I don't want to have to replace these (if possible) is there any easy way that is going to look good to repair or rectify these issues...
Thanks!

Derbyfella said:

is there any easy way that is going to look good to repair or rectify

Click to expand...

With cosmetic bodywork rectification, there are easy ways, and there are ways to make it look good, but there is generally no method for achieving both at the same time.

I've never had any great success with repairing peeling vinyl trim; much the same thing happened after about seven years on my Ka (the first one, not the one made by Fiat) and in the end, I just used a solvent to remove the whole thing, and polished up the underlying paintwork; it looked OK rather then pristine, but good enough for a car of its age.

From your pictures, if you remove these, I'd say you're either going to have to replace them with something, or do some painting.

You can buy OEM trims from shop4parts at a discount, but they're still not particularly cheap.

In your situation, I'd be thinking about wrapping; perhaps with something like this? Alternatively, just buy a roll of black satin wrap and make your own.

@typecastboy, you must have had to deal with damaged vinyl trims on some of your cars - what would you do here?

Thanks JR-
I had looked at that....trouble is if it’s even slightly off I think it would look a bodge.
There are some gloss trims on eBay at the moment...

The other thing is removing and adding the 500c badge...is that glued on?


I don’t mind spending time on this to be fair, just looking for options

Derbyfella said:

trouble is if it’s even slightly off I think it would look a bodge

Click to expand...

I'd be concerned about that too. If you want it to look OEM, you may have to bite the bullet and buy OEM replacement trims. These sort of parts are rarely cheap. The ones for the special editions can be downright extortionate, and that's if they're still even available at all.

Just the sheer number of different ebay options out there is evidence that this is a relatively common issue.

Derbyfella said:

The other thing is removing and adding the 500c badge...is that glued on?

Click to expand...

It seems so. Take a look at this listing.

These are not coated, they are painted and the paint chips off. I've replaced loads of these. You basically have two options.

Remove them and replace them and my video here shows you easily how to do that.

https://youtu.be/tnjbA6A_SQM

Or you can wrap them. You can get pre cut to size and shape carbon effect or you can buy wrap vinyl and do them in a myriad of different finishes. I've done both several times. They are really easy to wrap and I did the main one without even taking it off and it looked great.

The vinyl is widely available on eBay.

If you can get the '500C' badges off without damage you can clean off the back, apply some .5mm 3M VHB tape (or even 1mm), trim the excess and reapply them. I haven't done it but I did reposition my car's 'Twinair' badge and it's still on after more than six years!

I got fairly good finish by removing mine sanding back then primer and statin black paint
But that was just the a pillar ones and the one near the mirror where the colour difference would probably show up more

Thanks all.. Not sure how to proceed....there is a full gloss set on ebay....The wrap seems a decent option although im not hugely keen on the carbon fibre.

i presume just heating the badge/glue should be enough for me then to remove them more easily.?

A hairdryer or heat-gun is good but don't try to work too quickly. Heat them until just warmed through and allow the heat to permeate the plastic then insert a blade behind a corner and apply gentle, steady pressure until it starts to lift. I prefer to start at one end and work right across rather than going around the edges.


I have read that you can use dental floss to 'saw' through the adhesive but I haven't tried it.