Thought on vinyl wrap?

General Discussion
#1

I know this might seem like an AZesque type thread but I’m curious to get others thoughts.

I’ve been considering having my B5 Avant sprayed. Little dings, scratches and a front end that is messy from track events makes me want to refresh things. I have also considered switching up the color, nothing crazy but maybe something a little different. My B5 is silver, the rarest of them all, I initially thought I would stay within a certain shade of silver but now I’m thinking it might be fun to look at other finishes and colors.

Vinyl wrap seems like a nice alternative based on material cost. I would hire someone to do the job, though I’m not not sure of the estimated labor cost, it seems like a reasonable option. Does anyone on here have any thoughts regarding vinyl? I’ve read for a garage kept car one can expect 5-6years before the weather takes it’s toll. Is the inside of the doors typically done or can it be? I also have to assume the engine bay isn’t an option unless it’s removed but then the question regarding heat tolerance comes to mind. Has anyone else considered going to this route? Interested in your thoughts.

3m, Helix and Avery evidently are the main manufacturers with 3m seeming like the best quality according to what I have read. I like the glossy finishes but I’m finding myself being drawn to the satin finishes, like graphite and others that are close. Black, Army green and white have also caught my eye. The darker colors look real sharp with BBS LM’s and clear corners.

There are some threads on AZ but the feedback is questionable when your dealing with the B5’s, it’s compounded when you venture into the aesthetics side.

#2

The wrap is pretty tempting. Isn’t it like $1000?

That’s tough to argue with. I thought about it when I got tired of the plain silver my old S4 was (Light Silver in Audi speak).

What colour is it now? Something blue would be cool like Sprint or Nogaro. Or something like Aviator Grey.

Lots of options. Don’t wrap it black. Just looks dusty.

Who cares about the engine bay or door jambs. I wouldn’t worry about it, especially if your car is black now. Seems pretty neutral.

#3

Can you deal with the color of your door jambs and engine baby being different? or do you plan on going with something close to your stock color?

I think it is pretty nice looking when done right, or used for accent pieces or roof wraps etc… but I personally couldn’t handle the jambs and engine bay not matching. Just an opinion though…

#4

I have wrapped a few plastic pieces in carbon fiber print vinyl. It wasn’t really difficult to do, looks decent, but it can be difficult on sharp angles and complicated lines. Might be best to have a pro do it.

Pretty much any area could be vinyl wrapped, but heat is definitely a concern inside the engine bay and I wouldn’t recommend it.

I have seen a number of cars with the carbon fiber print vinyl on their hoods or roof and it looks pretty good. Never seen other colors.

#5

I think I could live with the engine bay, the door jambs I’m not so sure. Estimated material cost looks to be in the $500-$700 range, not sure what a quality shop would charge but this is the route I would take. Current color is light silver which is quite common for the B5 platform.

Few examples that were recently posted on the zine,

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/25/umuruga2.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/25/hyvenu8a.jpg

This is my favorite. I’m very impressed with the look of this car.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/25/emady2u6.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/25/aryja9ap.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/25/abevy3am.jpg

I just need to see wrapped car in person, in pictures they look good, it seems like a nice alternative.

#6

Matte burgundy

#7

Not the same thing but along the same lines…

I priced out the cost of getting the entire car clearbra’d and that was gonna be about $4k, materials, labor, 8.25% tax.

Full Hood/Fender/Side Mirrors: $820
Rockers/Side Skirts/Wheel Impact Areas: $475
Headlights/Foglights: $60
Front Bumper/Grille: $235
Full Vehicle Coverage: $3,950

#8

is that avant with the red wheels aviator grey glossy? Looks neat.

#9

^^ Hexis, traffic grey. I thought it looked pretty good also.

#10

glossy I’ve never seen with a wrap. Pretty cool.

There’s a beautiful white RS4 Avant on RS246 that I didn’t even know was wrapped when the guy posted photos.

#11

Yeah, the glossy is why vinyl sparked my interest. I’m a little stand-offish with the matte but still nice.

I’ll check with some local shops, 4k for a wrap might make it less appealing, 2k all said and done is reasonable.

#12

I think 1500-2000 sounds right. Is that what places charge?

I thought I heard it was around $750 parts, $750 labour.

#13

I’m guessing on the 2k based on what I’ve heard, nothing difinitive though.

#14

No way.

My venture shield clearbra full hood, front fenders, front bumper, mirrors, and trunk lip cost $2k installed. also, I’ve heard that it’s a pain to keep a wrap looking nice and clean as it doesn’t have a clear coat to protect it.

#15

I prefer doing a professional plasti-dip over wraps.

  • Plasti dip protects your paint better
  • Cheaper material costs
  • Any color can be achieved using tints.
  • Less labor intensive to apply

Once you have a base coat of plasti-dip it takes less product to do a color change, you don’t have to remove the base coat to change the color. Rocking multiple colors a year is easily doable and cost affect with plasti-dip.

$500-700.00 per entire car.

I have been dipping cars DIY for some 2 years now. And am looking for a shop in Seattle area to do it full time. www.dippedmyride.com is my little starting website, www.dipyourcar.com is spearheading the entire thing and where it all started and providing DIY community with easily obtainable colors, research and tools.

It takes about an hour to pull off the dip from a full car. You can drop your car off in the morning and pick it up in the afternoon with a new color.

They have metal flake, glossifiers, and all sorts of cool colors. Nothing new, I am sure you have heard of it on AZ.

#16

I prefer rhinoliner

#17

[quote=“81bear,post:14,topic:4233”]

No way what? we’re talking about vinyl wrapping a car, not venture shielding a car.

#18

lol

this says ‘out of the way’

http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/images/12/2008/05/Rhino_Jeep_Bandana.jpg

#19

there were some pictures of a bed-lined b5 floating around az years ago, looked cool until you realize how heavy that stuff goes on

#20

[quote=“sakimano,post:17,topic:4233”]

[quote=“81bear,post:14,topic:4233”]

The guy does both and charges the same price I think it was $3.5-4k if I remember correctly.