was body colored trim ever offered?

[jrkoupe]

looking at alot of used cars......

and often I see cars , usually in silver, w/ rubber lower trim and bumper rubber trim as same silver color?..Ive seen blue cars like this as well.....but moreso silver!

was this offered by BMW or was this done to car after initial purchase??...many of the current owners simply dont know?

tia

[Moron95M3]

hmmm interested to know as well. AFAIK it was just a big craze in the early '00s to look like the E46..

[RRSperry]

No. Never from the factory. All cars came with black. Pre 6/95's had smooth trim on the front and rear bumpers, and all sides were textured. After 6/95 front and rear is also textured.

[jrkoupe]

No. Never from the factory. All cars came with black. Pre 6/95's had smooth trim on the front and rear bumpers, and all sides were textured. After 6/95 front and rear is also textured.

RRS

very convincing response.......thanx

[RRSperry]

Lol, that's why they made me an expert...

ok, maybe not, I have been wrong before, just not about this.

[MauiM3Mania]

Lol, that's why they made me an expert...

ok, maybe not, I have been wrong before, just not about this.

Don't prove me wrong!

[MParallel]

Indeed, what he said. Although cutoff date is listed as 4/95.

body colored started from the e46 for 3 series.

color coding the moulding etc, does away with these nice details.

[earthwormjim]

Painting the trim attempts to make the car look more modern; modern design trend in cars is to make the car look like one element, rather than a bunch of discrete body panels.

However, it ruins the character of the car in my view. E36 needs those breaks in the body lines that the trim pieces create. Panel gaps are far too large on the E36 to pull off the painted trim look.

They've saved my door panels quite a few times too.

[MauiM3Mania]

They've saved my door panels quite a few times too.

The practical aspect is quite nice on both models, but the E36 wide trim looks nicer than whats on the E46, IMO.

[Ex36]

EVERYTHING e36 looks nicer than the e46, IMO! Yes, I admit it, I'm an e46 hater.

[BimmerBreaker]

Yup, as all others have said, it was never standard. Fairly common for people to repaint them... if a car is in for a front bumper respray, the bodyshop will often ask if they want the mouldings painted etc for a cleaner/more modern type look. Common in a lot of cars from this era - E34, E39, etc... and not a good look IMO. Black looks proper and aggressive.

[BMWManiac]

I've had mine painted for about 10 years now and I love it on arctic silver. But, I've now liquid wrapped mine to "battle ship gray" and my front Rieger lip/roof/and reverse lights trim are satin black and I'm thinking of redoing my trim back to black to offer some contrast again!

[Sammyzuko]

Painted moldings look terrible on the E36. Plus they make it look like the owner wanted a newer model, but couldn't afford it. BMW never offered them on the E36 for good reason.


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[BMWManiac]

Painted moldings look terrible on the E36. Plus they make it look like the owner wanted a newer model, but couldn't afford it. BMW never offered them on the E36 for good reason.


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Watch out, we have a badass over here! Keep your car stock as BMW intended, if not, sell it! The word of the Lord has thus been spoken!

Appreciate your opinion on this matter.

[jrkoupe]

Im an open minded kind of guy........



and I can see it working either way.....i do prefer! non painted though.

btw, re e46 M3 cars.., yesterday I saw a dropped e 46 m3, wide wheels and tires.....ya know, it looked goooood!...I kinda stared at it for a while!...loi

[Jim E.]

looking at alot of used cars......

and often I see cars , usually in silver, w/ rubber lower trim and bumper rubber trim as same silver color?..Ive seen blue cars like this as well.....but moreso silver!

was this offered by BMW or was this done to car after initial purchase??...many of the current owners simply dont know?

tia

As others have said, not from the factory. The only time I remember seeing body colored trim on an E36 is the AC Schintzer CLS II.

http://www.ac-schnitzer.de/en/bmw-ca.../general-info/

The CLS models, of which most would have been ordered through the dealer were not body colored.

http://www.ac-schnitzer.de/en/bmw-ca.../general-info/

Could someone have custom ordered that option? Perhaps, but we'll never know.

BTW, if you ever plan to paint the trim you should know it is a special paint and not regular paint.

[mboor]

Painted trim looks good on the lighter colored E36's imo. I like them on Silver and white, not so much on green and blues.

[M52 POWER!]

Every E36 I've seen with painted trim makes it look like a confused VW. bleh. IMO ofcourse

[ChuckDizzle]

For whatever reason the PO of my car match painted the mouldings....on a cosmoschwarz car It's subtle but it rustles a few jimmies at car meets.

[BMWManiac]

Since that is a black car with black trim, kind of a poor example :-)

[jrkoupe]

hey......its subjective for sure....


it aint a deal breaker Ill tell u that.

[ChuckDizzle]

Since that is a black car with black trim, kind of a poor example :-)

It gets a few confused double takes at meets from other eagle-eyed e36 owners. I need to replace all of it soon, I'll go back to the factory matte finish mouldings.

[MParallel]

For whatever reason the PO of my car match painted the mouldings....on a cosmoschwarz car It's subtle but it rustles a few jimmies at car meets.

And another pfl E36 with its side indicators turned upside down, which is only possible by switching L/R. There is a L and R on them for a reason.

[boarder2k7]

And another pfl E36 with its side indicators turned upside down, which is only possible by switching L/R. There is a L and R on them for a reason.

Speaking of eagle-eyed E36 owners doing a double take. Nice spot!

[mboor]

Nothing gets past you guys lol