Opinions on pinstripes

General conversations about BMW E28s and the people who own them.
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cbumga11
Posts: 69
Joined: Dec 04, 2016 2:00 PM
Location: St Louis

Opinions on pinstripes

Post by cbumga11 »

Due my endless desire to gain the affection and validation of internet strangers, I have a question. Should I, or should I not redo my 30 year old pinstripes.
Currently this
Image

To this

Image

The second pic is just a vinyl gold pinstripe and can be removed. I do not know how I feel about this. It is more gold than orange than suggested in the picture. Also, pardon the dirty garage.
Cactus
Posts: 4991
Joined: Jun 06, 2010 4:13 AM
Location: Dayton, OH

Re: Opinions on pinstripes

Post by Cactus »

I like them. Do it.
jhh925
Posts: 913
Joined: Jul 11, 2015 12:23 AM
Location: Reno

Re: Opinions on pinstripes

Post by jhh925 »

I just went through the same deliberation on my M5. About 80% to 90% of the original stripes were in good shape. They were obviously a dealer-add on or otherwise added after the car left the factory ... that is, they were some sort of tape and had not been painted on. The goal had been to preserve the car as close to "original" as possible, and we tried to keep the stripes as sort of a period-correct thing. But since they were damaged (likely about the same condition or better as the pics you had?) they had to be redone, and that meant fully removing them & retaping them.

After I got mine off, I took a careful look at the car without them and came to the conclusion that no stipes were better.
BMWCCA2
Posts: 4060
Joined: Feb 12, 2006 12:00 PM
Location: Central Virginia

Re: Opinions on pinstripes

Post by BMWCCA2 »

I'm assuming the stripes in the first photo are painted?
It's actually easier to remove painted stripes than taped ones. I've done plenty of both!

To remove painted stripes, get a can of lacquer thinner. Put a little bit on a rag and start gently wiping. The stripes should come off easily and the original paint will not be affected. Test a small area first, and don't blame me if it damages your paint! I do this to remove ugly stripes and the occasional painted monogram we get on trade-ins. As long as I get to it before the "detailers" do, there's no damage. sThey try to scrape them off with a razor blade! Just polish and wax the area when you're done and it should be fine. If a panel has been repaired and a body shop cleared over the stripes, you're f*cked!

Tape stripes are a real pain. I generally try to do it in the hot sun or with a heat gun to get the biggest pieces possible in one gentle pull. But when I got fed-up with the look of the beige stripes on my Delphin 535i, the frustration of the pieces tearing in such small chunks made the process irritatingly slow. Regardless, the most time-consuming part is removing the adhesive left behind. I use 3M General Purpose Adhesive Cleaner on a microfiber rag. After the tape is off, keep wetting the glue ahead of your rubbing it off, use as much 3M as you can afford (!) and keep changing rag surface because once the rag gets saturated with removed glue, it doesn't remove the remaining glue as well. It's a slow process, not matter how well it works, but it won't hurt your paint and in most cases won't leave a "shadow".

On my Delphin 535i I got so frustrated I used an interesting scraper tool made by Snap-On a friend gave me years ago that I'd never tried. The NYROC® Blade Hand Kit box shows certification from several government agencies and the blades are designed to remove decals without damaging paint. I have to say they worked beautifully on my stubborn tape stripes. You can see before and after of the car in the 16-inch wheel thread. I'll never put pin-stripes on anything I own, with the exception of some vintage BMWs where tape was standard (Early R90S). The Delphin 535i came to me with the stripes already in place. Ugh.

Oddly enough, today I was asked to apply orange stripes to a 2021 Phytonic Blue X5 45e M-sport for a customer. I've done several BMWs for him this way over the years, and for other coaches, staff, and UVA fans in the area. I'll volunteer to put them on but I won't take them off for anyone but myself!
Mike W.
Posts: 26872
Joined: Feb 12, 2006 12:00 PM
Location: California Whine Country

Re: Opinions on pinstripes

Post by Mike W. »

I'm less than crazy about the looks, although I don't hate them, but the real problem IMO is after you take them off.

Because of the way the paint oxidizes it erodes away except where the pinstripe was, but not underneath the tape. Clear, single stage, doesn't matter. So you can get it off fine, but there's a shadow line where they were because the paint is thicker there. Even had it show up after a paint job. Ok, not an expensive paint job, but still. It's even hard to block sand out, at least for an amateur.
Blue Shadow
Posts: 10195
Joined: Feb 12, 2006 12:00 PM
Location: SE PA

Re: Opinions on pinstripes

Post by Blue Shadow »

pressure washer took of the stripes on my car years ago. Since it is alpineweiß I think the motorsport colors would look good and bring some color to the exterior but I'm fine without the lines.

But the reason I responded is your comment: "Due my endless desire to gain the affection and validation of internet strangers," Amazing how many folks need this before the commit. An audio board I haunt is full of these requests for validation.
glowell222
Posts: 187
Joined: Mar 28, 2017 8:48 PM
Location: Northern Virginia

Re: Opinions on pinstripes

Post by glowell222 »

I like the "shadow" pinstripe idea, where you have the pinstripes done in either a single shade lighter or a single shade darker than your paint color.
Bonsaibacker
Posts: 929
Joined: Oct 26, 2017 3:36 PM
Location: Palatka FL

Re: Opinions on pinstripes

Post by Bonsaibacker »

I like the refreshed version but my choice would be to eliminate altogether. Personal preferences...
cbumga11
Posts: 69
Joined: Dec 04, 2016 2:00 PM
Location: St Louis

Re: Opinions on pinstripes

Post by cbumga11 »

Blue Shadow wrote: Oct 29, 2020 6:40 AM But the reason I responded is your comment: "Due my endless desire to gain the affection and validation of internet strangers," Amazing how many folks need this before the commit. An audio board I haunt is full of these requests for validation.
More or less of a joke seeing as how I already committed to one side. Being honest, its a small community for a largely unseen vehicle, and I was curious of what people thought about it. Its a black car with gold pinstripes. I know its not for everyone. I've gotten a few responses which I appreciate.

I'm not throwing a //M emblem on there or anything. When did the internet become so serious.

I do like the motorsport colors on a white car. The reason I like the pinstripes on a darker color car is that I think the darker colors wash out the body lines. Although I think these are too thick....I'm on the fence.
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