Faded Parcel Shelf

[R60BBA]

Hey folks,

Just touching base on a common problem that our cars suffer from - which is the parcel rear shelf fading to a bluish purple over time.

The solution is to either redye / paint the shelf back to anthracite or to replace with a new shelf (depending on how far you want to go).

Both have been covered in more depth on various forums throughout the net.

However, my reading indicates that there is not much emphasis on prevention. And so I’d be keen to establish what products people are using to stop this from occurring once the shelf has been rectified or replaced?

I’m aware that some claim that window tint is a successful prevention method, however I am not keen on this. There was also a thread on the ole M3Forum.net which was useful but I can’t remember the details.

If you have restored or replaced your parcel shelf, I would be grateful if you could share your methods of protection, ie ceramic, fabric guard etc.

Cheers

[Toby22]

I redyed mine 5yrs ago and holding up strong. Not garaged kept and still looks the same. I do have Air80 window tint, which are barely noticeable but helps protect my interior

[bmwfnatic]

I have a new one as well, since 2 years or so. Not leaving the car in the direct sun outside seems to be the prevention method.

[HennyM3]

To get the black finish and make it look even better, I would opt to re-upholster it in UV-resistant alcantara.

[Tbonem3]

Toby my boy you really gonna try and "roast" my "200k" car when yours isn't even garage kept and you have a faded rear shelf? 🤣

Can't make this shit up. My 181k rear shelf isn't faded, but your low mileage car is (or was, 5 years ago, even worse)? ahahahahahahaha 🤡

[WestBankM4]

Toby my boy you really gonna try and "roast" my "200k" car when yours isn't even garage kept and you have a faded rear shelf? 🤣

Can't make this shit up. My 181k rear shelf isn't faded, but your low mileage car is (or was, 5 years ago, even worse)? ahahahahahahaha 🤡

When I heard "Toby my boy..." I knew I was in for a special treat after that Castro exhaust post.

To keep this on topic, my car has grey interior but the PO kept it immaculate. I think constant upkeep with UV protective spray would work, or do a super light tint that protects from UV. I'm converting my whole interior to black soon, so I'm trying to figure out if I buy a new rear shelf or just dye my current one. Time will tell, but it's definitely in great shape.

[Sharocks]

Get some RIT dye at Michaels.

Pick up some model airplanes.

Do this shit outside because it's a damn mess.

Pour some scotch, single malt only.

Use a spray bottle or a sponge if you're poor.

Wear gloves.

Use entire bottle.

Of dye.

Then drink more scotch.

[Toby22]

my "200k" car

Don’t forget, worth $15k with easy-bake oven ebay Porsche Boxster calipers.

[old///MFanatic]

If you have restored or replaced your parcel shelf, I would be grateful if you could share your methods of protection, ie ceramic, fabric guard etc.

I sprayed mine with fabric color over a decade ago. My rear glass was ceramic tinted around the same time. It’s not faded since but it’s presumed because of the window tint and not the fabric spray being some ultra fade resistant formula. Good luck.

[LSB4Me]

How easy/hard is the shelf to remove? Last I checked, it required dismantling the rear seats and side bolsters. I wish there was a way to redye this in situ …

Air80 tint is something I’m considering for many reasons. One of which is: it might look pretty cool on LSB. If anyone has pics of this tint (or similar) on their car, please DM me. FWIW, I had Huper 70 on some of my cars and, although thick, it does an amazing job at cutting heat and UV. Remember kids, darker tint doesn’t mean exponentially more protection.

[Thoglan]

How easy/hard is the shelf to remove? Last I checked, it required dismantling the rear seats and side bolsters. I wish there was a way to redye this in situ …

Air80 tint is something I’m considering for many reasons. One of which is: it might look pretty cool on LSB. If anyone has pics of this tint (or similar) on their car, please DM me. FWIW, I had Huper 70 on some of my cars and, although thick, it does an amazing job at cutting heat and UV. Remember kids, darker tint doesn’t mean exponentially more protection.

Its not very hard. You can just fold down the rear seats. Unclip the black plastic shoulder piece on the top of the bolsters. Take the plastic cover that runs along the back out. Remove c pillars, and unplug/unbolt the speakers. Then undo the seatbelt mounting underneath the bench seat so you can feed the seatbelt through the cutout in the parcel shelf, might have to pop the seat base out and slide it forward a bit to get to those bolts.

The worst part is just taking the c pillars out since they are pretty delicate and you can pretty easily unstick the fabric on them if you are too rough. The rest is just push pins and clips pretty much.

[cobra]

Just throwing it out there - I am dying my rear shelf because it's completely purple like the photo above as well.

On my 05, there was another center screw holding the shelf down that is not mentioned in ANY diy or video out there. In order to access it you must remove the speakers from the trunk and it's an 8mm screw from the bottom.

[aziego]

Thanks for the info. This is another item on my list of to dos on my '05.

[Norocehcap]

Yeah it's not very hard but it is extremely time consuming just to get the shelf out. I had to take mine out to remove the rear tint, I thought it would take 10 min, it did not.

[cobra]

Yeah it's not very hard but it is extremely time consuming just to get the shelf out. I had to take mine out to remove the rear tint, I thought it would take 10 min, it did not.

I already had my c pillar covers out. I hate removing those with all the brittle plastic clips and the lights. The rest of the job wasn't as bad as I expected.

It was interesting finding a mosaic of crumbling sound deadening under the rear seat.