[DadDude]

Hi all, apologies if this has already been covered in a previous thread, I searched but couldn’t see anything.

The side vent trim (on the front fenders) on my X3 has gone a milky/cloudy colour and looks a mess (I like to keep my car immaculate lol). I have had it from new and is only 18 months old. I wouldn’t have expected this on an 18 month old car.

I wondered if anyone else has had this issue and if BMW replaced/ would replace them under warranty

Pictures below:

[Tokke]

+1

[fricfracfrank]

Odd that it old turn on the other portion of the piece and not the "gill" area. Have you been wiping over it with anything when cleaning the car?

[DadDude]

Originally Posted by fricfracfrank

Odd that it old turn on the other portion of the piece and not the "gill" area. Have you been wiping over it with anything when cleaning the car?

He no, nothing out of the ordinary. I wash the car using a ph neutral snow foam then car shampoo. Towel dry with a micro fibre towel. That’s all.

The gill part is a Matt plastic, but the part that is clouded I think is painted, or it is a gloss black plastic. Not sure, but standard on the car.

[BMWZ4]

Warranty replacement for certain

[Alias1431]

Looks like it was buffed along with the paint. I assume plastic will do this without a nice hard clear coat.

[suby01]

Definitely looks like something caused this. Solvent or wipes or something along the lines. You should try getting a dealer warranty replacement for them. However if you don't they cost $20 in the China aftermarket market. So not that huge of a loss.

[Aliendrive]

Had mine replaced under warranty. Car was 2yrs old with 28k miles. The gloss black turned cloudy blue to match my carbon black paint. Mine was not as bad compared to yours.

[coolspot]

Mine were fading too, I think it's a known issue, they were replaced under warranty although the dealership made sure to take a dozen photos so the claim wouldn't be denied.

Now my trunk plastic trim is also fading too...

[R BMW]

I have the same issue with the 2 sides of the tailgate spoiler on my X3 MC.

[k9lovr]

Just noticed this today in my 22...car is 18 months old with 24k miles...calling dealer tomorrow.

[DehCure]

Originally Posted by k9lovr

Just noticed this today in my 22...car is 18 months old with 24k miles...calling dealer tomorrow.

Happed to mine as well. Just got them replaced by dealer under warranty

[nyalpine90]

looks like its very common. i had both sides replaced under warranty

[avi66]

Try applying heat from a hairdryer or similar if you don’t want to replace. These a recent thread showing the change back to black of similar trim.

[mysnoopy]

My 2020 x3 had exactly the same color problem. It was black and turned to light blue. I used a heat gun to turn it back to black. Hair dry may not generate enough heat. It similar to use heat gun to restore the water marks on coffee table. Easy and simple.

[TXGrey]

Was washing the X4 on Friday evening and noticed mine have done the same. Have some time today, will prob pop them off and hit with my heat gun to see what happens. Otherwise, I’ll just hit up dealer on next oil change for warranty replacement.

[TXGrey]

Revisit: Heat works, more or less. Ran out of time, so was just hitting them up quickly. One looks pretty good; the other is just so-so. Good news/bad news... one came out zero issues; the other side came out as well but broke three of the stupid tabs. It seems to be holding fine back in there... but still. I'll attempt to have them replaced under warranty before I buy replacements on my own. Will be heading in for oil change soon anyhow.

EDIT: for those wanting timeframe/age... My X4 has approx 25K miles and I've owned since June of '21.

[mysnoopy]

You don't need to pop them out. The heat gun won't damage the paint. My cheap heat gun has a concentrator at the front. So, the heat direction is very narrow. It will heat the side panel a little bit. But it is not super hot. Like magic, the color changes within 1-2 seconds. The good thing is that we can fix it if the warranty has expired. The bad thing is why the problem happened.

I'm not sure if others here have interior dashboard black plastic color fading issues. My X3 30e plug-in is really bad. Black is no longer black. I can tell the car is manufactured in Germany vs. in the US. I don't have any quality problems with my previous BMWs that came from Germany.

[KirbyBaker]

I never bothered to read this thread because I didn't think I had this problem. I forever thought my Phytonic Blue had side moldings that were the same as the paint color. Low and behold I found photos from when I brought the car home, and the side moldings were black as can be. Of course I also didn't get the little "M" emblems above the moldings like most everyone else has on their M40i's. I just figured mine was unique. Guess it's time to fix them or replace them.

[Must_Go_FASTER]

Mine has this issue too. 2 years old, 22k miles, DGM. Might see if they'll replace under warranty, although I wouldn't be surprised if they try to dodge out of it by saying it's caused by my aftermarket DP.

[arRod1981]

Originally Posted by mysnoopy

You don't need to pop them out. The heat gun won't damage the paint. My cheap heat gun has a concentrator at the front. So, the heat direction is very narrow. It will heat the side panel a little bit. But it is not super hot. Like magic, the color changes within 1-2 seconds. The good thing is that we can fix it if the warranty has expired. The bad thing is why the problem happened.

I'm not sure if others here have interior dashboard black plastic color fading issues. My X3 30e plug-in is really bad. Black is no longer black. I can tell the car is manufactured in Germany vs. in the US. I don't have any quality problems with my previous BMWs that came from Germany.

X3s built for the US only come from two places: South Carolina and South Africa