IND Trim - Color Thoughts

[eleven11]

My X5M will arrive in roughly one month. I need to get my IND trim pieces ordered. It will be Donnington Gray Metallic, without night vision. After searching, it seems most owners with DG go with gloss black for the front and side grille. For my M5, I went color matched, but the car is Sapphire Black Metallic (i.e. relatively close to gloss black). Does anyone here have a strong opinion about going another direction - color matched or satin?

Finally, is the rear reflector swap common with the X5M? I left the reflector OEM on my M5.

Thanks.

[atxgt3]

I went gloss black all around on mine. I got the M performance pieces instead of IND for the front and side grills because the dealer gave me a great price and only charged $100 for installation, even though it ended up taking them all day to install them. I got gloss black painted IND for the emblems/logos.

I think gloss black will look better than any other option. I think it will look better than color matched or satin. Black chrome is an interesting alternative, but I haven't really seen a lot of pictures of it.

[F86-x6M]

I did a gloss black grill and side vents on my x6m but ended up changing the side vents to color match as the gloss black looked a little too out of place. My BMW is DG as well.

[Alan l.]

My opinion color matched would be too much. Gloss black breaks up the parts just enough to make them stand out

[r33_RGSport]

@eleven11 , I would go for gloss black.
It gives a very good contract with DG.
I got all gloss black in stock and can do match color paint if you want.

[imahobo]

After much thought, I decided to go with matte black on my DG X5M. I spoke with IND, and they assured me the finish is really a satin black, not a Plasti-Dip looking matte black. I was very pleased when the parts arrived. For me, the gloss finish differed too much against the bottom front intake pieces, which are closer to the satin finish.

I did the front and rear roundels, rear model designation, side vents and front grilles in matte black.
I color matched the DG on the front and rear reflectors.
I had them custom paint the front grille without the model designation because I prefer a cleaner look.
Of course the front lip comes in carbon fiber finish. They offered to paint match it for me, but I told them to leave it CF, knowing I could get it painted later if I wanted to. After I installed it, I felt it added the little touch of flair I was looking for.
I painted the rear exhaust tips matte black because I thought the chrome looked out of theme.
To complete the interior, I did the OE carbon fiber knob and console trim.

[eleven11]

Thanks everyone for all of the helpful replies. Much appreciated.

[LBBX5M]

pure sexiness

[gizmo958]

too cool for school ;-)
awsome !!

the illusions that donington grey can play

[AlexLou1222]

Where did you get the front lip and how much it cost? I think it really completes the front look!

[Nate@IND]

Originally Posted by AlexLou1222

Where did you get the front lip and how much it cost? I think it really completes the front look!

Lip is RKP and comes in 2x2 to match the BMW weave on the interior.
http://ind-distribution.com/ind/bran...iber-front-lip

[RPI-M5]

Thanks for he pics. I'm going to do this with my Doningron Grey X5M

[pachieh]

Bump for an old thread. Pretty sure I'm going matte on my DG, just curious as to the contrast from the black gloss roof rails and window trim.

Thoughts?

[botis1028]

I have BSM and went with gloss black bits all around. I did the entire IND blackout package with exception of the rear roundel and I actually think I’m going to snag that now too. I’m not sure if it would look right color matched in BSM.

http://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1432344

[pachieh]

Ordered, played it safe with gloss black for everything on the cosmetic package. I think it'll flow nicely with the roof rails and window trim (all gloss black) without too many variations of black.

Now, if RKP would just do their CF bumper insert in gloss black...

[iconoclast]

i am not sure if i am old or just an odd ball but if going with gloss black why not just purchase the oem options? cost? availability?

[pachieh]

Originally Posted by iconoclast

i am not sure if i am old or just an odd ball but if going with gloss black why not just purchase the oem options? cost? availability?

Mainly cost. Plus IND has significantly better customer service

[iconoclast]

I dont think customer service is an issue when ordering an OEM set of grills. It doesn't get much simpler than that.

I do not have any issues with IND and I have been a customer of theirs for ages for various bits and pieces but whenever there is an OEM option I go with that.

[botis1028]

Originally Posted by iconoclast

I dont think customer service is an issue when ordering an OEM set of grills. It doesn't get much simpler than that.

I do not have any issues with IND and I have been a customer of theirs for ages for various bits and pieces but whenever there is an OEM option I go with that.

Cost mostly - would have cost me 400ish more for OEM black bits compared to the IND OEM painted version. Not huge difference, but was able to get side reflector delete and back badge at same time for less. Convenience was factor too.

[tejasgadhia]

Originally Posted by imahobo

After much thought, I decided to go with matte black on my DG X5M. I spoke with IND, and they assured me the finish is really a satin black, not a Plasti-Dip looking matte black. I was very pleased when the parts arrived. For me, the gloss finish differed too much against the bottom front intake pieces, which are closer to the satin finish.

I did the front and rear roundels, rear model designation, side vents and front grilles in matte black.
I color matched the DG on the front and rear reflectors.
I had them custom paint the front grille without the model designation because I prefer a cleaner look.
Of course the front lip comes in carbon fiber finish. They offered to paint match it for me, but I told them to leave it CF, knowing I could get it painted later if I wanted to. After I installed it, I felt it added the little touch of flair I was looking for.
I painted the rear exhaust tips matte black because I thought the chrome looked out of theme.
To complete the interior, I did the OE carbon fiber knob and console trim.

I noticed your roof rails are black too. Did you purchase that way or change them after market? If so, did you vinyl wrap them?

[Travis1807]

i went carbon fiber for mine and love it.

[notyourdadsf86]

Gloss black for me. Saw carbon grills on an X5M in grey and wasn't a fan. Here's some pics so you can get a sense of how it looks