Write-Up: BD Trims and Sherwood Dash Kit Installation

Write Up: https://rivperformance.editboard.com/interior-f20/write-up-bd-trims-wood-dash-kit-install-t6425.htm#14268

Admin: for info regarding dash trim kit installation, please post in this thread. For console removal, see this link: For console removal, see this link:
https://rivperformance.editboard.com/interior-f20/write-up-center-console-removal-t2501-15.htm#89553

For dash color/materials discussion, or to post a picture of your finished dash install, see: https://rivperformance.editboard.com/interior-f20/post-pics-of-your-wood-dash-kit-here-t6424.htm#1862
_________________



BD had the most pieces to be found.Believe me I compared!
Here's their Available Finishes::
http://www.bdtrims.com/dash-kit-finishes.htm

Pic of pieces:


WITH HEATED SEATS KIT AVAILABLE

I see they have put both versions on ebay again.

BUICK RIVIERA 1995 95 DASH TRIM KIT :
http://stores.ebay.com/DashTrims_Buick-Dash-Kits_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ4QQftidZ2QQtZkm

BUICK RIVIERA 96 97 98 DASH TRIM KIT :
http://stores.ebay.com/DashTrims_Buick-Dash-Kits_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ4QQftidZ2QQtZkm
______
Jon

'97 Riviera SC... Diamond White Pearl W/Taupe Int., Fully Loaded, K&N CAI, Rear Spoiler & Dash Kit 89k Miles

Looks good.

I wish my kit had pieces #15 & 16 when I got it.
I'm not sure if I would have used #7,8,9,10,11,12, & 22 though? But it does look good on yours.

Just my $0.02?

Did you somebody say you have to remove the dash panel to install the kit? I don't see why - and having removed my dash panel (for other reasons) it seems like the removal process would do more harm than good.

Jack the R wrote:

Did you somebody say you have to remove the dash panel to install the kit? I don't see why - and having removed my dash panel (for other reasons) it seems like the removal process would do more harm than good.

I didn't have to remove mine. It would have made it easier but mine came out fine doing it with it on there.

Just don't pull the plastic crap off all the way do a corner and keep pulling it off as you stick on the dash in the right spot. I did it that way and came out fine.

edit - I'm reducing the product rating to 5 unhappies, due to problems other forum members have had with BD Trims and their product, and their lack of reply to my last two emails. The last of which was about a potential warranty claim, as the epoxy layer has started peeling off one piece.

I highly recommend searching for another vendor.

Product - BD Trims Ebony Zebra Wood Dash Kit

Rating -

Intro -

BD Trims almost gets this right. The pieces by themselves are beautiful. They're mostly packaged well (mine arrived with a few mispackaged pieces with scratching), and there's a lifetime warranty.

edit - having decided to keep the kit, I gave it a closer inspection and found the damage was more extensive than I'd thought. Here's my rejects -

No Picture

There was one more that was borderline, but I decided to keep it.

As you can see, this is nearly half the kit!!

Depending on BD Trims response, I'm going to knock another happy face off their rating.

The pieces, however, have a loose fit when actually placed on the car. This will bother some people more than others. It bothers me that more care wasn't given to make the pieces fully cover the areas they were supposed to cover. I'm not sure this in itself is enough to make me return the kit, but it's close.

The real problem shows up if you are installing a kit that doesn't match the color of the factory wood pieces. BD Trims center console and radio trim pieces will not fully cover the factory pieces, and the result looks like crap.

IMO BD Trims should warn potential customers about this problem, or be willing to eat shipping expenses. That's nearly $40 if a customer should decide to return a kit, and the fault here is clearly BD Trims' for being sloppy with trim piece dimensions.

Conclusion - I'm 70% of the way to deciding to send this back. I want to be very careful about appearance mods. If a mod doesn't look like it could have come from the factory, it should be left off. The BD-Trim kit doesn't have the fit to look factory, which is a shame because the pieces themselves look great. For the most part this kit isn't Wal-Mart Special bad, except for the fit on the console and radio pieces, which are that bad.

I would, regretfully, recommend only getting this in a color that matches what you've already got, or not getting it at all.

Full Review:

The box:



The pieces neatly packaged in 3 layers:



The packaging arrangement is unique. The cardboard the pieces are on is itself sticky. Foam peanuts are used as spacers to hold the cardboard pieces apart and keep them from scratching the dash pieces. This is actually kind of cool.







The grain pattern of the print. The print itself is very attractive. Mine had the unique quality of looking monochromatic, except for the highlight/specular area, which took on a brown/woodish hue. I'm not sure whether I like it or not. It's different, for sure. You can't see the effect so much in these photos, because the flash coveres everything in the warm highlight color. The appearance of the wood is generally darker and monochromatic (better).









This fit could be better, but I could live with it. Ebony Zebra Wood is a better trim color for the grey interior than medium burl. It's too bad GM didn't use this color stock.





Another area where the BD Trims kit could be improved - why didn't they include the text for the switches? If I could get ahold of their .psd file, I could fix this in 20 minutes or less. It's this kind of attention to detail that makes a quality manufacturer. BD Trims skimps on the details.



HUGE GAPS!! And these pics make the gaps look better than they do in real life, if you can believe it.

Bad enough, but this is just foul:





Truly, these pieces make me want to cry, because they take everything that is good or at least acceptable about the kit and render it unuseable.

i agree...id return it..and make them pay for the return shipping...its their fault for lack of detail...it loosk stupid on the 2 peices where the wood color is underneath. the fittin is horrible...

Sadly, you and Aaron are right. I was so excited when I opened up the kit and it looked and felt like quality. But, due to the fit, it doesn't look that way on the car.

After seeing the pics surrounding the shifter I see what your talking about. Mine isn't much darker than stock so it doesn't bother me but yours clearly is.

Someone on here took the stock wood pieces off and put the kit over it. Something like that could work for you. I think it livens up the interior so much.

What really hurts is how much better the Ebony Zebra Wood works than the medium burl. It doesn't look half as awesome in this picture as it does in real life. In real life it's like, "I WANT to SHIFT you. I'm GOING to SHIFT you. My hand is going to be right on you, nasty shifter thing." The black trim piece really makes the shifter look hot.

Maybe if all the gap areas were shot with SEM before installation . . .

How hard is it to remove those vents?

I think you're supposed to remove the stock trim...You're not going to get any piece that will completely cover the stock trim.

If you're seriously going to use this kit, I think the interior needs some touch up work beforehand. You could mask all of the interior components, then airbrush all the panel edges black or dark brown. This would take some time and effort, but it's the only way, imo.

The reason those exposed edges stand out is because you picked a darker color. The contrast between the Zebra and light grey is higher than Burl or other pale woods. It's just more noticeable.

Last thing, how would it look if you left off the middle console stuff and just used the main dash, radio trim, and shifter trim? The gaps seem most apparent where two wood pieces meet, so doing this should help. And on the doors same thing. Might look better with just the switch area trim and not the larger (vents) panel above it. In one of your pics you have it this way, and it looks very good not seeing the gap between the panels.

I've got a can of SEM Landau Black and two cans of SEM High Gloss Clear. I'm going to pull the center console tray out and make a test run of it on the busted factory wood piece. I think it will work, though it would be much better if the BD Trims' piece were bigger around the outer edge. If the factory wood is painted a high gloss black, I think it will blend with the BD Trims piece. If it doesn't work, I can always send the dash kit back and use the refund to pick up the junkyard tray I found. I think it will work though, and I think no one will notice it isn't stock unless they're a car guy really scoping it out. Those guys may miss it half the time too though.

racinfan - There's no instructions to remove the stock trim, and the BD Trims piece isn't big enough to replace the stock trim.

Aaron - Yes, the problem is definitely the contrast - but that's what makes the kit look good in the first place.

I've seen it both ways in real life now, and if the problems with it can be solved, the dash kit will definitely be an improvement. The Riv's interior looks really plain without it. It's close to being what I want, it just needs more attention to detail than the "20 minute install" suggests to make it right.

Let's see if I can work with this ill-fitting BD Trims dash kit and come up with a dash that works.

Here's the worst problem -



If I can lick this, I think I'll be o.k. I want to pull the whole big piece the factory wood is on and paint the wood piece black with a few coats of SEM high gloss clear.

Here's the first bit of trouble I've run into:



Bloody clip - I pull on it with the needle nose and it doesn't come out. Anyone want to look in their manual and see if there's a trick to removing it?

yOU JUST PULL IT OUT. Try a flathead or a knife, there nothing special too it. If you've never taken it out before, its gonna be a little snug.

Thanks. I wanted to be sure it wasn't a deal like with the wiper arms where they have to be in a certain position and raised before you can pull the release tab. I went through hell trying to "just pull it out" on that one before I broke down and asked.

Success!



If anyone needs to do this, here's the screws that need to be removed. The front four are mm, the two on the console lid hinge are torx.



The trim panel has sort of glued itself in over the years. It is suprisingly difficult to pull the front half. I broke the sides loose and then worked my way up underneath from the back, trying not to break the thing. It was really in good!



There are a couple lights underneath that need to be disconnected. It's the familiar twist/pull deal.



Here's where I'm stuck at now. The front of the center trim piece doesn't seem to be able to clear the cd storage tray.

And so my question to you - Does the cd storage tray/ash tray unit need to be removed to remove the center trim piece, and if so, how are they removed (manual pics good )

No one? C'mon, several of you have swapped out the cd holder for something else. I know you know how to pull it

Remove the ashtray/CD holder by just pulling it straight out (grab from the ashtray). There are no fasteners, but you must disconnect the wiring to the lighter.

Got it This is less scary when you know there aren't any plastic tabs to break.



4 clips, two on each side



The power connector on the lighter.



Aha, the center trim panel is held down with 6 clips! No wonder it was so hard to get out.

Awesome, Jack. Can you just keep tearing stuff apart, taking pics as you go? We could document disassembling the entire interior!

AA wrote:

Awesome, Jack. Can you just keep tearing stuff apart, taking pics as you go? We could document disassembling the entire interior!

Ive got the final results already except for the fiberglass panel behind the dash, I put that back in so I can custom fab over it. Theres not really any reason to take the dash apart, theres nothing that can really be damaged naturally, and any generally replaceable modules can re reached from under the dash just from taking the black plastic cover off.

What about replacing the head unit? I had to remove my dash to do that.

AA wrote:

What about replacing the head unit? I had to remove my dash to do that.

Dont even get me started with that nightmare!!! Thats almost more of a pain in the ass than taking out the whole motor and trans.

97rivman wrote:

AA wrote:

What about replacing the head unit? I had to remove my dash to do that.

Dont even get me started with that nightmare!!! Thats almost more of a pain in the ass than taking out the whole motor and trans.

true that this car is no doubt a 6!†©h for replacing the head unit

im pretty quick at it now though since ive pulled it apart and together several times now and I already have to do it again