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2019+ BMW 3 AND 4-SERIES FORUMS (G2x Generation) Photos / Videos / Journals Blacking Out My M340: Good-Bye Cerium Grey

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      08-18-2019, 11:22 AM   #1
joepimentel
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Blacking Out My M340: Good-Bye Cerium Grey

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I love my M340 but like many people here I hate the Cerium Grey on it so when I ordered mine in Black Sapphire Metallic I knew I wanted to get rid of anything in Cerium and go for a blacked out look. I ordered painted badges, logos, wheel caps and reflectors from Ind-Distribution IND-Distribution , and mirror caps and bumper intake accents from PARTS@STBMW. I spent yesterday swapping everything out, then took her for a wash today.

Here are some photos (linked to higher quality versions):

xDrive Badge Before (Cerium Grey)
View post on imgur.com


xDrive Badge After (Remove)
View post on imgur.com



M340 Badge Before (Cerium Grey)
View post on imgur.com


M340 Badge After (Painted)
View post on imgur.com



Wheel Caps Before (Silver Edge)
View post on imgur.com


Wheel Caps After (Painted Edge)
View post on imgur.com



Front Reflector (Painted)
View post on imgur.com


Front Roundel Logo (Painted Edge)
View post on imgur.com


Rear Roundel Logo (Painted Edge)
View post on imgur.com



Mirror Caps Before (Cerium Grey)
View post on imgur.com


Mirror Caps After (BSM)
View post on imgur.com



Bumper Intake Accents Before (Cerium Grey)
View post on imgur.com


Bumper Intake Accents After (Gloss Black)
View post on imgur.com



Getting Her Washed
View post on imgur.com



Cleaned
View post on imgur.com


View post on imgur.com


View post on imgur.com


The last planned change is to have the black M340 mesh grill installed. I ended up with the black slat grill but the mesh grill was promised to me by my CA / dealer so they're working with BMW NA and BMW Canada to get it for me. The black mesh grill is being installed for me in the next couple of weeks.

I also want to get tints but NY recently basically banned all tints and will fail annual inspections if you have them on. I have a PBA card and mini badge for if I get pulled over but that doesn't help with inspections. Trying a legal way (medical exemption) around this.

Thanks to vicfalc09 for his guide and help on removing the mirror caps and front bumper intake accents, and to Britney at PARTS@STBMW for the painted mirror caps. Once I get the final touches applied I plan on taking some higher quality photos of my M340 around NYC.

Last edited by joepimentel; 08-19-2019 at 07:10 AM.. Reason: Typos, Corrected Image URLs
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      08-18-2019, 12:25 PM   #2
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Very nice! Did you do the work yourself, and if so, were the mirror caps difficult?
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      08-18-2019, 12:43 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hubbahubba View Post
Very nice! Did you do the work yourself, and if so, were the mirror caps difficult?
Thanks. Yes, I did it all myself. The mirror caps and front intake accent was harder than I expected to remove. It’s more than just popping off the mirror and unclipping the mirror caps (as with the F30). With the G20, the signal lights are screwed to the cap. To get to one of the screws you need to unscrew and disassemble some in the internal components — pulling out an internal cover was tricky. vicfalc09 has a good write up here that I used as a rough guide:

https://g20.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1623725

If you do it just make sure to tape off the bottom edge of the mirror housing so you don’t scratch it with a plastic trim tool.

Last edited by joepimentel; 08-18-2019 at 12:44 PM.. Reason: Fixed URL
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      08-18-2019, 05:19 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by joepimentel View Post
Thanks. Yes, I did it all myself. The mirror caps and front intake accent was harder than I expected to remove. It’s more than just popping off the mirror and unclipping the mirror caps (as with the F30). With the G20, the signal lights are screwed to the cap. To get to one of the screws you need to unscrew and disassemble some in the internal components — pulling out an internal cover was tricky. vicfalc09 has a good write up here that I used as a rough guide:

https://g20.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1623725

If you do it just make sure to tape off the bottom edge of the mirror housing so you don’t scratch it with a plastic trim tool.
Thank you for the heads up, will save that for when my car shows up. Really does look nice. Much appreciated!
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      08-18-2019, 05:52 PM   #5
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Looks great, now some carbon fiber!!
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      08-18-2019, 06:14 PM   #6
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Solid job all the way around, I live in NY as well and tints kill me, just gotta drive around hunts point until you find a shop willing to do it for extra money. Paid $100 for inspection with tints on my F30 last year
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      08-18-2019, 08:02 PM   #7
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Everything came out fantastic!

Thank you for the kind words as well.

-Britney
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      08-18-2019, 09:18 PM   #8
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The new tint law with inspections suck.

The shop I get my tints done offers an option to remove the tint off the front two windows and retint it after the car gets inspected for $60 so that's what I've been doing with my F30.
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      08-18-2019, 09:44 PM   #9
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Amazing car! Did IND paint your wheel caps? I'm aware of the trunk/hood badges without the Silver Edge...Love that subtle mod...But dude your wheel caps look really good too on the black rims. Could you share how you did the work or where you purchased the painted black caps? Thanks!
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      08-18-2019, 10:56 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by miked1999 View Post
Amazing car! Did IND paint your wheel caps? I'm aware of the trunk/hood badges without the Silver Edge...Love that subtle mod...But dude your wheel caps look really good too on the black rims. Could you share how you did the work or where you purchased the painted black caps? Thanks!
Thanks man! Yeah, I know that some people find them cheesy but I like the idea of the floating wheel caps -- I like the logo always being upright. I bought the floating caps through Ind and they have an option to have them painted.
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      08-19-2019, 12:44 PM   #11
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Not a fan of the all black grille. Looks like a giant space. Looks less BMW like, IMO.
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      08-19-2019, 01:06 PM   #12
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Did you choose the matte black hood and truck roundel or the gloss black? Hard to tell from the pics. Looks great though!
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      08-19-2019, 01:12 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pneumodoc View Post
Did you choose the matte black hood and truck roundel or the gloss black? Hard to tell from the pics. Looks great though!
The gloss black hood and trunk roundels, along with the gloss black wheel caps and M340 badge.
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      08-19-2019, 01:14 PM   #14
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Is the gloss black not available from the factory anymore? That cerium gray is all kinds of wrong...
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      08-19-2019, 01:17 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by amw896 View Post
Is the gloss black not available from the factory anymore? That cerium gray is all kinds of wrong...
Yeah, it's not offered by BMW NA at the moment so us here in the US have to do it ourselves. BMW Canada on the other hand offer it as options.
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      08-19-2019, 01:41 PM   #16
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One more question about the floating hubcaps... are they difficult to pop off the wheel? I think the old (non-floating) design pop off easily with a pry tool like a regular head screwdriver.... Did you have to take the wheels off? Appreciate the advice!!
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      08-19-2019, 01:44 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dmejia91 View Post
Solid job all the way around, I live in NY as well and tints kill me, just gotta drive around hunts point until you find a shop willing to do it for extra money. Paid $100 for inspection with tints on my F30 last year
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      08-19-2019, 01:52 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by miked1999 View Post
One more question about the floating hubcaps... are they difficult to pop off the wheel? I think the old (non-floating) design pop off easily with a pry tool like a regular head screwdriver.... Did you have to take the wheels off? Appreciate the advice!!
Super easy. You can pop / pry them right off with a plastic trim tool.
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      08-19-2019, 02:28 PM   #19
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Too much black, but to each, his own. So long as you like it, that's all that matters. Enjoy that car, man!
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      08-19-2019, 02:35 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sed335i View Post
Too much black, but to each, his own. So long as you like it, that's all that matters. Enjoy that car, man!
Thanks! I've always been about minimalism and simplicity, clean looks -- and I really hated the Cerium Grey lol.
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      08-19-2019, 02:57 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by joepimentel View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by miked1999 View Post
One more question about the floating hubcaps... are they difficult to pop off the wheel? I think the old (non-floating) design pop off easily with a pry tool like a regular head screwdriver.... Did you have to take the wheels off? Appreciate the advice!!
Super easy. You can pop / pry them right off with a plastic trim tool.
Or better yet you can pull them off cleanly with a large suction cup.

Nice car Joe ‼️
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      08-19-2019, 03:00 PM   #22
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Looks great - like you, I really don't like cerium grey trim. I've got my eye on a Z4 M40i for next year but fortunately, there's a black pack option here in the UK which replaces the cerium grey. Perfecto
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