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C Pillar CF Wrap Opinion-Looks Good or Don’t Be That Guy
Hi folks. New member here. 2006 SL500 Iridium Silver/Charcoal, 57k miles. Made tons of DIY repairs, including soft close trunk, leaking washer bottle fluid, trunk struts, ABC filter and fluid, oil and filter. Wanted to cover the faded C pillars with something. What are your thoughts on this CF wrap? I value opinions here, so if I should go back to stock, I’ll find something else. Thanks for your input!
2005 R 230 SL350 (M112 3.7). Sold the 1966 W113 230SL recently
It does blend in with the rear window, so it sort of widens the shape of the latter. That’s why I’d like to see an overall view of a light colored car with such cf wrap.
Thanks for the responses. I agree that with a silver car, the CF wrap has a different look than with a dark color. I’ll try to upload a larger pic later for a better overall view.
I like it. Am wondering if those wraps can do very small areas, such as the inserts on the roof of my CLK, as they have faded unevenly and look bad compared to the rest of the vehicle.
Thanks. The issue is that it’s hard to actually wrap around the edges. I trimmed at the actual edge with a blade, but it would look better if it wrapped around the edge. Unfortunately, the thickness of the material makes it difficult. Plus, the panels would have to come out to do a proper wrapping job. The adhesive of the material is actually pretty good. I bought mine on eBay for very cheap. It was like $7 for a 12 x 60 roll.
Looks great!
I tried doing the wrap in gloss black - to match the original. Ran into a couple issues with that.
First - the plastic on the panels was very brittle and I broke off a few of the mounting tabs.
Second - the surface has to perfectly smooth, or the imperfections show.
So, I ended up buying new replacements, and I'm happy with my decision.
Yeah. I considered removing the panels to do a proper wrap, but felt I would definitely break some of the brittle plastic tabs in the process. Also, if I took them off, I figured I would just sand them down and re-spray with wheel clearcoat to see if I can match the factory look.
Slightly off topic, does everyone else have to perform four-wheel alignments often? I ask because the previous owner seems to have done four-wheel alignments every few years, and went through tires like crazy. I’m hoping that’s just attributable to a bad driver.
Yeah. I considered removing the panels to do a proper wrap, but felt I would definitely break some of the brittle plastic tabs in the process. Also, if I took them off, I figured I would just sand them down and re-spray with wheel clearcoat to see if I can match the factory look.
Interesting. Will have to look into it, am not sure how these rails on my roof come off, whether just pressed in or something more... but if they are able to come off, I might look into it.
There is a thread out there that provides step-by-step instructions. Basically you use a scrap piece of wood to tap (with a hammer) from the top edge down to get it off, then to put it back on, tap up while pushing down on the tab areas of the panel.
There is a thread out there that provides step-by-step instructions. Basically you use a scrap piece of wood to tap (with a hammer) from the top edge down to get it off, then to put it back on, tap up while pushing down on the tab areas of the panel.
Will go find it. Thanks... always love when working on a high dollar automobile and the instructions are 'pull out a block of wood and whack at it' ... like breaking the rotors free. Love it.
2005 R 230 SL350 (M112 3.7). Sold the 1966 W113 230SL recently
Originally Posted by poppyboy
Here are some outdoor pics. Unsure if they give enough perspective.
I like it. Don’t think it’s definitely better than without wraps, but to me it looks like a credible design. By the way, I was awaiting a real rear end view, like from a trailing car, to get a real impression.
When I had some parking damage fixed by a professional shop, I should have asked them to respray those c-pillars as well .
Looks great! I really like it and i think it will look very nice on my black SL55.
I have 2 questions:
1. Did you apply the wrap without removing the plastic pieces? From the comments, it sounds like you did not remove them, i but i wanted to confirm.
2. What kind of wrap did you use? How will it handle weather - rain, heat, sun? Is it outdoor rated?
Thank you!
Correct. After wiping down the panel with isopropyl alcohol, I cut the wrap to the approximate size of the panel, taped it on with painters tape, then took an exacto knife with a shallow blade and carefully cut around the edges (feeling for the edges with a leading finger), then removed the adhesive backing and carefully placed it over the panel. Lastly, I used the blade to lightly and carefully trim the pieces protruding over the edges. The seller on eBay represented the material will withstand weather. It doesn’t matter to me, as it’s a garage queen.
10-06-2019, 11:24 PM
fixed by a professional shop, I should have asked them to respray those c-pillars as well 
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