BMW Chrome Accessories-The Truth

Like the M badge, there are many myths surrounding BMW’s chrome accessories. Perhaps the most common myth is that a product called chromium is made from metal.

Chrome accessories can be divided into four main groups:

* Chrome on metal

* Chrome on plastic

* Metal

* Painted plastic

Chromium on metals is what is most believed to be chromium. This is where the metal substrate or base is plated with chrome. However, many Chrome accessories do not fall into this group.

Today, many original BMW items are chrome-plated on ABS plastic substrates. The quality of the plastic finish is important for achieving a good chrome finish, which BMW excels at.

The BMW 3 Series E36 Chrome Window Switch Surround, BMW Chrome SRS Badge, BMW Chrome Door Lock Pin, BMW Chrome Gear Knob, etc. are all based on an almost mirror-finished ABS plastic substrate. As expected from chrome, they are also scratch resistant, durable and will last for years. By using chrome for ABS, BMW will be able to keep the cost of chrome products low.

Aftermarket plastic-based chrome products do not seem to reproduce the quality of the original BMW products of the same type. Many of these finishes can only be described on average, but in my opinion some are not suitable for sale. It is these products that have given a bad reputation to the concept of plastic chrome.

Most vendors do not mention that the item is chrome-plated plastic in the product description because it scares customers who often mistake it for poor quality. Indeed, some people mistakenly assume that plastic-based products cannot be chrome.

Many aftermarket makers are very bad at chrome in plastic games, which is probably why they started using other metals.

These are metals with a bright and shiny appearance of chromium, but to name a few are stainless steel, polished steel, polished aluminum, or nickel. These products are commonly referred to as “chrome style” and work very well. BMW uses nickel for the range of the key ring.

Finally, there are items painted with chrome or silver paint. In my experience, I haven’t seen any finished products that are close to the required quality, so it’s best to avoid them.