I have a Cobalt Blue Cayman S with Natural Leather Interior. My only regret on the interior was not getting the leather Rear console. I saw this after the fact and the leather stitching adds a lot to the interior. The "brown" console was otherwise pretty dull.
I have never been a fan of exterior paint on the console for a non black interior. I did not want to bring in a fourth color (natural brown, the gray brown on the radio / upper console, seat backs, etc., and silver on the other trim) I contacted Eric at bumperplugs to see if I could get the rear console painted to match the gray-brown. Eric was surprised stating that most people hate that color (It actually looks nice with the natural brown) and also explained that it is not paint but part of the plastic and difficult or impossible to match.
Again, not wanting to bring in a fourth color I inquired about matcing the silver trim. Eric told me that could be done, but it was a special paint and the cost was multiple times more than a standard exterior color. I then went to my Porsche dealer (Langhan Porsche, Schenectady, NY) and searched all the Porsche paints. A Cayeene color (8E kristallsilbermettallic (crystal silver metallic)) was almost a perfect match.
Bumperplugs supplied the rear console and small front piece at normal pricing. I added the Turbo gear knob and the overall improvement in appearance is pretty dramatic.
For those looking to match the silver, this is a reasonable option.
SEE PHOTOS
Painted console
Ive been thinking of getting a painted console and selling my Carbon Fiber one. might go with red.
Looks Great! I too like the grey color around the radio buttons (the one that everyone hates). I wonder if you could get all of those grey pieces painted to match your center console, though. I bet that would look nice too. Might be hard seeing as how there are labels for the radio controls printed on the one piece though. Anyway I’m just thinking out loud, your car looks very good, Michael.
Chris
Looks perfect. Love love love natural leather. I must order/buy a modern Porsche with it at some point. :cheers:
Way to go thinking outside of the box and it looks great.
Beautiful - nice job! I remember seeing a pic of an Atlas Gray center console a while back and thinking that painted consoles are a great option to dress up the interior.
Did Eric explain what makes the paint so special (e.g., is it chip proof? does it contain 24K gold flakes? Is it impervious to photo radar? Does it improve your gas mileage
)? I'm just curious why you couldn't use a standard body paint on interior trim if the surface is prepared properly (cleaned of wax/oils, and with an adhesion promoter).
This is a standard exterior body color which is why is was the usual (and reasonable) price. The original "interior" silver was not a standard color and cost substantially more. As you can see from the pictures, this is a pretty close to perfect match. The quality was excellent and we added the front piece (in front of the gear boot) to complete the package. This part is not normally painted by Porsche.
Wow, that looks really great!!! What was the total cost of the mod?
The console costs in the upper 300's (if my memory is correct) and the extra front piece 95. The "Turbo" shift / booot was 200 (this probably is not really needed). The Porsche dealer charted about 280 for the install.
I think it makes a huge difference in the overall character while maintaining a very classic appearance.
The finish he was originally referring to is Galvano, found on some of the cupholder trim pieces. It's not like any other paint, has nearly zero flake, and cannot be sanded under any conditions. In other words, it lays down perfectly, or not at all.
In the downdraft, when a car is painted, there will always be a few minor bits of trash that migrate into the clear. These can be wet-sanded and buffed out in most cases with no problem at all.
But in the case of Galvano, which we actually DID on a several parts about 18 months ago, it cannot be sanded at all. So if there is any minor imperfection (those of you who know me know how insanely anal we are)....then it's a goner.
Any other finish - no problem.
Eric
I hope you did not think I was negative about the cost of the Galvano. My point was that this was a stock color and you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between this and the "special Galvano paint" The results look great and it dressed up the interior of the Natural Brown very well.
MWB
