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Page 4: - Photos of Angel/Demon Eyes
Page 5: - 99-01 DIY headlight upgrade
Page 6: - Fender filler ideas
Page 7: - Rear powered sunshade retrofit
Page 8: - Exhaust tips project
Page 9: - M Parallel Wheels and Pole Positions added
Page 10: - DIY SilverVision bulbs
Page 11: - Adding the 99-01 Rocker Panel Covers Project
Page 12: - DIY HID retooling/retrofit
Page 13: - BMW Navigation Retrofit (retooling) for a virgin E38
Page 14: - Betties's Calipers get painted

I got motivated to try this from another post that I read over on Roadfly last summer about another E38er who did his using this chrome blackout tape from a company called "TRIMBRITE".
I searched for this product and learned that it is sold in Kragan stores, so I went to find it but it took three different stores to actually come across the stuff. Only $4.50 per roll (2"X 50')so I bought two and decided to go for it and if I don't like it, I can alwyas rip it off and buy the real Shadowline trim from BMW.

Because I searched the web for this blackout tape /films I found a 3M product too that was looking like a higher quality choice so I bought a roll of that too to see which one looked better. They are almost identical in appearance! But the 3M stuff came in a 2", 3" 4" ad 6" widths. At $75.00 for the 6" roll I passed on it and decided to try with the $4.50 2" tape to see what I could get done. It turns out that this Trimbrite tape is in fact manufactured by Avery/Dennisson who make lots of adhesive backed paper labels, vinyl lettering, tapes and films for signmaking and other graphics uses. The TIMRBRITE(Avery)and the 3M ScotchCal low gloss black tape are both a good color match to the finish on the B pillar trim and the door trim.

So I began the process of instaling the tape. Now if you know me or have read any of my project posts or read my CD web pages, you know that I couldn't just lay it on the trim and be done with it, Oooooh Nooooo I had to remove the trim and wrap the tape around the back of the edges and reinstall the trim to get that "perfect" look, (hehe)! Well in practice this is what I tried to do but I couldn't remove some pieces at all. Here is what I did piece by piece:

1. Rear window trim (curved piece at rear door windows)
After some difficulty I finally got the rear curved trim off, which is held in by a combination of 3 small plastic snap clips and the straight metal connector at the joint with the roof line gutter. Once this was off, I was able to come up with a tape pattern to cover the curved part with as few seams as possible. In hind sight, this is the one place that I wish I had found some wider material to use so I could make this a smooth single piece vs. the tape strips with seams that I have now. From 4 feet away it looks fine, but up close you can see and feel the seams in the tape. Oh well maybe someday when I get motivated to take this off again, I finish the seach for the wide adhesive backed film that Avery makes for signs and lettering and make this piece up from one piece of material.

2. The roof line (gutter) I couldn't get off and I feared ruining the things so I taped it in place. This was not too bad because I was able to wrap the tape over the top edge and seal it well enough that it does not show nor has it pealed or lifted after a year. I started with a tape strip on the lower edge with the 3M ScotchCal tape and then overlapped this starting from the top edge and working down using the Trimbrite (Avery) tape. Neither was wide enough to cover in one piece here either. Again if money was no object I could have bought the wide roll of 3M stuff and got this all in one piece.

3. The lower window trims were removed completely and wrapped to give a perfect looking finish. The hardest part of this was lifting the edges of the rubber that wipe the glass so I could slide the tape under it and make a perfect edge line. This Trimbrite 2" stuff was wide enough to cover in one piece and I tucked the extra under the lower edge for a seamless look.

I also used the blackout tape to create the mono-tone look on Bettie's Roundel Emblems front and rear. This was done using a round template that was the same diameter as the BMW Inner Blue/White circle and then I cut the tape to this diameter and quatered this to create the pieces to fit.

Once It was all done, I think it looks great and it has lasted over a year without any problems at all.

If you want to go OEM then you need to remove and replace the trim with the BMW Shadowline parts that come blacked out. Here are the trim parts for an "iL". You should add on some mounting clips of each type because you'll be sure to break a few and they are cheap to buy.

Side Mouldings (waste-line rubber trim)
51-13-8-208-387 L Fender mould. Black
51-13-8-208-388 R Fender mould.Black
51-13-8-208-393 L Front door mould.Black
51-13-8-208-394 R Front door mould.Black
51-13-8-208-399 L Rear door mould.Black
51-13-8-208-400 R Rear door mould.Black
51-13-8-208-389 L Quarter mould.Black
51-13-8-208-390 R Quarter mould.Black

Roof Trim (rain gutter over the windows)
51-13-8-208-403 L Front roof trim black
51-13-8-208-404 R Front roof trim black
51-13-8-208-405 L Rear roof trim black
51-13-8-208-406 R Rear roof trim black

Door window bottom mouldings
51-21-8-201-469 L Front door window moulding black
51-21-8-201-470 R Front door window moulding black
51-21-8-201-473 L Rear door window moulding black
51-21-8-201-474 R Rear door window moulding black

Bumper trims
51-11-8-211-577 L Front bumper trim primed
51-11-8-211-578 R Front bumper trim primed
51-12-8-211-581 L Rear bumper trim primed
51-12-8-211-582 L Rear bumper trim primed
51-12-8-211-576 Center rear bumper trim primed