BMW M5 Forum and M6 Forums banner

Jlevi SW | Dinoc Carbon Fiber Wrap DIY Guide For E60

72K views 34 replies 27 participants last post by  Jrsnider92  
#1 ·
What's going on everyone?? We've been getting a lot of comments on Dinoc wrap, specifically how to install it, and since we've always hated the wood trim on our M5, what better place to start than there.

This was a fairly simple modification, but even with only one major screw up it still took us about 5 hours to complete. Definitely a bit time consuming, so budget a solid block of your Saturday to the project.

We started by removing the dashboard trim, which was surprisingly simple to remove. Take a screwdriver, or plastic putty knife and slide it under the edge of the trim. Gently pry upwards moving from one side to the other, and each of the five pins will pop out and release the trim and air vents.

Image


Image


Image


Image


Image


We did the center console trim next, and this part was the easiest of all the trim pieces, simply requiring a little elbow grease. The shift handle, and iDrive knob will both come off by pulling up on them with a good amount of force, and after that just remove the 2 screws hidden under the shift knob, and pull the trim towards you, and upwards. It may take some finagling to get the ash tray out correctly, but it should come out relatively easily

Image


Image


Image


Image


Image


For the drivers side air vent, first pull on the lower piece containing the knob until it pops out. Behind this piece are 2 screws that need to be removed, and once these are out you can remove this vent with a screwdriver and some force, just like the rest of the dash trim.

Image


Image


Now….the door handle trim was A LOT of fun, and requires removing the entire door panel. First start by removing the hidden screw behind the AIRBAG tab on the door, and the one screw on the inside panel of the door. Once these are out, pull on the door panel from one side to the other, until you have released all the clips that hold the panel to the door. We recommend 2 people for this part, one to pull, and one to catch the panel once it is freed.

Image


Image


Image


Image


Image


Once the panel is free you will notice four nuts that need to be removed on the back side of the door handle. The small ones are 7mm, and the large one is 10mm. Remove these nuts, and pull the top part of the trim away from the panel. DO NOT pull on the bottom part to get it out!!! Remove the top portion and once all of the screws have cleared, SLIDE the bottom portion upward and it should come right out.

Image


Image


Image


Now that you have your trim removed you may start the wrapping process. We wrapped the center console first, but then while we were wrapping the dash piece we noticed that we had the weave going in a different direction, and had to remove the entire piece and start over. For those out there that are worried that Dinoc will ruin the underlying trim, these first 2 pictures clearly show ZERO residue from the material, even after we had the part completely covered.

Image


Image


The wrapping process itself is fairly simple, and requires only an exacto knife or razor blade, some scissors, and a heat gun. THE HEAT GUN IS KEY!! Cover your trim in a solid piece of Dinoc fabric and then trim the excess pieces away until there is just enough to wrap around the edge of each piece. Use the heat gun to apply minimal heat to the edges of the trim, and the Dinoc will form to the shape of the piece almost by itself. DO NOT get too close to the fabric, or apply too much heat, by doing so you will end up melting the Dinoc!!

Image


Image


Once you have heated and conformed the fabric to the piece, use the exacto knife or razor blade to trim away any tiny bits of excess material that may hinder re-installation.

Image


Once your parts are wrapped, put your car back together and you instantly have a much more aggressive looking interior. Finished product pics are below, with a before and after of the driver and passenger side door handles.

Image


Image


Image


Image


Image


Image


Hope this helps!!! And thanks for reading!!
 
#2 ·
What a fun Saturday that was. Looks much, MUCH better than the wood trim!
 
#4 ·
good write up!
 
#5 · (Edited)
Nice write up on the trim removal, but the finished product could use some work.... Heres a couple things that might help out on the next car you do it on (I've done about 25 different interior trims with this product):

1. Remove the vents front the dash pieces so you can fully wrap the trim (looks like you removed the center vent only, notice how the passenger side vent doesnt look right with the extra material)

2. Its ok to wrap onto the rear of the trim, its actually a better way to do it. Once a car sits in some heat, the wrap will start to peel up and bubble unless you have it tightly wrapped onto the back of the trim. Adding a thin coat of glue on top of the wrap that is on the back of the trim piece also helps greatly with preventing it from peeling

3. Use the heat gun to stretch it around corners, if you dont you get bunchs of extra material as you can see in the pic of the shift lever by the corners of the trim piece and just above the start button

4. Make sure you use the most up to date Dinoc, they made some changes in the last year and the newer product is far superior. It doesnt lose the CF weave when stretched and it bonds much better

Once you get that down, you'll have an awesome looking finished product! Good work so far though, its just about there :thumbsup:
 
#9 ·
Once you remove the pieces, wrapping is pretty straight forward. A heat gun will be your best friend. The Di-Noc is awesome!

How much fabric was needed to do all pieces?
16sq ft worked out.
 
#18 ·
Has anyone wrapped the Idrive knob? I tried and am getting a lot of bubbles. I am sure there has to be a trick to it, but I cannot figure it out.
 
#22 ·
#23 ·
heat

Whenever I wrap interior parts, which is rare, I put my heatgun in a vise and leave it on pointing outward. As I'm wrapping i use the heat to shrink and heat set the dinoc in the more difficult spots. Dinoc takes a pretty good heat set, so the wrinkles should be gone and stay gone if done right. Just don't use too much heat or the vinyl takes a "shine".

Primer is a good belt & suspenders approach, that is until you have to remove the vinyl. Nothing worse that a full wrap removal where they've primered everything they could reach!
 
#25 ·
Whenever I wrap interior parts, which is rare, I put my heatgun in a vise and leave it on pointing outward. As I'm wrapping i use the heat to shrink and heat set the dinoc in the more difficult spots. Dinoc takes a pretty good heat set, so the wrinkles should be gone and stay gone if done right. Just don't use too much heat or the vinyl takes a "shine".

Primer is a good belt & suspenders approach, that is until you have to remove the vinyl. Nothing worse that a full wrap removal where they've primered everything they could reach!
Ditto, I'm all about the heat gun when vinyl-ing things but still areas like the A/C vents and such can still end up lifting. the primer pen works great and although it's less easy to remove (just from the areas you've used the pen) you won't have to do it a second time, or stare at your imperfections every day when you get in the car (my curse)
 
#26 ·
Thinking about doing this mod....but....Anyone know if the center console on the LCI SMG (one with the pocket change cup) can come out the same way by pulling back on it? I will be doing a Spec Dock installation and their directions tell you you need to take off basically every trim piece on the dash to get the center console off which seems a bit overkill.
 
#27 · (Edited)
I guess this is the cheap alternative for real carbon fibre.
I would like to do a real cf interior but have not found a good one.
Does anyone have a lead or recommendation?
 
#30 ·
@ Dr Todd: I am not "hating" on wrapping.
I am simply stating the fact.
I may end up wrapping if the real CF interior is not available.
I dont like cheap alternatives to anything and if I cant have the real deal I simply wait or go without.
I assume most who are wrapping with a CF "look" would like real CF if it was available and reasonably priced.