Interior trim vinyl wrap - 3m brushed black metallic

Hi all, First time Porsche owner and first time introducing myself on this forum. I recently picked up a 2003 996 C2 in meridian metallic after going on a mission to find the most enjoyable to drive, sub 30k car regardless of new/used. I couldn't be happier with my decision. It is by far the most fun to drive and engaging car that I have ever owned or driven. Despite how much I enjoy the driving experience, there are a few small things on the list that I wanted to improve. One thing was the interior trim "horseshoe" surrounding the radio and climate control. When I got the car the rubbery coating was scratched in a lot of places and just looked cheap overall. I saw some pictures of a new 3m vinyl wrap that simulates the look of brush metal and decided to try it out. I have posted some pictures below. It's a definite improvement over the previous look in my opinion but not by huge margin. It was also a much more involved process than anticipated with a lot of trial and error so I probably would not do it again if I had known. I tried to take a variety of pictures in different settings to give you a sense of what it looks like as it does change quite a bit depending on the lighting conditions. Let me know what you guys think and happy to answer any questions you have. link to high resolution images: http://imgur.com/a/J7Pt5#0

Looks good! Nice job

I think it looks good. What was difficult about installing it? Removing the trim, adhering around openings, stretching it around curves? All of the above? There are probably limited colors and patterns that would look good with a wrap, but this seems appropriate.

Congrats...Nice ride! The wrap looks pretty good, though to be honest, the photo quality makes it a little hard to judge. I would imagine that the biggest challenge in applying the matrial with a brushed metal look to a rounded surface would be to keep the lines in brushed look straight...? Did you have to do any special prep to the surface? Did you use a heat gun to mold the wrap? Any special glue or adhesives? Would also love to know how it holds up over the next 6-12 months with hot/cold weather....

Looking good, was it hard to "install"?

I cant really tell how the horse shoe came out, but the other trim below it looks good.

It's all in the film and technique. I've been wrapping quite a few items and found the 3m 1080 dinoc vinyl to be the easiest to apply/reapply. Some good squeegee type tools the pro's use as well as blow dryer or heat gun can do wonders for curves and such. There are a bunch of tutorials on youtube which would do a way better job than if I attempted to explain it here.

There are also goodies - adhesion promoters, edge sealers - you can use with the 3M stuff to help install it and keep it stuck. If you're a smoker, don't bother - you'll never get the surfaces clean enough to work with.

Good Gob!!!!!!!

Tasteful selection of color/pattern. Could pass for factory. I might be getting a Cayenne with wood trim (yuck) in the near future, and want to wrap all the trim in that car to make it look less...elderly.

I don't know what the deal is with the faux wood trim, but I have never seen it NOT look like azz in a 996/997. My X5 had wood trim, but I think actually making it out of wood helped prevent it from looking like the outside of a 70's station wagon...

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Close to 2 year update. The trim has held up really well. No sign of peeling despite the Southern California heat. I just realized I never replied to Ricky's question above. To answer, It was tough to keep the brush lines looking straight and didn't quite succeed but it looks passable enough. To prep the surface I actually sanded and sprayed with primer because I wasn't sure how the 3m vinyl would adhere to the rubbery coating. In retrospect I'm not sure how necessary that was and it certainly was a pain in the ***. For the molding, It was a two person job with someone holding a hairdryer and the piece and me stretching the vinyl wrap over. It was really tough and I'm glad I bought extra vinyl because I messed up the first time. I did not use any special glue or adhesives although an adhesion promoter might help. Just a note for anyone attempting this, it is a lot of work and not sure if it is entirely worth it despite looking decent. The cigarette lighter especially was a huge pain to pry out before sanding.