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      03-24-2017, 02:16 PM   #1
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M-Sport Tricolor Grill Stripes.

So beginning of March (just over a month since I bought the car), I noticed this :



I then looked at the piccies of the car when I bought it and saw them on that too, so I think the previous owner hit a stone or something (on the m'way?) and knackered that spar. It's so badly cracked that at 2 points even a few mm wider and the spar would've broken in half.
Yes, it's subtle (took me some time to spot it) but it's one of those instances where once you notice it, it keeps bugging the hell out of you.

So what about a replacement grill? Feasible because looking at YouTube, they seem very easy to replace. Problem is the OEM ones cost £110 and 3rd party ones £50.
I thought as a temporary solution I'd add those M-Sport stripes/covers to the grill (can't use a sticker 'cos the spar itself is damaged and not even) like this:



Problem is, they look OK on estoril blue or bright coloured cars (white, red etc) but I think they look garish and pretty sh**e on obsidian black cars .

So I modified them slightly to enable me to add them but not let them stand out too much:

Rain


Overcast


Bright Sunlight


Whaddyareckon? Crap or OK?

From a distance of 50 yards or so they're completely unnoticeable and you only double take to see the difference from a few feet away. I like them because, being covers, they're protecting the underlying broken spar a bit whilst covering up the damage.
I bought the standard brightly coloured ones from eBay (£5) and then used lens darkening spray paint (the stuff chavs use to tint their rear lights ) to darken them to make them blend in a bit more.
Unfortunately they only fit on certain spars (red on 2nd one in, Violet 3rd one, and Light Blue 4th one in - over the broken spar) and I had to reverse order because it's the driver's side grill that's damaged not the passenger side.

Should I chuck them and just spend more on new grills or leave like this?
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      03-24-2017, 03:08 PM   #2
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To be honest, to me it looks a little weird with the colors on the wrong side and in the wrong order. Can't you make them completely black? (Plasti-dip or wrap)
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      03-24-2017, 04:49 PM   #3
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In that case, I have 2 options:

a) sand down with 180grit and spray paint them the correct M-Colours (which happen to be darker than the colours they come in anyway) - so L-R official colours would be = Light Blue 279C #6b96c9, Dark Blue 654C #1b3360, Red 186C #d1002a.

b) as you say paint all three black (or even just the one I need - the light blue covering the 4th spar black - just have that on alone).

I might try option a) first...
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      03-30-2017, 04:00 PM   #4
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UPDATE: So I thought I'd do a mix of option a) and b) ----

I will paint the 'slat covers' gloss black (like b) to match the other spars, and then add these:

(the 'gel stripe' versions, just ordered from eBay)

At least this way, the colour order will be correct - like a.
Will post up piccies when they arrive
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      03-31-2017, 06:06 PM   #5
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Might as well get a new set of grilles - they're less than $50 if you find them used. Seems like you're going through a lot of hassle just covering it up...
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      04-02-2017, 11:47 AM   #6
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Over here they're more than $50 (looking at UK eBay for sets of unmarked/unscuffed, excellent condition ones anyway).

Doing it this way to protect the spar with these covers plus stripes will have only cost me £12.58 = $21 so I'm hoping the hassle is worth it

The gel stripes should hopefully arrive mon/tue so I'll post up new piccies then
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Last edited by Gaffer; 04-02-2017 at 11:52 AM..
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      04-03-2017, 07:07 AM   #7
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Nice work. I think you solved your problem well with effective cost and time.
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      04-03-2017, 11:57 AM   #8
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@DrifterX:
It's not just a financial thing, it's also the fact that it's FUN to do such things.

@Gaffer:
That seems like a better idea than the first one you had.
(Just a thought of mine: how about making the one cover black, put it over the broken one and put the gel strips directly on he right side slats? On the other hand, you'll be unique with your colours on the left side...)
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      04-04-2017, 06:08 AM   #9
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@KingpinRCR - I'm hoping stripes will look OK on the side I have them on as I'm in the UK (I've explained my logic below)

OK, so they arrived today and I went about applying them.

Painting the covers gloss black:


Applying the stickers - note how they're not as "thick" as the covers in the centre and are only slightly domed but that looks good imo:


Trimmed and complete. I used a hair dryer to heat up the vinyl to let it apply more easily and adhere better when cooling (apparently this works). The excess are all different sizes because the spars are:


...and here they are on the car:



I think they're on the "correct" side for the UK. Legend has it that offset stripes in motorsport originated to assist rescue workers in quickly locating the DRIVER'S side of the car (especially with multiple nationalities competing). As a result, in the UK, offset stripes should be on the RIGHT hand side of the car and German/US offsets should be on the LEFT hand side of the car. The reason you only find these covers for the Left is because those are the biggest retail markets (US, rest of Europe inc. Germany, most of the World) and the manufacturers are simply too lazy to make reverse order ones for RHD markets. In real life application, I believe the stripes should be on the driver's side of the car which is the steering wheel side (R of car for the UK as these are).

I also like the fact that the colours are pretty much spot on for the official M-Sport colours. I have read various articles claiming the colours to be Sky Blue, Purple and "Texaco" Red. I don't believe this is correct. Here is the official colour scheme supplied to giugiaro:

...and here are multiple real world examples showing that the correct scheme is "Bavarian Flag" Blue, Dark Blue and "Red reflecting BMWs Motorsport Heritage" (not an american fuel company Red):

So as 99.9% of "real world" examples match the actual stripes, I'm happy leaving them as is and not darkening them.

The issue with the garishness of the covers I mentioned in the OP is that the covers themselves are the wrong colours too with the light blue plastic being too bright and ditto the middle blue plastic which is more of a royal blue than dark blue in colour. The new adhesive stripes are a better colour match to how they should be officially and they're "thinner lines" than the actual covers themselves.

I can also easily reverse back to stock by simply unclipping them if I need too in the future .

I'm hoping they look OK finally
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Last edited by Gaffer; 05-20-2018 at 10:16 PM..
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      04-05-2017, 02:51 PM   #10
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Nicely done Gaffer, I like the result
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      04-06-2017, 08:27 PM   #11
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You've used the colors you like, so enjoy! Some have used the German flag color scheme.

I've always understood that the red stripe represented Texaco, who was a partner with BMW during the early days of M racing. Blue represented BMW (from the Bavarian flag). The purple was a blend of the red & blue, used to represent the partnership and to allow for a nice transition between the two colors.

There has been a slight change in the colors when compared from the late 70s to late 80s brochures/literature. I'm an "old school" type, as my first bmw was a 2002 (still have a '74 2002tii), and I like the purple.

Pantone:
Blue — Pantone Process Blue
Purple — Pantone 268
Red — Pantone Warm Red

Paint:
blue violett GLASURIT-BMW 4000
light blue GLASURIT-BMW 5002
red GLASURIT-BMW 353

RGB:
Blue — 0 138 201 (Hex: 008AC9)
Purple — 43 17 90 (Hex: 2B115A)
Red — 241 26 34 (Hex: F11A22)

Pantone = color process (order) used by printing shops to define colors.

Paint = in this case it is referring to a GLASURIT paint code. Or a specific mix of auto paints.

RGB = Red, Green, Blue. The same process your computer monitor or TV uses to make colors.
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      07-18-2017, 03:08 AM   #12
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Holy thread resurrection Batman

Came to update this thread and thought I'd address the colours again.



Unfortunately John, I think those colours were made up in a blog post and (because the explanations seemed feasible) simply gathered momentum from there.

Red: There has never been a strong association between Texaco and BMW (loose yes, not strong). There's been more of an association between Castrol and BMW and even then the reds don't match (Texaco red is different to Castrol red which is different to BMW M-Sport red).
Also, BMW has never had to pay for the right to use a colour like the original blog post that info comes from suggests. The idea is absurd if you think about it, how can you copyright a single colour?

Violet: You're right that this may have changed over the years but the colour itself has different shadings. When people use the term, some see the colour as Dark Blue and others as Purple. Luckily BMW themselves have clarified it as more Dark Blue than Purple. It may have maybe looked more purple in the past because printing presses could never accurately reproduce the colour as they can now hence why in the media it appeared as purple?

Bavarian Blue: Yep, comes from the Bavarian flag (one shade used officially and a slightly more muted one used by the public in that state).

The actual BMW colours are as follows:

Pantone:
Bav Blue — 279C
Dk Blue — 654C
Red — 186C

CMYK:
Bav Blue — 70/35/0/0
Dk Blue — 100/60/11/53
Red — 0/100/100/0

RGB:
Bav Blue — 107 150 201
Dk Blue — 27 51 96
Red — 209 0 42

Pantone = colour process (order) used by printing shops to define colours.

CMYK = The CMYK colour model (process colour, four colour) is a subtractive colour model, used in colour printing, and is also used to describe the printing process itself. CMYK refers to the four inks used in some colour printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black). Many bodyshops use computers to mix paints nowadays and these computers can use either Pantone or CMYK to do determine exact matches.

RGB = Red, Green, Blue. The same process your computer monitor or TV uses to make colours - will look different to your eyes depending on the display's colour settings/calibration


If you're unsure, have a look in an m-sport car and you'll see that the colours of the various logos everywhere (steering wheel, door sill, side panel etc etc) match these exactly




Anyhow, back to the topic at hand - thought i'd update this as i'm less happy with the end result than before (not that i'm unhappy with the stripes par se, more that I still stare at the grill wondering if I should keep 'em on).
The fact that I'm still undecided is the thing (usually after fiddling, I'm happy and leave it at that, not giving it another thought).
The other issue is that I want the car to be as "q-car" as possible, which means unobtrusive......i.e. I think the stripes aren't subtle enough.

So seeing as the grill remains broken, it's off to fleabay I go.
On second thoughts, I'll post a new thread after installation - but these grills are now going into storage .
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      08-27-2017, 11:13 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gaffer View Post
Holy thread resurrection Batman

Came to update this thread and thought I'd address the colours again.



Unfortunately John, I think those colours were made up in a blog post and (because the explanations seemed feasible) simply gathered momentum from there.

Red: There has never been a strong association between Texaco and BMW (loose yes, not strong). There's been more of an association between Castrol and BMW and even then the reds don't match (Texaco red is different to Castrol red which is different to BMW M-Sport red).
Also, BMW has never had to pay for the right to use a colour like the original blog post that info comes from suggests. The idea is absurd if you think about it, how can you copyright a single colour?

Violet: You're right that this may have changed over the years but the colour itself has different shadings. When people use the term, some see the colour as Dark Blue and others as Purple. Luckily BMW themselves have clarified it as more Dark Blue than Purple. It may have maybe looked more purple in the past because printing presses could never accurately reproduce the colour as they can now hence why in the media it appeared as purple?

Bavarian Blue: Yep, comes from the Bavarian flag (one shade used officially and a slightly more muted one used by the public in that state).

The actual BMW colours are as follows:

Pantone:
Bav Blue — 279C
Dk Blue — 654C
Red — 186C

CMYK:
Bav Blue — 70/35/0/0
Dk Blue — 100/60/11/53
Red — 0/100/100/0

RGB:
Bav Blue — 107 150 201
Dk Blue — 27 51 96
Red — 209 0 42

Pantone = colour process (order) used by printing shops to define colours.

CMYK = The CMYK colour model (process colour, four colour) is a subtractive colour model, used in colour printing, and is also used to describe the printing process itself. CMYK refers to the four inks used in some colour printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black). Many bodyshops use computers to mix paints nowadays and these computers can use either Pantone or CMYK to do determine exact matches.

RGB = Red, Green, Blue. The same process your computer monitor or TV uses to make colours - will look different to your eyes depending on the display's colour settings/calibration


If you're unsure, have a look in an m-sport car and you'll see that the colours of the various logos everywhere (steering wheel, door sill, side panel etc etc) match these exactly




Anyhow, back to the topic at hand - thought i'd update this as i'm less happy with the end result than before (not that i'm unhappy with the stripes par se, more that I still stare at the grill wondering if I should keep 'em on).
The fact that I'm still undecided is the thing (usually after fiddling, I'm happy and leave it at that, not giving it another thought).
The other issue is that I want the car to be as "q-car" as possible, which means unobtrusive......i.e. I think the stripes aren't subtle enough.

So seeing as the grill remains broken, it's off to fleabay I go.
On second thoughts, I'll post a new thread after installation - but these grills are now going into storage .
Thanks for the info. Do you know by any chance the Glasurit paint codes for the correct colors you've mentioned?
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      08-28-2017, 01:45 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gaffer
UPDATE: So I thought I'd do a mix of option a) and b) ----

I will paint the 'slat covers' gloss black (like b) to match the other spars, and then add these:

(the 'gel stripe' versions, just ordered from eBay)

At least this way, the colour order will be correct - like a.
Will post up piccies when they arrive
what did you search to find these? Or do you have the seller? Thanks
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      09-10-2017, 12:56 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BuLoOoSki View Post
Thanks for the info. Do you know by any chance the Glasurit paint codes for the correct colors you've mentioned?
I haven't had to use a bodyshop on my car yet, but any reputable bodyshop will be able to use the Pantone or CMYK numbers to create the exact colours.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Elcapitan8 View Post
what did you search to find these? Or do you have the seller? Thanks
I myself got them from Cool Deals Warehouse:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Kidney...item2814e91a64
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      09-12-2017, 10:19 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gaffer
Quote:
Originally Posted by BuLoOoSki View Post
Thanks for the info. Do you know by any chance the Glasurit paint codes for the correct colors you've mentioned?
I haven't had to use a bodyshop on my car yet, but any reputable bodyshop will be able to use the Pantone or CMYK numbers to create the exact colours.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Elcapitan8 View Post
what did you search to find these? Or do you have the seller? Thanks
I myself got them from Cool Deals Warehouse:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Kidney...item2814e91a64
thanks!
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      03-03-2021, 07:23 AM   #17
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What Pantone color is the white in the motorsports roundel and car paint?
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