"Metal" BMW trim

Just finished up a BMW 5 series. After a few products, Mother's Billet, Flitz, Never Dull (swab stuff) the trim still looks the same. I meant to get a pic, but it started raining.



The products above seem to wet it and cover it up briefly, then it went back to looking the same. No black stuff was coming off, leaving me to believe it's coated plastic?



Should I write it off or is there something better? What about a Dremel tool with buffing wheel?



Thanks for the help
 
Are you sure it is metal? Most likely it is just plastic. If it is plastic you may have damaged the trim. Pluck the the trim and see if you get a ping or a thud.
 
If plastic, I wouldn't use a Dremel tool. I've attempted this in the past, and even at my slowest setting, the plastic will melt/disform.



I would start with an actual plastic polish to see if it can be improved on an inconspicuous area. You may need to go up in abrasiveness or to a paint polish. But keep in mind that most "chrome" plastic is just a very thin film/laminate bonded to the plastic. This is one reason I got the SE version of a Maxima instead of the other 2 trim levels. SE's don't have the chrome plastic around the windows and on door handles!



Hope this helps.



Dave
 
You may try putting paint stripper on the metal to remove the coating and then using the mother's and flitz to polish the metal itself. It's just a clear coat they put on it. You'd have to mask it off pretty well though to not get any stripper on the rest of the car. The mar-hype and strip rite brand are sold at Home depot and K-mart.
 
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