[thatgarrett]

Long story short, over the last year or so, my center dash aluminum trim has been peeling at the edge nearest the passenger side, and I have tried super glue, JB Weld (plastic to metal two part epoxy) and have had those work for a few days, only to have the bond fail. Since the trim was lifting up for a few inches and was noticeable, and that was unacceptable to me, I decided to try a more radical approach and remove the aluminum completely- after heating the panel and fishing some floss behind to cut through the glue, I still had only limited success and ended up causing some bends in the metal itself- IMO its not salvageable at this point, but was at least worth a try. As a side note, I have noticed these failures do happen with the aluminum trim, and my best guess is that these trim pieces are not bent adequately at the factory to match the curvature, so the piece is under tension that will eventually cause the glue to separate; the dash piece is also one of the few pieces that doesn't hook/hug around an edge, but is laid more or less flat over the plastic backing, probably contributing to the failure of the piece.

Science aside- I need new trim! Currently, my car is a 2012 335i Sport Line, so it has the black sensatec sport interior with red contrast stitching on the seats, door cards, and wheel, along with brushed aluminum trim with the red accent line (only on dash as pre LCI didn't have that on the door cards). To be honest, I didn't mind the interior, I liked the contrast the aluminum brought, I liked that it was real aluminum, and I honestly liked the red for some flavor- yet, the PO must have had rings or long nails, as the door handle aluminum trim is also somewhat scratched and scuffed up. The small piece on the dash by the drivers door and the iDrive control surround are mint, but the rest of the pieces are beat up in one way or another. So, I am considering replacing the whole set of trim while I'm at it to get it all up to the condition I'd like.

Two more things to consider: I have a lot of teenagers in my car with their backpacks and such, so I want something somewhat durable (meaning not piano black!)- I keep my car pretty clean but still want to have passengers and not have to nanny them constantly for fear of the trim getting messed up. Also, I am not a huge fan of the alcantara/matte carbon M Performance trim- just not my style.

So, what should I do? A few options I am considering (marked on the poll) are:
-Replace with a nicer version of the same trim I have (brushed aluminum with red)
-Upgrade to the F80 style Aluminum blade, which I've heard is more durable, and I like the pattern a lot too
-Get the f80 glossy carbon fiber trim (and either keep the stock accent color on that trim or swap my red on, as I've seen others do) (Honestly, my dream interior would be glossy carbon and swapping in the saddle brown seats and door cards and keeping the rest of the interior black)
-Try out the black-anthracite wood trim- could still give an accent feel, seems pretty durable, and I am quite partial to wood (I had a e39 for many years, and call me old school but I really enjoyed the wood trim in that).
-Consider aftermarket/overlays/other option. I really like keeping an OEM/OEM+ look, so I would be pretty picky about this too.

I also know what there are f80 leather door trim covers (some with white stitching, others with red) that could be an option I would be open to.

Maybe one day I will upgrade to the saddle brown interior, but I doubt that will happen in the near future with the projects i have planned for the 335i. I've done multiple full interior swaps, drilled out plastic welds and rewelded, and similar on different cars in the past so that sort of work doesn't intimidate me in the least.

Here are some pictures of the different options I mentioned for reference:

[thatgarrett]

Here is a picture of the red accent on OEM carbon fiber I saw too:

[Billfitz]

Whatever you want you can do with vinyl wrap. I did mine in a wood grain that emulates British cars of the 50s-60s. A major advantage is that if you get tired of it you can remove it and do it with a different color.

[thatgarrett]

Billfitz I’ve actually seen your wrap before on other threads and that helped place it as an option in my mind- though that exact color scheme isn’t the direction I’m leaning, looks like you did a really good job with it- reminds me a bit of a late 90s BMW (but less glossy) and I feel like I’ve even seen a similar wood trim effect on a BMW wheel from that era. Always like seeing something a little different done with care and detail

I do see your center dash trim is starting to pop up in the same place mine did- though mine got worse than that and was more noticable

[Billfitz]

That trim did come loose initially. In order to do a proper wrap job I removed the aluminum strip from the rest by drilling out the plastic rivets. When I reattached it after doing the wrap I used hot melt glue, which didn't hold. After I took that picture I did it again with UV cured glue, which has held for five years. I'm getting tired of the color, so I'll probably do something different this winter.

[LA430]

I’ve thought about just buying an alcantara covered one from eBay. I currently have the anthracite and still really like it. The only thing I don’t 100% love about it is the glare during the SoCal sunlight. But I just can’t pull the trigger as it’s not as much of a problem as I really think it is.

The anthracite still has that sporty feeling while being elegant wood at the same time.

If it was burlwood I’d probably feel different.
I honestly can’t stand the aluminum trim though. It reminds me of the low trim level on a B8/8.5 Audi A4 that I had. Easily damaged and just not durable.

[scubajim]

I like the carbon fiber or the dark wood second

[DrBMW13]

I would go for the Black Anthracite wood trim, love the old school look.