350i Dashboard

[Poledriver]

Hi all,
does anyone make an aluminium/stainless steel dash for the early wedge with the wide section in front of steering wheel and square(ish) panel behind gearstick?

[L33]

You could strip the veneer off yours (providing its knackered), finish off with wet and dry (going finer as you go), finish off with some polish to get a very true surface and then lacquer.

You could always find some nice silver spray paint or even colour code the dash to the body.

Might be worth a few hours of your time to save a few quid?


One thing I would say, I have seen a few very highly polished dashes on wedges and although they are not my cup of tea (just my personal opinion), they can get very annoying on a very sunny day and the amount of glare they can give off.

[gsx600]

I stripped the wood of mine , had them polished and then black chromed, didn't reflect that much at all but still shiny. Only cost about £50 for the 3 panels and 2 side door strips, mind you that was a few years ago now

[Poledriver]

I'm getting confused now! The main dash is Veneered wood, so that can't be polished and chromed (but I do like the sound of the dark chrome!) and the backing can't be done because of the way the gauges are mounted and there are also many rivets on there.

[red tasmin]

Hi, the veneer is usually mounted to a metal backplate (but not always) this can be polished, painted or even covered in leather or vinyl to match the interior.

[adam quantrill]

I reckon Karl's one is veneer on plywood.

You can get a metal sheet cut to the same size, then use this fascia to mark out the holes that need cutting. I suppose to get a decent edge you'd want to get them cut professionally, but maybe you could get away with a jigsaw and a metal file.

Then stick the metal sheet on top of the ply.

[Poledriver]

adam quantrill said:

I reckon Karl's one is veneer on plywood.

You can get a metal sheet cut to the same size, then use this fascia to mark out the holes that need cutting. I suppose to get a decent edge you'd want to get them cut professionally, but maybe you could get away with a jigsaw and a metal file.

Then stick the metal sheet on top of the ply.

I know, I'm up to by knees in aluminium filings at the moment! It's a long job and I'm only going to fit it if it looks 100%, that's why I was asking if it's possible to buy one. Even one of the original metal ones would have been a great help!