My Carbon Fiber Solution To Ugly Dash Trim

[TreyP]

I wanted to get a custom carbon fiber finish on the dash but when I attempted to wrap the pieces myself it didn't come out quite as perfect as I liked so I decided to send the parts out to Liquid Innovations in SLC Utah. They do a process called hydro-imaging and I was previously familiar with their work. It took 4 weeks from the time I sent these out until I got them back, but I'm very pleased with the results.

Here's a few pics before I reinstalled them.








And back in the car:

 

[bjmin]

Looks great. What was the cost for the two pieces?

 

[TreyP]

Looks great. What was the cost for the two pieces?

Thanks - It was right around $120 with return shipping included. I think the price is quite reasonable considering the professional quality look of the finish. The pics really don't do it justice. They also have a ton of other patterns to choose from if carbon fiber isn't your thing.

 

[mixmasterlove]

Nice !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Gio26NJ]

Wow bro wow!! looks friggin beautiful

 

[stromdriver]

nice, i wonder if they could do that with a matte instead of glossy finish though

 

[Okeano]

nice, i wonder if they could do that with a matte instead of glossy finish though

Yeah, the glossy finish seems like would have the same finger prints problem as the current finish.

 

[Mistersix]

Looks really good. Not carbon fiber guy but i'd like to check out they're other options. how about a link?

 

[TreyP]

Yeah, the glossy finish seems like would have the same finger prints problem as the current finish.

Unfortunately, a matte finish such as the original head unit trim still shows finger prints, but more as an oily residue, so you can't really get away from it. That being said, it does not show finger prints nearly as much as the gloss black did. And really, how often do you touch it anyway? My main concern was that the piano black looked ugly and out of place so I wanted to correct both those issues. Mission accomplished.

 

[TreyP]

Looks really good. Not carbon fiber guy but i'd like to check out they're other options. how about a link?

Here's a link to their gallery.

 

[gova]

Hi,

I've been wondering how this would look like in carbon since seeing 3M wrap thread.

Personally, I don't dig it. I like Mazda's black, semi-gloss look. YMMV of course.

 

[TreyP]

Seeing it in slightly better light on the way in this morning, I'm really loving it.

 

[MikeM.]

Personally, I don't dig it. I like Mazda's black, semi-gloss look.

Agreed.

Call me old-school but I've always thought any kind of faux carbon fiber to look tacky. Carbon fiber is cool precisely because it is very light and stiff. It is inherently a structural material, not for pimping out trim pieces. From a purely aesthetic view, I find the warm tones of the faux CF clashes with the cool tones in the rest of the dash.

I do like the very light carbon fiber fenders on my Ducati but they significantly reduce unsprung weight over the injection molded alternatives.

 

[Applauso]

Nice finish but I'm happy with the Piano Black finish.

 

[Gio26NJ]

I really like the black finish as well but would not mind if the CX-5 came with this either or the brushed look the new 6 has.

 

[TreyP]

Its kind of funny, before I installed this there were tons of posts with people saying how much they hate the piano black, and suddenly everyone loves it, lol...oh well, to each their own. I appreciate the feedback from everyone.

Thanks to all that left a positive comment, I'm very happy with it so that's what matters.

 

[xtrailman]

Anything looks better than the alli finish, seen on other cars.

The carbon looks good, as does the original, because they don't stand out, just blend nicely in.

 

[CX-SV]

Fortunately my CX-5 did not come with ugly dash trim. For those wanting the carbon look, nice example of installation.

 

[CeeEx5]

Pretty cool! I actually saw a carbon-fiber men's wedding ring the other day at a jeweler's store -- they're pretty new and look very cool with a bit of 3D look to them. I guess my eye was drawn to it because I also own a Composite Acoustics guitar -- here's the link -- which is a very cool look too, IMO.

 

[MATR6]

Pretty cool! I actually saw a carbon-fiber men's wedding ring the other day at a jeweler's store -- they're pretty new and look very cool with a bit of 3D look to them. I guess my eye was drawn to it because I also own a Composite Acoustics guitar -- here's the link -- which is a very cool look too, IMO.

I have this CF ring from Amazon for over 2 years. The plastic/CF part of the ring is still holding up, no scratches.
http://amzn.com/B0027EPKFW