Sideblades

[hmp10]

Does anyone know how hard it is to get the sideblades off an R8 either to change them out or to paint them another color?

[R8 England]

Supposed to be relatively easy - I'm told its 30-40 minutes to do both.

Once they are off, you can get any good body shop to spray them whatever colour you like.

[KADWAR]

Does anyone know how hard it is to get the sideblades off an R8 either to change them out or to paint them another color?

It seemed very easy when I saw it done in Las Vegas in February. The mechanic took it off with an allen wrench in about 2 minutes. It took about 5 minutes to get another one back on. It was impressive. The carbon sideblade weighed close to nothing.

[hmp10]

Thanks. I have a chance to step in on a cancelled delivery of a Phantom Black with body-color sideblades. I was just wondering how hard it would be to paint the sideblades if I don't like the all-black motif once I see the car. (I'm not a huge fan of the contrasting sideblades but, on the other hand, the car looks a bit thick in the hanks without something to break up the visual mass of the rear quarters.)

[geffers]

swop you for the silver ones off my Daytona Grey car as I was thinking of having mine sprayed black.

How much do you think it should cost to have them painted? certainly nowhere near the £700 or so Audi quote for exclusive colours?

[hmp10]

Sorry, but I was thinking about Lava Grey or something similar. (And I'm in the U.S., so I'm pretty sure local painting would cost less than shipping and insurance.)

[R8 England]

Geffers,

Pearlescent paint is a bit more expensive than standard paint.

I would guess that a re-spray itself for a pair of sideblades probably costs £300 of so for the pair.

[hmp10]

I found an interesting video of the R8 assembly line. It shows the sideblades being attached to the car, and it does seem to be a very simple procedure. So it seems feasible for owners to get fairly creative with custom treatments of the sideblades if they are so inclined.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6eIkO4Wlc4g

The sideblades go on at about minute marker 4:34 on the video. It seems they have tabs or slots to secure the rear edge to the body, with the front edge being secured by a couple of screws.