Replacement (Carbon Fiber) "Air Breathers" For 2015 X5M

[2-cb]

Greetings all.

Certainly I cannot be the only one here who thinks BMW made a terrible decision in using chrome on the X5M "Air Breathers." Not only does the chrome look cheap and tacky, it reminds me of the Cadillac SUV and numerous other (mostly cheap) vehicles employing that look currently out there. Personally, I prefer the looks of the Air Breathers on the non-M cars a lot more than what they did to the M.

That being said, chrome AB's are no reason not to buy a sweet new X5M. My plan is to black out most of my ride, and I was wondering if anyone has suggestions for how to make the AB's look better. Ideally, I'd love to see someone develop a mold and come out with a replacement set of AB's in Carbon Fiber!!!! I'd place my order now

Unfortunately, I lack the technical skills to undertake such a project and would greatly appreciate any help/guidance that anyone may have. Specifically, anyone either have plans to develop such a product or know of a company/person that has the skills, time, and inclination to undertake this project? I'm sure that I'm not the only one who will be looking to get rid of the chrome AB's ASAP. Anyone else interested? Although it would be great to find others and organize a limited production run, I'd be willing to pay for a one-off custom fabrication if that turned out to be necessary...

Alternatively, is there a way to use some sort of film (like used for car wrapping, window tinting, etc.) to transform the chrome to a smoked chrome look? Obviously I really want to go the Carbon Fiber route, but in the meantime..... I HATE CHROME!

Sorry for the long thread. I look forward to reading everyone's replies in order to gauge interest in this project. Hopefully im not the only one who thinks that the idea of Carbon Fiber Air Breathers sounds pretty darn sweet!

PS. I know that the F85 has not yet formally been released, but the sooner those of us who are interested organize and get started, the sooner we will have our CF fix!

Cheers,
2-cb

[Tony007]

M Performance has black grills for the X5M & X6M.

Check out the M Performance parts sticky post. Have you seen those already?

[Cattivo]

Just find a shop with a water solution machine and they can make any OEM part look cf or whatever design you like

[dromk]

Originally Posted by 2-cb

Greetings all.

Certainly I cannot be the only one here who thinks BMW made a terrible decision in using chrome on the X5M "Air Breathers." Not only does the chrome look cheap and tacky, it reminds me of the Cadillac SUV and numerous other (mostly cheap) vehicles employing that look currently out there. Personally, I prefer the looks of the Air Breathers on the non-M cars a lot more than what they did to the M.

That being said, chrome AB's are no reason not to buy a sweet new X5M. My plan is to black out most of my ride, and I was wondering if anyone has suggestions for how to make the AB's look better. Ideally, I'd love to see someone develop a mold and come out with a replacement set of AB's in Carbon Fiber!!!! I'd place my order now

Unfortunately, I lack the technical skills to undertake such a project and would greatly appreciate any help/guidance that anyone may have. Specifically, anyone either have plans to develop such a product or know of a company/person that has the skills, time, and inclination to undertake this project? I'm sure that I'm not the only one who will be looking to get rid of the chrome AB's ASAP. Anyone else interested? Although it would be great to find others and organize a limited production run, I'd be willing to pay for a one-off custom fabrication if that turned out to be necessary...

Alternatively, is there a way to use some sort of film (like used for car wrapping, window tinting, etc.) to transform the chrome to a smoked chrome look? Obviously I really want to go the Carbon Fiber route, but in the meantime..... I HATE CHROME!

Sorry for the long thread. I look forward to reading everyone's replies in order to gauge interest in this project. Hopefully im not the only one who thinks that the idea of Carbon Fiber Air Breathers sounds pretty darn sweet!

PS. I know that the F85 has not yet formally been released, but the sooner those of us who are interested organize and get started, the sooner we will have our CF fix!

Cheers,
2-cb

They have Official M-Performance parts coming out that are blacked out. I think it would be the best solution.

[2-cb]

Hey Tony - I have a set of the black M Performance kidney grills (not sure if that's what you are referring to). Now I'm specifically looking for replacement Air Breathers (the chrome and black plastic pieces that sit in the vent behind the two front wheels).

I have yet to see them in anything other than the stock chrome. But who knows, maybe they will be added to the M Performance collection once the F85 starts hitting the street.

Cattivo - any chance you can send me a link or give me a nudge in the right direction? I'm not familiar with a water solution machine, but what you are describing sounds like a perfect fallback solution -- something to get rid of the chrome while I wait to see if anyone comes out with proper CF parts. Any additional guidance/information would be very much appreciated.

Thanks guys!

Originally Posted by Tony007

M Performance has black grills for the X5M & X6M.

Check out the M Performance parts sticky post. Have you seen those already?

[Cattivo]

There is a shop here in NY that has a water solution machine...I had them remove all my ugly walnut trim in my interior and dip them so I can have a cf look instead...im very happy with the results. You can look up Liquid Graphic Solutions to get a better idea of how it works and you still get to keep your OEM pieces with proper fitment compared to aftermarket that doesn't fit as good

[fyim]

M Performance

[2-cb]

Cattivo - thanks for the info. It sounds like your shop is definitely on top of its game. Now I just need to find a reputable shop that can do such work in SoCal (trust me, much harder than it sounds). Any chance you can find out what type of machine/system they are running? Obviously, no worries if not.

Originally Posted by Cattivo123

There is a shop here in NY that has a water solution machine...I had them remove all my ugly walnut trim in my interior and dip them so I can have a cf look instead...im very happy with the results. You can look up Liquid Graphic Solutions to get a better idea of how it works and you still get to keep your OEM pieces with proper fitment compared to aftermarket that doesn't fit as good

[2-cb]

Originally Posted by rcpx6m

M Performance

Where, oh where, did you find this? In my opinion, the vents look 1000% times better without the chrome. Given that so many of us spend good money ridding our cars of excess chrome, it seems that BMW would listen to the desires of their customers - especially the highly loyal M crowd -- and at least provide the buyer with the option of chrome vs black.

Before I get too excited, however, are these (1) commercially available yet; and (2) do they make them for the F85 X5M or only the F86 X6M? Speaking of which, does anyone know if the pieces are identical/interchangeable?

Thanks again

[fyim]

From what i understood from my dealer, we can order M Performance parts for X5M/X6M from March

[Cattivo]

Originally Posted by 2-cb

Cattivo - thanks for the info. It sounds like your shop is definitely on top of its game. Now I just need to find a reputable shop that can do such work in SoCal (trust me, much harder than it sounds). Any chance you can find out what type of machine/system they are running? Obviously, no worries if not.

I'm pretty sure that you can remove whatever pieces you want to get dipped and send them out to Liquid Graphic Solutions or any other reputable shop in Cali...as for the water solution system my shop uses, I'm not sure exactly who makes it but when they dipped my interior pieces they actually made me dip my door trim myself without any type of gloves on and I wound up with cf on my skin up to my elbow lol

[2-cb]

For those interested, there are currently no companies mass producing/selling the air breathers in CF. So I decided to take a chance an have them wrapped in CF film. I haven't seen the car in person yet (hopefully this Friday) , but based on pics I'm glad I went this route. Looks way better than chrome...

[2-cb]

Close-up:

[MonacoJoe]

looks better from far

up close looks like you did it in your kitchen

[jpsjr70]

Got these in the mail yesterday! Everything going OEM Black!

Joe

[2-cb]

Love the black too! May go that route eventually, but figured why not try wrapping stock ones. Nothing looks worse than chrome in my opinion.

Mind sharing where you got them/cost?

Can't wait for CF shifter/center console pieces to become available.

[AwesomeM3]

Originally Posted by jpsjr70

Got these in the mail yesterday! Everything going OEM Black!

Joe

Sweet Joe! I'll probably do the same.

My car arrived today, picking it up tomorrow!

[jpsjr70]

Thanks Steve. Congrats on your new ride! The black looks 150% Better!

2-CB if you want the parts in black, I got them from Century BMW in South Carolina. Call Joe Lyons at 864-234-6437, he's the parts manager. All four grills were $725.00 shipped. I recieved them within two days. Excellent Customer Service! Should have the Carbon Fiber Mirrors and Carbon Fiber Center Console Wednesday/Thursday.

Thanks
Joe

[Cattivo]

Originally Posted by 2-cb

For those interested, there are currently no companies mass producing/selling the air breathers in CF. So I decided to take a chance an have them wrapped in CF film. I haven't seen the car in person yet (hopefully this Friday) , but based on pics I'm glad I went this route. Looks way better than chrome...

Looks great

[Cattivo]

Originally Posted by jpsjr70

Got these in the mail yesterday! Everything going OEM Black!

Joe

How much? looks great