In reply to pointofdeparture :
There you go. You've got a story. I enjoyed the story. I think it is an interestingly "correct" yet odd addition to your gray market car.
I might just embrace the gray-ness and add in some markers. Someone might ask you, "why do you have those lights and this other one does not?" You have a good answer that I think makes your car more interesting than the other. What else is unique to yours? Is there interior lettering in German? Cool.
In reply to John Welsh :
I'm pretty committed to ditching them at this point, but also disappointed that they did such a hackjob. On my last Euro E28 they used nice factory-looking markers and mounted them higher up in the quarters so they looked like an OEM part.
What about soldering or brazing instead of welding? Brazing on a cover plate seems pretty DIY friendly for a casual enthusiast who doesn't know how to weld and/or doesn't have all the equipment welding requires.
I would get some of those plastic/rubber hole insert things paint them to match and then set them in clear silicon to keep water/dirt out from between them and the metal. Then save your $$$$ and have a body shop do it for real down the road.
These things
In reply to dean1484 :
That was actually one of my first thoughts but I've struggled to find one in 30mm. Really probably my best bet though.
That's a good idea, maybe this would work (it's for an 1 1/4" hole or 31.75mm) - https://www.mcmaster.com/9600k521
I was lucky with my 525i in that they didn't seem to make any changes to the car when it was imported, it also has lots of patina after 385,000 km.
Adam
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