I have been looking for a solution to restore the black bumper
and trim on my car to the original color. I am listing some of the
options I have found because I think this is a common problem
for most Volvo owners.
NOTE: I haven't tried many of these techniques and products
so be advised and use them at your own risk.

There are at least 3 approaches to this problem:

1. Color Restoration/Protectant products. These I think are the
most common approach. Most people just go to the local store
and buy something off the shelf that is supposed to restore and
protect the plastic or rubber surface.
I found the following link where the author has actually compared
the performance of some of these products on his car:

www.jwardell.com/mini/2006/09/10/the-final-trim-test-we-have-a-winner.

The problem with at least a couple of these products is that they
color your trim black. If you want grey trim you have a problem.
I contacted Forever Black to see if I could tint their product. The
answer was "No", it is a carbon black based dye and should not be
modified.

2. Bumper and Trim paint. These are special paints that are designed
to remain flexible and adhere tenaciously to plastic and rubber. I tried
this type of product many years ago and had problems with flaking
and chipping after a few months. That was many years ago and I'm
sure these products have improved since that time. Since I have not
had any experience with the newer products maybe someone on
the forum has used these products and will share their experience.
The advantage of this type of product is that since it is a paint
it is available in colors other than black and it should retain it's
color for a reasonable time.
Here are links for some of these products:

www.plasti-kote.com/plastikote/auto/template.jsp?searchcode=RES&product=BumperColo r&t=1
http://www.duplicolor.com/products/bumper.html
http://www.sem.ws/product.php?product_id=205
http://www.bondo.com/catalog_item.asp?itemNbr=708

3. Clean the Bumper and Trim. If the trim is not heavily pitted it
may not be necessary to use a restorer or a paint. In many cases
the surface oxidation is a thin layer. If the oxidation can be removed
there is fresh rubber or plastic underneath. This should weather almost
as well as when it was new and should have the original color. ( I
don't know if the manufacturer does any special treatment to the
surface of their rubber and plastic parts).
I have tried simply cleaning a section of the black bumper material
on my car. I started with a scrub brush and detergent. This worked
a little bit. I then went over it with denatured alcohol and after
cleaning with the alcohol, I polished (burnished) the surface with
a dry paper towel.
The results I got were fair. The color was back pretty much
to it's original color. It has lasted without any noticeable change
over the last 4 weeks. It isn't greasy and it doesn't flake.
The alcohol gives a slight haziness/whitish tint to the surface when
you view it from an angle. This could probably be avoided if the
right cleaning liquid were found. My bumper was in pretty bad
shape so I didn't have anything to lose by trying this.
The bad points I found were that it is hard to get down into deep
scratches and gouges (actually impossible in some cases), it will
not cover any repairs (Bondo etc.), and it is a lot of work.
I guess you could also try fine grit sandpaper or a Scotchbrite
pad but this would destroy the texture on the surface, and might
require a polishing compund to remove the scratches. I haven't
tried this so experiment at your own risk.

There are also professional products available for auto body
shops which were not included here. If anyone has any additional
input, information, or corrections to this it would be appreciated.

John

 

I think there are few on the forum that have painted their bumpers with the paint from IPD with very good results and well over a year without any issues. For $12, I may buy some and try it.

Here's the link:

http://www.ipdusa.com/ProductsCat.as...amp;RootID=629

- AB

 

Hi John,

Thanks for detailed reference, it is very helpful.I'll try some of the methods at my own risk (anyone on this forum, or any on-line forum users should know that maintenance procedures should be done at their own risk and people are providing hints from their conscientious just to help others.This should be noted, or every forum should note it on the top of their pages, rather than having people like putting a cat in a microwave to dry her or sue Mac because a customer spilled hot coffee onto herself while driving).

I also remember someone's noting that Kiwi's shoe polish also works great on black bumpers.

Have a good day!


JPN

 

Hi B1mmer and JPN,

Thanks for your input.
B1mmer thanks for the link and the information on IPD. The
price on their product is good, I missed that company somehow.
If you try their product let us know how it works.
JPN also, thanks for the information on the shoe polish. I wonder
how long that lasts after you've applied it. It does pretty well on
shoes...
I always like a little disclaimer,it is too easy for someone to claim
that they didn't see the general disclaimer at the beginning of the
forum. The good thing about this forum is that it attracts members
that are a little more professional and level headed than some of
the other auto forums.
I added a couple more links under "bumper paint" too.

Best wishes, John

 

It looks like the link B1mmer refered towas changed at IPDUSA.com

Here is the new link to their $12 bumper paint:

http://www.ipdusa.com/product.asp?st...StartRecord=41