflectors with white.

I suspect it won't be long before we see someone posting a white-out version of these cars.

Originally Posted by rconti

And I'm not a fan of black wheels either, although I guess, come to think of it, one of my cars has them..

How did that happen?

[bosz]

Im just waiting for Maz335's comments

Looks awesome!

[itachi_d]

I super dig it!

[Maz335i]

Originally Posted by bosz

Im just waiting for Maz335's comments

Looks awesome!

[Maz335i]

I'll make my comments very simlpe (thanks to Bosz) .

Firstly, your car looks awesome!

However, I would suggest doing a vinyl wrap on the roof to complete the overall car appearance. I dont like the black reflectors, please change them to white. I dont really like the black eye lids either (but thats just me )...

Your wheels actually look really cool! I'm starting to think that the chrome lining brings out the black wheels very nicely. Something I'm going to look into for sure.

Overall some nice mods but do the roof and your car will look even more awesome! I cant wait to start my project and already have all the appointments booked. Will post pics ASAP!!!

[BeachsideF30]

Im the first to tell you ive always been a fan of black and white theme, thats what im going for on my m sport when it comes in, but me personally i would keep the taillights stock and un touched, put in white reflectors instead, and definitely do black whiskers from mod bargains.

[MiloMia]

should of left the rims how they were. I don't understand why people paint their rims.

[onehungevo]

I think the car looks nice but needs lowered. The negative about the white line is it makes the rims look smaller.

How did you paint the 335i?

[ATX78703]

looks good man. like the rims, in particular works well with the white car. don't like the roundels or the reflectors. I would not smoke out the taillamps.

[groovybits]

Originally Posted by BeachsideF30

definitely do black whiskers from mod bargains.

I didn't even know about whiskers. This is a great idea. I just bought some! Thanks for the tip.

[Maz335i]

By the way, paint your brake calipers RED!

Your car would look HOT after that...

[groovybits]

Originally Posted by Maz335i

By the way, paint your brake calipers RED!

I've definitely thought about that and am seriously considering the M Performance Brakes in red. I'll need to save up a bit!

[groovybits]

Originally Posted by tony20009

That looks quite nice.

Normally I truly abhor black wheels, even on white cars, which if there are going to be black wheels, white's the body color with which they work best. On your car, however, the white ring you have on there takes them, for me, from tolerable to downright desirable by allowing one to see that there are wheels, rather than big black holes, present on the car. The first and third pictures above illustrate why I like them. When one looks at those photos, the brightness of white ring stops one from immediately thinking, "Oh, he put black wheels on the car." On all wheels, one expects to see a certain amount of dark/black area, but also some brightness. That white ring provides just enough brightness that the eye sees what it expects and doesn't belabor the fact that there are black wheels on the car.

I'm not sure about your idea of blacking out the tail lights. I'm certain it won't look bad. I don't know though if it won't be overkill. Sort of along the lines of what one teaches one's daughters: get dressed however you want, and then when you are done, remove one piece of jewelry/bling/flashiness. That little bit of restraint keeps them tasteful rather than tart-like.

As it is now, your mods are subtle. One's eye isn't drawn immediately to any one thing, and yet one nonetheless notices the niceness and ease of the whole package. Only after having formed that initial opinion does one seek the details effecting that impression. Once the enhancements get to the point where the eye rests on one or more of them, grace and fluidity is lost, as is the tasteful character of the modifications. In the case of the blackened tail light, I can imagine it might not become overkill for one reason alone: the lights are at the end of the car, a natural place for the eye to rest.

All the best to you.

Thanks for the awesome feedback, Tony! You really made my day!

Subtle, clean, and unique is very much what I was going for. The car needs to feel like it's mine. I've already had a couple people say they saw me while I was out and about, which has never happened before. I guess the car is somewhat recognizable, which is great.

I felt the same way about the "black hole" look of plain black rims. The white "time attack rings" brought it all together for me. I just love them. I'm trying to get a friend of mine to film them while I'm driving so I can see what they look like in motion.

[Maz335i]

Originally Posted by groovybits

I've definitely thought about that and am seriously considering the M Performance Brakes in red. I'll need to save up a bit!

Yeh, I'm considering the red Brembo brakes...I heard a lot of good things about these.

So how did you get the white line around the rims?

Initially I thought you purchased these rims seperately.

[groovybits]

Originally Posted by Maz335i

So how did you get the white line around the rims?.

The rims are OEM 19", powder coated glossy black. I had a vinyl expert add the white "time attack rings". They're white vinyl. Ideally, I would have had them painted on, but no one in the area felt qualified to do it. I guess with vinyl I can always change my mind later.

[DrivenByE30]

Originally Posted by tony20009

That looks quite nice.

Normally I truly abhor black wheels, even on white cars, which if there are going to be black wheels, white's the body color with which they work best. On your car, however, the white ring you have on there takes them, for me, from tolerable to downright desirable by allowing one to see that there are wheels, rather than big black holes, present on the car. The first and third pictures above illustrate why I like them. When one looks at those photos, the brightness of white ring stops one from immediately thinking, "Oh, he put black wheels on the car." On all wheels, one expects to see a certain amount of dark/black area, but also some brightness. That white ring provides just enough brightness that the eye sees what it expects and doesn't belabor the fact that there are black wheels on the car.

I'm not sure about your idea of blacking out the tail lights. I'm certain it won't look bad. I don't know though if it won't be overkill. Sort of along the lines of what one teaches one's daughters: get dressed however you want, and then when you are done, remove one piece of jewelry/bling/flashiness. That little bit of restraint keeps them tasteful rather than tart-like.

As it is now, your mods are subtle. One's eye isn't drawn immediately to any one thing, and yet one nonetheless notices the niceness and ease of the whole package. Only after having formed that initial opinion does one seek the details effecting that impression. Once the enhancements get to the point where the eye rests on one or more of them, grace and fluidity is lost, as is the tasteful character of the modifications. In the case of the blackened tail light, I can imagine it might not become overkill for one reason alone: the lights are at the end of the car, a natural place for the eye to rest.

All the best to you.

I am not a fan of black wheels either... but everything he said here makes sense...

... please do smoke your tail light ! it will not be overkill, you started with a theme... you should finish it with the tail lites darken (as well as the "eye brows"!

Great work on doing everything so fast !

Now go out and enjoy your car....

[groovybits]

Originally Posted by Maz335i

Firstly, your car looks awesome!

Thanks, Maz335i!

Originally Posted by Maz335i

However, I would suggest doing a vinyl wrap on the roof to complete the overall car appearance. I dont like the black reflectors, please change them to white.

I was torn on the vinyl wrapped roof. When I've seen it before it looked just a little too much like a soft top when glancing out of the corner of your eye so I shied away from it.

I think I agree with you about the white reflectors. I'm looking into this now. Mod Bargains actually has some with OEM paint.

Looking forward to seeing your own pics!