[Alarmin]

Hey all,

I have the IND painted reflectors for my AW 340i waiting to be installed. So far, all my attempts at installs have been futile. I’ve tried using a blow drier to loosen it up but my really getting anywhere with that. I’ve read of people using the heat gun to help soften the adhesive. Little nervous about this as I don’t want to mess up the paint - what heat setting have people used on the heat gun for this task?

[yoon_209]

i used a blow dryer and warmed it up. You really need to push the shit outta it. my thumbs and fingers were super raw afterwards... just push hard.

[Alarmin]

Originally Posted by yoon_209

i used a blow dryer and warmed it up. You really need to push the shit outta it. my thumbs and fingers were super raw afterwards... just push hard.

Ahh man, I've been scared to go harder than I've been going. Once I start seeing the surrounding area flex, it freaks me out haha. Did you see the area flexing when you were pushing super hard?

[M2Rush]

You have to apply heat, push on one corner and focus on that corner while pulling from the inside. Once the corner budges, it just pops out.

[yoon_209]

Originally Posted by Alarmin

Ahh man, I've been scared to go harder than I've been going. Once I start seeing the surrounding area flex, it freaks me out haha. Did you see the area flexing when you were pushing super hard?

yes, everything will flex... dont worry it wont break.. you need to heat it up and just push hard AF from the top corner and the adhesive will rip off.

heat up and apply lots of pressure and repeat... trust me it will work

[timmay77]

Didn't heat mine up at all, just pushed and it popped out. Make sure you remove ALL of the old adhesive before installing the new one or it won't sit flush. I used a razor blade and just kept scraping away. Takes a while.

[Poon Stick]

Use the hairdryer for a long time, let that heat soak into the adhesive.

Remove enough fender liner so you can get one hand in to support the bumper while you use the other to push the reflector in and then push real hard. Resist the urge to use something to pry.

It took me about 40mins each side to do it but I never risked damaging the paint.

Make sure you get all the old adhesive off once the reflector is out. Just rub the adhesive with your finger until it starts to ball up then peel it off

[Alarmin]

Originally Posted by Poon Stick

Use the hairdryer for a long time, let that heat soak into the adhesive.

Remove enough fender liner so you can get one hand in to support the bumper while you use the other to push the reflector in and then push real hard. Resist the urge to use something to pry.

It took me about 40mins each side to do it but I never risked damaging the paint.

Make sure you get all the old adhesive off once the reflector is out. Just rub the adhesive with your finger until it starts to ball up then peel it off

Good news: I got the reflector off.

Bad News: I was shipped the wrong reflector

When you were taking the adhesive off, did you just get the main chunky layer off or did you keep on going until the inside was as smooth as the area that did not have adhesive? I think I pretty much got all of the main adhesive off, but the underlying area is a slightly rough to the touch. Not sure if I need to go deeper but it doesn't seem like I can without using some kind of adhesive removing solvent.

[ishowerinjager]

Removing them sucked. Listen to everyone else, you literally will have raw fingers after you're done.

Use a blow dryer, get one corner loose and you should be good to go. I found the second one took 1/4 of the time because I realized how hard I had to push and pull.

[M2Rush]

Ya, i found the best way was to pull from the inside with 4 fingers while using the thumb for leverage, the thumb placement is at the corner where i'm pushing so it doesn't flex too much.

You may want to use a adhesive removing solvent or rubbing alcohol, mind you the inside does feel a little choppy from the curled metal. If you don't feel any stickiness or spongy/rubbery feel, don't worry about it. Just use some rubbing alcohol to clean the surface of oils from your fingers.

[Poon Stick]

I used rubbing alcohol to get all of the adhesive off.

The problem if you don't get it off and clean the plastic of the bumper is twofold:
1. If there's adhesive left, it can affect the spacing by making the adhesive too thick so the reflector sits too far in
2. The adhesion is only as good as the weakest part. If there's dirt or half-removed adhesive still left, you may lose the reflector one day.
With all the effort to get the damn thing out, it's trivial to make sure the area is clean after. My fingers still hurt just thinking back on it

[Alarmin]

Originally Posted by Poon Stick

I used rubbing alcohol to get all of the adhesive off.

The problem if you don't get it off and clean the plastic of the bumper is twofold:
1. If there's adhesive left, it can affect the spacing by making the adhesive too thick so the reflector sits too far in
2. The adhesion is only as good as the weakest part. If there's dirt or half-removed adhesive still left, you may lose the reflector one day.
With all the effort to get the damn thing out, it's trivial to make sure the area is clean after. My fingers still hurt just thinking back on it

Totally understand that part. I definitely removed all of the thick pieces of adhesive from the inside edge. I was more curious about this “rough” feeling portion below the original adhesive that my fingernail doesn’t seem to have an affect on. It doesn’t seem to be raised chunks, just a rough texture. Was that still present when you were done scratching or was it as smooth as the rest of the area next to the adhesive?

[Poon Stick]

The area wasn't perfectly smooth, almost like it had been sanded. Hard to get just how rough it was across.

If it doesn't feel tacky and there are no signs of leftover adhesive, give it a good wipe with alcohol, let it dry, throw the new one on then step back and enjoy!

Full disclosure: it doesn't start to feel worth it until your fingers start feeling better and then you see some other F30s driving around with the ugly orange reflectors

[Alarmin]

Well, I finally finished the install. I'll let you guys know how I feel about it once I regain feeling in my fingertips.

[paimon.soror]

Dang I was considering doing this, but didn't think it was going to be ~this~ much of a PITA to remove lol.

Dumb (?) question... do you risk damaging the paint/clearcoat on the bumper if you are heating that area too much?

[yoon_209]

Originally Posted by Alarmin

Well, I finally finished the install. I'll let you guys know how I feel about it once I regain feeling in my fingertips.

its super rough on your hands... deleting the amber will make your car look so much better...

i went with smoked reflectors since my car is mineral grey and i think it looks really good. i just cudnt fathom paying 70 for painted reflectors so i cheaped out on the smoked for 20$

[Alarmin]

Originally Posted by paimon.soror

Dang I was considering doing this, but didn't think it was going to be ~this~ much of a PITA to remove lol.

Dumb (?) question... do you risk damaging the paint/clearcoat on the bumper if you are heating that area too much?

I think it definitely looks really clean, but it was a lot harder on the hands than the video made it look. Video kinda made seem like it was popping a knife through butter. Reality was like pulling excalibur.

I'm sure really high heat can affect paint, but I just used a hair dryer for around 4-5 minutes and then 1 minute intervals after and did not have any issues. I can't imagine the hair dryer got it any hotter than a really hot California day. I would contact IND for more technical info regarding this/

It's a pain in the ass for sure, but I'm happy with the results.

[Poon Stick]

I used a hairdryer as well instead of heat gun. Didn't damage paint or clearcoat because the objective was never to get any parts hot-hot. I just used it for a long time to make sure the heat soaked into the adhesive.

Since you need to support the bumper from the inside, it never got so hot I couldn't touch it

[IND-Distribution]

Here is a DIY F87 M2 video which is similar to the F30.

If you can heat up the back side a little of the OEM reflector then that helps as well.

[calibro9]

took me about 20 min each side...not too hard overall. Makes a huge difference though.

[Alarmin]

Originally Posted by calibro9

took me about 20 min each side...not too hard overall. Makes a huge difference though.

Attachment 1761407

car looks very clean, man!

[louielouie]

Referenced this thread when I had issues removing my reflectors so thought I would share a technique that worked really well for me.

After hitting the area with a hair dryer, I supported the inside of the bumper with one hand and pushed the reflector with my other hand using the bottom portion of my palm. This allowed me to exert way more force easily and the reflector came out no problem. It took me awhile to get the first one off before I tried using this technique but I was able to get the 2nd one completely done within 10 minutes.