Dash not actually black

[SkyRocketeer]

Doing a bit of digging here and it seems most E30 dashboards are supposed to be black, with a few rare cases of limited edition or somesuch in a much lighter grey.

My dash however seems to be dark grey, definitely not black next to the hard plastic fittings. Is this the BMW version of black? Has it faded (in a very uniform kinda way)? Or am I special?

The rest of the car is red (supposedly, more like pink right now) with grey cloth interior.

If it's faded, how do I get it nice and black again?

[Alex]

use back to black or dash cleaner should make it nice and black

[d6dph]

Please don't use anything shiny. Looks bloody wrong and is a nightmare for glare in sunlight.

I use Einszett plastic cleaner followed by Einszett cockpit premium to protect it. Leaves a great matt sheen just as it would have left the factory.

[ian332isport]

My dash however seems to be dark grey, definitely not black next to the hard plastic fittings. Is this the BMW version of black? Has it faded (in a very uniform kinda way)?

That's how it's supposed to be. People call it black, but it's really a dark grey.

Ian.

[SkyRocketeer]

My dash however seems to be dark grey, definitely not black next to the hard plastic fittings. Is this the BMW version of black? Has it faded (in a very uniform kinda way)?

That's how it's supposed to be. People call it black, but it's really a dark grey.

Ian.

Aha,

Thought I had some ultra-limited edition charcoal dash or something suitably exclusive..

Will dig out the lotions & potion and see what I can do.

Am I in the minority in having a dash that ain't cracked?

[aceraf]

I've never had a cracked dash in all my e30's. Not sure why people claim it's common.

[Morat]

I've had three so far, two fine - one cracked. Sadly, the cracked dash is in my current car

[AlpineAde]

Every E30 in Australia has a cracked dash at some stage. Cracks are like battle scars. BMW plastics just hate our sun ~ or it might be the other way around.

Some people replace/refurbish them, most dash-mat them and quite a few just can't be shagged.

I can't be shagged.

[Alex]

from what ive seen its mainly the older chrome bumper cars with cracked dash, never seen a facelift with cracked dash or it might be just co-insidence

must be because of the age

[mattyb240]

Depends where the car is left, for example in direct sunlight...

[Speedtouch]

I was under the impression that Armour All dashboard 'protectant' actually increases the likelihood of cracking

My current (facelift) '89 Sport has a slight crack, and my prefacelift '87 320iSE had quite a large one, in the area to the bottom right of the stowage tray above the passenger side glovebox.

[SkyRocketeer]

Time to assess the thermal insulation qualities of a permanently grubby windscreen