Paint recommendation for center console (Black)

[poss]

I use Dulux Duramax Flat Black. Painted my console and recently did seat trim (below)

It is not a match for the leper-prone rubberised crap BMW uses - but who wants to match it anyway. Just redo it all.

This turns our much better. The Duramax lets you build up a thick coat that gives a superb result (do heaps of coats and use fine sandpaper in between as necessary)

If you hold the nozzle on the close side and master the art of building up a thick enough coat that doesn't run it comes out an amazing smooth satin-like finish

If you want a subtly mottled matt finish hold the nozzle further away

Duramax dries ready for next coat in 10 mins or so. Even if you screw it up and get some runs you can sand the runs off in 30 mins.

Begone leprosy!

[liam821]

+1. Just ordered an armrest delete center console for ~$100 shipped from FCP. I previously repainted the center console that's on my car and the amount of time required to get a decent looking product is just not worth it. Plus, now whenever my new piece gets scratched up, I can just send it back and get a brand new one for free.

Literally, the whole interior is a wear item in the e46. Thankfully we can still buy all those parts new from BMW and they're not too expensive (yet).

[heinzboehmer]

but the center console is just not that expensive in the world of M ownership.

+1. Just ordered an armrest delete center console for ~$100 shipped from FCP. I previously repainted the center console that's on my car and the amount of time required to get a decent looking product is just not worth it. Plus, now whenever my new piece gets scratched up, I can just send it back and get a brand new one for free.

[poss]

I swear by Dulux Duramax Flat Black (it actually produces a very pleasant satin finish). You can build up a thick, perfectly smooth and impressive coating because it dries so quickly you can lightly sand and re-coat in 15 min. Takes up to 10 coats to get a perfect finish that looks better than new. Doesn't seem to need clear coat either.

https://www.bunnings.com.au/dulux-34...black_p1400714

[Icecream]

Is it perfect? No. However, its a huge improvement on the worn out oem paint. Since I already had all those parts out while replacing the headunit, it only cost me the time to clean them up. I thought about painting it, but enjoyed the though of only having to maintain it the way I do the rest of the plastic on and in my car.

To each their own but what you posted kinda makes my point (really not trying to be rude, I would much rather spray those with a satin black rather than exposed like that). but I suppose everyone's expectations and budgets/priorities are different, I get that. I also get peeling paint sucks too but the center console is just not that expensive in the world of M ownership. My point is that OEM/factory quality is very hard to do economically on a one off piece in a garage.
For what its worth I did refinish my soft touch door armrests with black paint and a satin 2k clear from eastwood (2k for durability) on the bottom and gloss 2k clear on top. It looks nice (color on the satin part is probably a perfect match to the OEM black) but was a big pain to do (especially with using 2k clears, getting the proper masks and PPE to use it somewhat safely, properly prepping all surfaces for a uniform look and permanent bond, using adhesive promoters, primers and then removing dust that sets on the paint, wet sanding and drips that needed to be sorted). It was worth it (barely) for those pieces since they are around $200-250 a piece and there are 4 of them and you don't really see or interact with the soft touch surface so no loss there. For a cheaper and more visible piece that you touch often like the center armrest I wouldn't recommend it (unless cost went up substantially). I actually did gloss black on the center console too (since I was doing the armrests anyway) but prefer the soft touch since it looks tighter/cleaner and feels nicer. All I am saying is it took a lot of effort to get a really nice finish that truly looked like a factory finish and for the center console/ashtray soft touch surfaces, just not worth it. Takes too much away from the interior if those are hard plastic and or not perfect.
As an experiment I tried plastidip (knowing it would suck) and it did. The feel/look made the car feel trashy/cheap and durability was no good.

This kit looks promising but again, cost for a single piece is not economical.
Regular Kit:

https://alsacorp.com/product/soft-touch-paint/

Small Kit

https://alsacorp.com/product/soft-touch-preval/

[Syfon]

I used satin black paint & prime rattle can from my local hardware store. I sanded the centre console, removed that rubberized coating they apply when new and wax/grease remover then did a few very light coats of the satin black. Turned out perfect.

[zing]

The amount of work/cost to do it right and not look like a hyundai reject part won't be worth it. A couple companies sell soft touch coatings if you duck around that will probably look great if you take your time and do it right. At the end of the day, its less than $200 for a new console. You will spend at least $50-$75 in materials (probably more) to get a subpar result if you DIY. You may think it looks good but trust me, to everyone else it will look terrible (especially if you scotch bright it ). Unless you are skilled in painting/refinishing (not your first time, have the right tools and sprayers etc), take the time and buy the right material (in which case you may as well buy a new one unless you redo the whole interior) it just won't look right. There is a guy that refinishes armrests on here, maybe they are willing to refinish these for a reasonable cost.

I don't agree with this. I agree with phoenix on the ease of applying a decent coat of spray paint and think that it would look good for approximately as long as the original paint, depending on how many coats you used and generally how durable the paint is that you got. You'll maybe spend $20 in materials since you probably have most of it already...scotchbrite pads, simple green, alcohol (might be tough these days but 70% will work fine), a couple cans of the paint of your choice. You will however be spending a lot of time removing and prepping these parts for paint, then painting, allowing for curing time, and then reinstalling.

I also have yet to meet anyone else, even enthusiasts and other ocd people who notice anything on my car without me pointing it out. I asked my friends who often ride in my car if they noticed a difference in the interior, but they didn't. I pointed it out and they stated that it looked similar to a factory finish, so they didn't notice it.

I attached a few pics of the before and after of mine. strictly scuffed with scotchbrite after removing the old paint and hit with a little maxima sc1 (silicone spray that I use to bring life back into dried out plastics...the red part of the seat belt holder and external plastics)

first 2 are of the wear on the original paint. the third is the coin holder cleaned but not scuffed with scotchbrite and how it compares to the paint of the rest of the console. The next three are all post scuffing and silicone spray. I started to clean the bottom of the armrest, but it seems to be a non-textured surface and they don't look as good with the paint removed, so I left it as is. I removed the rubber from the inside of the armrest as well, as it was bubbling up and coming apart. That is an example of how the non-textured surface will look once scratched with scotchbrite (looks worse than it is, as its taken at night with a flash). There might be a better way to remove it with less damage, but I rarely use that storage area and didn't care how it looked as long as it was clean of gooey plastic.

Is it perfect? No. However, its a huge improvement on the worn out oem paint. Since I already had all those parts out while replacing the headunit, it only cost me the time to clean them up. I thought about painting it, but enjoyed the though of only having to maintain it the way I do the rest of the plastic on and in my car.

[Phoenix///M3]

What SEM color # are you using for black interior?

Landau I believe. The SEM product is super easy to lay down with a rattle can spray attachment.

Found a pic of my old Raptor interior. All the black trim was silver originally and had a shiny, harsh look. The center pieces were 3M white carbon fiber vinyl to match the white exterior.




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[Icecream]

Anyone have a rattle can paint recommendation for the center console to replicate the flat to satin look for the center console in black?

The amount of work/cost to do it right and not look like a hyundai reject part won't be worth it. A couple companies sell soft touch coatings if you duck around that will probably look great if you take your time and do it right. At the end of the day, its less than $200 for a new console. You will spend at least $50-$75 in materials (probably more) to get a subpar result if you DIY. You may think it looks good but trust me, to everyone else it will look terrible (especially if you scotch bright it ). Unless you are skilled in painting/refinishing (not your first time, have the right tools and sprayers etc), take the time and buy the right material (in which case you may as well buy a new one unless you redo the whole interior) it just won't look right. There is a guy that refinishes armrests on here, maybe they are willing to refinish these for a reasonable cost.

[zing]

my interior is black. Once i removed all the old paint, I thought about leaving the plastic as it was, but found it a bit too shiny. After just a bit of scrubbing with a scotchbrite pad, it got more of a matte black finish to it. So far I like it and there is no paint to eventually wear off again.

I was reading up on this as well before i made my decision to leave it without paint. The plastidip seemed to be a good match, but was said not to last long. After completely removing the old paint and scuffing the plastic surface, painting multiple layers of a plastic paint seemed to be the most durable option. however, even that will wear with time.

[chicane]

SEM color coat is awesome. I did a complete F150 Raptor interior years ago and it held up to anything. They make a low luster clear for the top coat.

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What SEM color # are you using for black interior?

[Phoenix///M3]

SEM color coat is awesome. I did a complete F150 Raptor interior years ago and it held up to anything. They make a low luster clear for the top coat.

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[Nuclear Rabbit]

Pop out your sunglasses holder and take it in to home depot and let them use their color match tool on it. Did this to refinish the soft touch interior of my porsche and was pretty impressed with the results.

[heinzboehmer]

I too tried a bunch of different products, ranging from plastidip to just regular rattle can paint. Ended up settling for something like what TexaZ3 described. Black base coat and a couple coats of a matte clear over that. I think I ended up using the Krylon Matte Finish spray paint. Does not have that same rubbery feel that the OEM pieces have, but they do look quite similar (and much better than they did before).

[liam821]

If you're not into DIY, hit up TexaZ3 (post in this thread above me), he does excellent work on repainting/repairing the plastics in our cars. He repainted my ZCP steering wheel trim which came out excellent.