[Tanbuu_phan]

Anyone ever wrap or have an alternative for color matching the front reflectors besides the IND paint matched one. I really don’t want to deal with the install which I hear is a PITA so wondering if anyone has success with a vinyl wrap. My car is black sapphire metallic by the way so I get that paint match may not be perfect.

[salfeet84]

Originally Posted by Tanbuu_phan

Anyone ever wrap or have an alternative for color matching the front reflectors besides the IND paint matched one. I really don’t want to deal with the install which I hear is a PITA so wondering if anyone has success with a vinyl wrap. My car is black sapphire metallic by the way so I get that paint match may not be perfect.

I have a brooklyn grey ‘24 X7, I just bought black glossy vinyl wrap off amazon and installed it then cut around the reflector using an exacto knife and it turned out very nice

[Tanbuu_phan]

Thanks I’m thinking off doing the exact same thing. Appreciate the response

[blutob2]

Yeah I had my side markers and rear taillights wrapped. 2 years later, no issues.

[espressoo]

IMO it depends on the color of your vehicle. If it's black I think you can get away with using black vinyl wrap on the side reflectors. If it's any other color it looks much better with the IND painted ones. Otherwise just leave it the OEM orange reflector. Using vinyl that doesn't exactly match the body paint doesn't look good.

I've done the DIY install on an X5 and X7 and the latter is way harder since there's not much space behind the X7 bumper. I supposed you can completely remove the bumper to install the reflectors but I didn't use that approach. The best method of removing the reflectors is to use a steamer like the one shown below with flexible nozzle attachment. IMO the steamer technique avoids overheating the area vs a heat gun. Worse thing you can do is use a heat gun and damage your paint. Plus the steamer wets the adhesive so it doesn't re-stick after you separate it from the inner bumper. If you've ever done the install before, you'll know exactly what I mean.

The amount of space behind the X7 reflector/bumper area is super tight. If you trim the tabs on the back of the reflectors it makes it much easier to reinstall. With the tabs removed, you can reinstall it by going through the bumper opening as opposed to going behind it from the fender liner. Note when removing the OEM orange ones, with the tabs intact, it won't fit out the bumper opening/cutout. With the X7, my fender trim was glued on from the factory using double sided tape so it was extremely hard to remove so I left it. On my X5, I was easily able to remove my fender trim just by pulling it outwards and noticed no double sided tape was used from the factory.

Here's some photos of what I mean and the finished DIY.

Used a piece of foam to prop the fender liner open while working on this area.


Right reflector has tabs cutoff.

[Tanbuu_phan]

Thanks guys. Ended up buying some 3M gloss black metallic vinyl wrap for cheap and will try that first before the IND route.

[blutob2]

Originally Posted by espressoo

IMO it depends on the color of your vehicle. If it's black I think you can get away with using black vinyl wrap on the side reflectors. If it's any other color it looks much better with the IND painted ones. Otherwise just leave it the OEM orange reflector. Using vinyl that doesn't exactly match the body paint doesn't look good.

Yeah just realize wrap comes in countless colors so matching it is easier than you think. I have a buddy that owns a wrap shop and crazy how many different colors he has on the shelf.