Piano black inlays

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Scott

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Hi All,

Starting to hate my piano black inlays. Attract so much dirt and dust and they're a pain to keep clean. On top of that, they're swirled to hell in the sun light and you can't just wipe them, you gotta dry them after otherwise it leaves marks.

Anyone else have a problem? Any solutions to the 'swirl marked' inlays before I start looking for some aluminium ones?

Cheers,
Scott
 
got exactly the same problem mate!

its so annoying.. they only look good at night!

i complained to Audi and they said tough shi* basically, they cleaned them up a bit with thier "special products" and ended up leaving white residue all in the cracks!!!

its just a shame you pay for these extras and they are of a worse quality than standard trims.. wish i kept it standard now!
 
kaz219 said:
carbon fibre sheets ?

a member on here cvered his and it loooked sweet
Click to expand...

any idea where I could get some from?

S3RYE said:
got exactly the same problem mate!

its so annoying.. they only look good at night!

i complained to Audi and they said tough shi* basically, they cleaned them up a bit with thier "special products" and ended up leaving white residue all in the cracks!!!

its just a shame you pay for these extras and they are of a worse quality than standard trims.. wish i kept it standard now!
Click to expand...

it's really fcuking me off now - think I'm either going to cover them in something or keep an eye out for other inlays on eBay/see how much from Stoke Audi
 
scott1andrews said:
Hi All,

Starting to hate my piano black inlays. Attract so much dirt and dust and they're a pain to keep clean. On top of that, they're swirled to hell in the sun light and you can't just wipe them, you gotta dry them after otherwise it leaves marks.

Anyone else have a problem? Any solutions to the 'swirl marked' inlays before I start looking for some aluminium ones?

Cheers,
Scott
Click to expand...

Agreed ... I hate mine.

Will replace with alu ones when I have some money/have sorted my other mods!

Would be interested in knowing the dealer price too.

Chris.
 
evapor8 said:
Agreed ... I hate mine.

Will replace with alu ones when I have some money/have sorted my other mods!

Would be interested in knowing the dealer price too.

Chris.
Click to expand...

££££££££££££££££££

I have it too & mine is slightly scratched but previous owner.
 
See I love the Piano Black - think it looks way classier.
Don't know what you guys are using to clean them, but mine are as glossy now as they ever were.

If you want to maintain them and bring back some of that shine, get some Werkstat Prime Strong and a foam applicator.
 
If you're going to carbon wrap I think you need to be very careful.

Glossy carbon 'film' can look cheap in my opnion.
Have a read of this to see a product that I think looks pretty good as it has more of a natural look.
 
Jamiekip said:
If you're going to carbon wrap I think you need to be very careful.

Glossy carbon 'film' can look cheap in my opnion.
Have a read of this to see a product that I think looks pretty good as it has more of a natural look.
Click to expand...

Looks really good, but expensive if you wanted the whole car interior done. Never mind xmas soon LOL
 
I like the paino black inlay but also like the aluminium ones. But i'd have piano black inlay any day. If any of you guys do get the aluminium ones i wouldnt mind taking the piano black ones off you;)
 
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I thought the piano blacks were standard?
Oh well mine has them and they look great, especially at night!
But they do attract the dust quite swiftly!
 
My current SE has Umbra inlays which look fine with my Light Grey interior. Audi also do a Granite inlay for the SE which is dark but not a shiny as the Piano Black. Certainly my Umbra ones do not seem to hold or shown any dust or scratch marks.

I would assume that both of these would cheaper than either Piano Black or either of the Aluminium ones.

There is picture of my interior in this thread. Mine is the one with the Light Grey interior and the remap (OS Map)!!!
http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/showthread.php?t=76736
 
Last edited:
h5djr said:
My current SE has Umbra inlays which look fine with my Light Grey interior. Audi also do a Granite inlay for the SE which is dark but not a shiny as the Piano Black. Certainly my Umbra ones do not seem to hold or shown any dust or scratch marks.

I would assume that both of these would cheaper than either Piano Black or either of the Aluminium ones.

There is picture of my interior in this thread. Mine is the one with the Light Grey interior and the remap (OS Map)!!!
http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/showthread.php?t=76736
Click to expand...


Thats what mine has i have an SE aswell
 
I checked the price with Stoke Audi see here and they're £285 at a discounted price. ouch! Think I'll try to sort these out else get them professionally wrapped with some good carbon fibre vinyl.
 
Just a bit of a tip... Meguiars PlastX gets rid of swirling in plastic. You'd probably have to do it maybe twice a year max.
Consider that you can't buff swirls out of brushed aluminium, in some ways if you know what you're doing the piano black is quite low maintenance.

I've scratched my aluminium trim on the passenger door and i need to buy a while new piece.
 
PNH80 said:
Just a bit of a tip... Meguiars PlastX gets rid of swirling in plastic. You'd probably have to do it maybe twice a year max.
Consider that you can't buff swirls out of brushed aluminium, in some ways if you know what you're doing the piano black is quite low maintenance.

I've scratched my aluminium trim on the passenger door and i need to buy a while new piece.
Click to expand...

thanks I'll look into this. :)
 
Carbon leather is another alternative which does not come cheap. Don't ask how much cause this was given to me as a gift and I covered it myself. the result is magnificent.







 
klik said:
Carbon leather is another alternative which does not come cheap. Don't ask how much cause this was given to me as a gift and I covered it myself. the result is magnificent.
Click to expand...

That looks awesome. How difficult was it to cover them?
 
Thank you. Yes it looks nice and changed the whole atmosphere inside the car.
I started with the gearlever gaiter first which was easy. I had some trouble with the front doors but got around quite easy. I used 3M #77 adhesive spray and surgical knife to cut the leather easier and quicker. Using a very good cutter is a must. I sprayed both surfaces for better bonding.
This was given to me by someone who wanted to trade it but found it too expensive. He told me he got it through:

http://www.carbonimageltd.co.uk/
 
that looks class but id bottle doin it myself! so is it actual leather? it looks so good :hubbahubba:
 
I know this is gonna be a bit of a long shot lol!

However, is not that I dis-like the Black In-lays, its the fact i think the silver alloy looks way better.

So my question to you, would anyone out there who may want to black out the interior of their car be willing to do a straight swap of the door in-lays, manual gear surround and front ash tray. Their Silver ones for my Black ones.

Told you is was a long shot lol.

Many Thanks
Karl (karl88)
 
I had the same problem with mine, they started to get scratched and stuff, i got some carbon fibre vinyl but that didnt cover well at all, you could see fold marks and all sorts, so i painted mine silver.

Dont get me wrong, if you got the cash for aluminium ones then get them but mine cost me a tenner for the paint and look decent, i painted my stereo and climate too..
 
klik said:
Carbon leather is another alternative which does not come cheap. Don't ask how much cause this was given to me as a gift and I covered it myself. the result is magnificent.







Click to expand...

Looks just like the dash's in the new alfa rome mito's! I wondered what sort of material it was!

Does look awesome, nice to touch too lol
 
Hi Scott Meguiars make some plastic polish and it removes all the swirls and restores them to there former glory. You can get it At Halfords or online. Hope this helps
 
I had the piano black in my A4 as well, and really grew to dislike them as they looked awful after a while. Also if you get the fishscale on in the A4 they cover the centre console in it, but of you get piano black, the centre console is a wierd matt grey.

The alu trim is much more hard wearing.
 
I have been reading this thread with interest, i just ordered a Black Edition but spec'd brushed ally inlays instead of the black, there was a black edition in the show room and inlaws in piano black looked marked and covered in finger prints already. Very glad i went for silver now, sorry for you guys with the black though, is it expensive to change ?
 
i hate the piano black inlays, i to have a 170tdi ibis white black edition, the 1st few days after delivery i realised i couldnt keep my mobile were i used to keep it in my ed30 gti near the gear lever closest to the dash as it scrached very easily its always full of dust even hours after cleaning. my bonnet is full of stone chips and i have a chip the size of a penny on my passenger side wing mirror. i showed the chips to blackburn Audi and they said sorry water based paints are prone to chiping easy no paintwork warranty, i have a S3 2003 model in silver which has done 61,000 miles and their are only one or two chips none on the bonnet just on the front spoiler and the piano finish does not have swirl marks, bottom line is Audi are using cheaper raw materials. cheers shane.
 
i swapped my black inlays for the ali s line ones today with £30, result or what!
 
Where on earth lol, take it with a mate?

I was tryin to convince my mate to swap, using every trick in the book to make him think the black ones are better ha!

Didnt work!
 
audi upgrades
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