[bman]

RustyH, Would you have a close up picture of one of the window trim pieces? Hard to see the ones on Ebay. Thanks

 

[RustyH]

The window trim came very well packaged, in a fairly sturdy box. I haven't unpacked the whole kit yet. Today is in the upper 40's. In the next few weeks, it should be in the mid to upper 70's and that's when I'll strip off the vinyl wrap, scuff up the trim a little bit and start installing the kit. The kit consists of individual sections of black metal covers with double sided tape that will attach it to the current chrome trim. The only piece I opened from its packaging is the rear window trim cover to show how it would fit.

 

[bman]

Thanks RustyH for the pictures. I ended up blacking out all the chrome on my T3 with vinyl wrap. This is my 3rd T3 and I've always hated the chrome look. I'm happy with the turn out. Only thing I have left to do is the back side of the roof racks and get the windows tinted plus replace the wheels and tires.

The only things I painted was the front lower grill trims and also the fender flairs

 

[RustyH]

Thanks RustyH for the pictures. I ended up blacking out all the chrome on my T3 with vinyl wrap. This is my 3rd T3 and I've always hated the chrome look. I'm happy with the turn out. Only thing I have left to do is the back side of the roof racks and get the windows tinted plus replace the wheels and tires.

The only things I painted was the front lower grill trims and also the fender flairs

I agree about the chrome. Anything before the 60s it's great, but on modern cars it's just a waste. I had my windows and doors vynil wrapped about a couple of years ago and its beginning to show some wear and tear. The drivers side rear window trim started coming off and a 1" chunk was removed by a car wash, so it's time for an upgrade. Here in AZ it can get quite hot and that plays havoc with vinyl wrap and adhesion. The trim pieces are painted metal and the double sided tape on the back looks pretty good, so hopefully I'll be able to get a good bond on the factory trim. Did you do a satin vinyl on your trim? It looks good with your pain color.

 

[bman]

I agree about the chrome. Anything before the 60s it's great, but on modern cars it's just a waste. I had my windows and doors vynil wrapped about a couple of years ago and its beginning to show some wear and tear. The drivers side rear window trim started coming off and a 1" chunk was removed by a car wash, so it's time for an upgrade. Here in AZ it can get quite hot and that plays havoc with vinyl wrap and adhesion. The trim pieces are painted metal and the double sided tape on the back looks pretty good, so hopefully I'll be able to get a good bond on the factory trim. Did you do a satin vinyl on your trim? It looks good with your pain color.

Thanks... The roof rack and lower doors were more of a satin, other trim were in matte black. The reason was the matte black only came in 1 3/8 and I needed wider for the racks and lower trim.

Now that I have a feel for installing it and I did plan for some here and there to come off so I will just replace as needed.

 

[bman]

I wrapped the inside of the roof rack, still need to do the passenger side. I'm happy with the way it turned out.

 

[bman]

I was able to finish the inside rack on the passenger side yesterday. Does anyone know how to remove the rear bumper trim off without removing the bumper? I did see some people cutting the trim in the middle and then pulling if off but I need to paint and reinstall it.

 

[RustyH]

replaced my "chrome" trim piece and replaced it with the black trim piece on my 2012 TDI. Took about 20-30 minutes from start to finish, without removing the bumper or cutting the chrome trim in half. I used a set of plastic trim removal tools that I bought from Harbor Freight to pry up and out the horizontal clips first, then worked around the vertical clips next, undoing one clip at a time. I only broke one clip on the chrome piece removing it, so I could have reused it with a little double sided tape if I wasn't going to replace it with the black trim. There wasn't any damage to the surface of the chrome trim.

If you're looking to buy the black trim cover, its around $120 from vwdirectparts.com, or use the following part number listed here to order it from your local dealership.

Finish Plate - Volkswagen (7P6-807-787-9B9)

 

[bman]

Thanks for the info and pictures. I'll give it try. Is the black one flat or gloss black?

 

[RustyH]

Quite literally flat black. No texture or raised bumps at all.

 

[Brobb]

Quite literally flat black. No texture or raised bumps at all.

I am curious about this black trim also. I didn’t know that existed. Do you have any pictures of it? Is it just a plastic look or does it have metallic (dark chrome) finish?

 

[Oz Dude]

Just throwing this out there - if anyone has a piece of trim laying around (in Aus) they don't mind parting with, I can try powdercoating it sating black to see how it comes up.

Surely there are enough wrecked Touaregs around by now that, if the powdercoating works and looks the part, it could make for a viable solution...

Oz

 

[bman]

replaced my "chrome" trim piece and replaced it with the black trim piece on my 2012 TDI. Took about 20-30 minutes from start to finish, without removing the bumper or cutting the chrome trim in half. I used a set of plastic trim removal tools that I bought from Harbor Freight to pry up and out the horizontal clips first, then worked around the vertical clips next, undoing one clip at a time. I only broke one clip on the chrome piece removing it, so I could have reused it with a little double sided tape if I wasn't going to replace it with the black trim. There wasn't any damage to the surface of the chrome trim.

If you're looking to buy the black trim cover, its around $120 from vwdirectparts.com, or use the following part number listed here to order it from your local dealership.

Finish Plate - Volkswagen (7P6-807-787-9B9)




View attachment 256406 View attachment 256407

So if I understand you correctly you started with the top clips first and then the bottom ones?

 

[RustyH]

I am curious about this black trim also. I didn’t know that existed. Do you have any pictures of it? Is it just a plastic look or does it have metallic (dark chrome) finish?

The attached picture shows the stock chrome piece removed and proped up and the new black trim cover installed in its place. It's a simple, clean piece of satin black plastic. Once the original piece was removed, this just clips into place.

The only downside to the black trim piece is that after going through the carwash, more water collects under the trim than the original chrome piece and even after drying, I can get water spots dripping down the rear bumper skin after driving away from the wash. I just have to take a few extra minutes to grab an air hose to blow all the water away from the top of the bumper to prevent water spots.

 

[RustyH]

So if I understand you correctly you started with the top clips first and then the bottom ones?

Correct.

 

[bman]

Thanks... If I can get the stock one removed without to much damage I'm planning to prep it well and paint it along with the emblems with the trim paint I used on the fender flares.

 

[Thumper3]

View attachment 256434

The attached picture shows the stock chrome piece removed and proped up and the new black trim cover installed in its place. It's a simple, clean piece of satin black plastic. Once the original piece was removed, this just clips into place.

That's too bad it's just flat, I like the look of the chrome one with the raised grooves just wish it was black. Guess I need to be careful removing mine so I can paint it. lol

The only downside to the black trim piece is that after going through the carwash, more water collects under the trim than the original chrome piece and even after drying, I can get water spots dripping down the rear bumper skin after driving away from the wash. I just have to take a few extra minutes to grab an air hose to blow all the water away from the top of the bumper to prevent water spots.

Take it off and apply double sided tape around the entire edges and that will stop.

 

[Brobb]

View attachment 256434

The attached picture shows the stock chrome piece removed and proped up and the new black trim cover installed in its place. It's a simple, clean piece of satin black plastic. Once the original piece was removed, this just clips into place.

The only downside to the black trim piece is that after going through the carwash, more water collects under the trim than the original chrome piece and even after drying, I can get water spots dripping down the rear bumper skin after driving away from the wash. I just have to take a few extra minutes to grab an air hose to blow all the water away from the top of the bumper to prevent water spots.

Thanks for sharing those pictures. It’s interesting that they went with a flat look.

 

[bman]

When I got home yesterday I tried pulling the trim off, worked on it a few minutes with no luck. I then tried wrapping it got half way with it but with all the humps in it it was leaving some air bubbles so I pulled it off. I said let me look into removing it again. What a pain in the butt getting it off. I started with pulling the rear portion of the trim, once those were off there's no turning back because you wouldn't be able to pop it back on without removing the trim first. The hardest part for me was the top clips. When I was pulling on it it was pulling on the tabs on the bumper but once I got a few off it wasn't to bad. I did end up breaking one clip.

I scuffed it up really well and put two coats on but the bag I had it laying on decided to blow up on the edge of the trim, you can see it in the picture but I've already repainted it this morning. I'll let it dry over the weekend and re-install next week.

As I mentioned before this is the best trim paint on the market I've used it on many of my vehicles and love the look it gives.

When I tried wrapping it I did cut the vinyl because of the angle of the trim but still couldn't get it to lay right.

Trim removed

Trim painted

Trim paint I use

 

[RustyH]

Thats going to look really nice. Is the there any sort of satin clearcoat paint that you can use to protect the black paint?

It's definitely not a simple matter to remove the trim piece while the bumper cover is on the car. It might be easier if the entire bumper cover is removed from the vehicle first, but I didn't want to do that when I removed mine. I think one thing helped me was I did mine when the temps were in the upper 90's, so it may have softened up the plastic enough to make it a little pliable. I broke one of the upper clips off as well, I wonder if it was the same one. There might have been a locking tab that's only accessible from the underside of the bumper cover.

Before you reinstall the trim, do what I didn't do and get some automotive grade 3M double sided tape and run it around the underside of the trim piece before installing it. That should secure really well and help seal it from water collecting under it after you wash it.