XSeries-forum

The running boards are looking a little bit tired. How do they come off and what could I do to improve them? Paint them?

You don't need to remove them - you can prise off the black bobbles carefully and then redo the boards with something like WonderWheel or a very fine grade sanding compound followed by sealer. They come up really well. There are people who remove and paint them black etc but I think the original silver look looks good when the boards are cleaned up well, so I just clean them when they develop staining.

Wonderwheel as in the alloy wheel cleaner?

Yup, thats the one. halfords sometimes have a special on the 5l bottle - much cheaper than buying the little squirty bottles. It really does work well on the running boards.

3M silver aluminium wrap and will look as good as new...done it on mine.

Wraps look good until damaged -as the running boards are vulnerable to scuffs. 
Cleaning or wrapping definitely improve the look though!

[quote="rodg98133"]
The running boards are looking a little bit tired. How do they come off and what could I do to improve them? Paint them?
[/quote]

I think that wrap and paint are both likely to get damaged scuffed scraped etc witgh folk getting in out of the car.

THis si what I do (and I do it before the winter and again 6 months later

Buy a few of the little black rubber studs from BMW as back up/spares as they can sometimes get damaged easily when removing.
Remove them all one by one (a trim remover tool is ideal as is the back of a knife (not the blade edge). Pop them out and then place them all in a bowl of soapy water and give them a good clean. If I recall correctly there are 96 per side.
Then get wonderwheel, bilberry or other alloy wheel cleaner. Agitate with a non scratch scouring pad. Then rinse them off. You may also need a metal polish like Autosol or similar. I then apply either a sealant or a wax or both (FK1000 is a high temp wheel wax and I tend to sue that on the boards).
Then apply trim dressing to the studs And pop them back in.
Makes a huge difference to the look of the car

This job takes me an hour start to finish. Give it an hour and do the job. If you think it doesn't look good enough them consider other options but for an hour it has got to be worth a shot

Smee

[quote="CondorX5"]
Wraps look good until damaged -as the running boards are vulnerable to scuffs. 
Cleaning or wrapping definitely improve the look though!
[/quote]Anyone tried taking them to a 'Metal Finishers' who would dip them in chemicals and 'Buff/Polish them on a machine.Just a thought.