acuralvr1

Bought the stuff from www.exoticwooddash.com .

Here's how it looks in the interior:

http://www.exoticwooddash.com/Produc...s/wd589_lg.jpg

It adds some warmth to the interior in my opinion.

I put the wood kit in my TL and MDX also.

Tully44

It's not my cup of tea. But I think once you add the wood steering wheel & gear shift lever, the interior would be complete.

SpicyMikey

I like it very much, especially the shifter area.

How hard was it to install? Never tried to remove these trim plates before

neuronbob

Could we see a picture of your interior as you have the wood steering wheel and shift knob? (the picture was a generic one)

acuralvr1

I'll do that in the near future. I have the steering wheel, but not the shift knob.

acuralvr1

The wood pieces go right over the black plastic that comes with the car. Wipe the plastic area with alcohol, unpeel the wood piece from a large sheet, place over the plastic and seal it with a blow dryer. It's very easy to do.

s55lear

I think it is about the easiest and quickest way to make a 50K car look like pure crap. It totally ruins the way the car looks and make it look like it is worth about 6 dollars.

SpicyMikey

Stick on!!!! I agree, that would be rediculous. I am interpreting this website to mean these are molded trim plates. Wood and/or plastic parts similar to the acura parts.

RL06tech

Mike_TX

Boy, this is a tough crowd!

If the man likes wood on his console, let him enjoy it. I've certainly seen worse abominations committed on cars than a little wood on the console.

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SpicyMikey

I like the look of teh extra wood. I'm just taken back by it being a decal. That can't possibly work longterm. It's going to get nicked, torn, fade, peel, etc. I agree with those who say that idea is a bad one.

However, if these are actually replacement trim plates with wood (or simulated wood), I think it's a fine idea.

acuralvr1

LOL. Some of you guys are funny. The stuff looks like real wood. You can't can't tell it's peel and stick. I've been looking in the interiors of some BMW's and MB's lately. Many of them have the same stuff in their interiors that I have. In the exact same areas and it looks great IN MY OPINION- the only one that counts.

Rob144

I think it would look good on just the console area, rather than the radio stack or shift plate (that's a little overdone).

If I were to do this in a non-black car, I'd get a black center console to mount the wood on. That would better conceal the tan or taupe underneath and look a little less stick-on.

The press-on wood these days seems to be of decent quality, and should last if applied correclty. I used to think it was pretty tacky, but I've it done tastefully.

Can't wait to see the pix!
Rob144

acuralvr1

I've had the stuff on my MDX for 2 1/2 years and it looks as good now as it did when I first put it on. I had it on my TL for 3 1/2 years with the same lasting results.

I took the piece off the radio stack because it was interfering with the controls.

Mike_TX

I've looked at this stuff at times in the past (for other cars), and it's not a decal. It's a thin veneer of real wood - much like what we already have on our dash - that is adhered to the console with a 3M-like contact adhesive.

The difference between it and our dash panels is that Acura glues the wood veneer to a substrate of plastic to form the panel before attaching it to the car. Adding it later takes away the opportunity to use a substrate, since that would make it too thick, so it attaches directly to the existing panel.

I'm personally happy with the interior the way it is, and I think it's easy to overdo the wood trim. But as long as it's tastefully done I'm okay with it.

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123456SPEED

I think it can improve the interior, but the whole kit is a little much, just use some of it. I was surprised at the cheap silver plastic of the shift surround plate, should have been metal. Silver plastic made to look like metal is tacky.

The addon kits can be very good quality. I put a real aluminum one in my CL. Plastic wood nowadays does not look much different than the laminated real wood veneer stuff IMO.

SpicyMikey

I'm trying to envision the application around the edges. Where/how does it terminate at the edges (especially on the cup holder door where the ends curve under. How could that look "factory"

neuronbob

I agree. It's not like he put a big wing on his RL or something. Now THAT would be tasteless.

JMAL

i like it, i thnk the center cup holder area was very bland. i agree with not using the radio control parts tho.

Rob L

Yep...like most body kits to me, huge ass exhaust tips that sound like pure shit and people who go and put on 46" rims on their luxury cars.

Like others, I think it looks good around the shifter/cup holder area.

I'd much rather do that to my car than go and try and make car look like some fucking riced out hatchback with body kits, huge rims and so forth.

To each their own though. I really do not give a crap what anyone does to their car

SpicyMikey

Hey acuralvr1; if it isn't too much trouble, maybe you can take some closeup pictures of how it terminates near the edges on the curved areas Thanks

CL6

...but it's NOT wood. If he owned a Base RL I guess it would match the dash.

It looks as good as Plood can look. Maybe just not put it on the radio surround.

acuralvr1

I will. I have an ebony interior by the way and it is more subtle than the picture from the website.

Guys, when you see the pictures you'll see that the addition of this product modifies the interior by just a small amount. The cup holder is usually hidden anyway because this is where I keep........cups- and bottled water and cans.

Some good points have been made here. The modifications I see that are made are so extreme; the addition of a few pieces of this wood is very minor. 3M does make at least part of this product- it's trademark was on the packaging.

The color match is 100% accurate. With the naked eye it looks like the exact same wood that came from the factory. The problem is that some of you are so anal when it comes to your car that your dogmatic statements clouds your thought processes.

I knew I'd get some intense opinions about this. That's part of the fun in participating on this board. HHHHHHHHHHmmmmmmmmmmmm. Board, I may be on to something. In the spirit of the primary election season, has anyone given a thought to electing officerships to this posting board..........Posting Board that is to say.

I nominate neuronbob as our Chair. Second from anyone?

acuralvr1

Who is this jackass?

synth19

I'm not a big fan, it's a bit too much imo. but to each his own.

SpicyMikey

Hey guys, I found this really big wing for my RL, what do you think?
http://www.bigwing.com



Just wondering if Bob could find something diplomatic to say now

Only kidding Bob, we appreciate your diplomatic influence on this board. Reminds us all that this is just a fun distraction during our day and none of us should take it too seriously.

123456SPEED

But people don't mind paying $650+ for the plastic, non-matching Acura OEM 'wood' steering wheel and shift knob. Now that's tacky, especially for the price.

SpicyMikey

Personally, I don't have a problem with it being fake wood. it just needs to look neat and trimmed. I would like to have some more "wood" trim on the RL but I'm concerned it will look like an add-on. I'm interested in seeing some closeup photo's of the stuff if someone can get a chance.

Mike_TX

Well ... I don't know about the specific kit that the OP used, but many of these dash kits ARE real wood (veneers, of course, but not plastic).

I looked into them a couple of years ago for another car, when I couldn't get the wood accents with a particular interior color. The ones I looked at were indeed real wood, unless we want to get into the old argument about whether veneers are real wood. But since they shave it off real trees that God made, I consider it wood, whether it's 1/32" thick or 2' thick.

Granted, some of the cheaper kits do use plood, but not all of them. HERE'S one of the ones I looked at that advertises genuine wood. There are several others, as well.

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CL6

The shift knob is solid wood. The 'wood' wheel is not but I would say it enhances the feel of the car because of its unique shape and grippy leather. I love the 'wood' wheel. Particularly at the 2 and 10 o'clock postions.

neuronbob

too bad that link doesn't show anything, I'd love for someone to photochop a wing on an RL just as a joke.


Well, I like the steering wheel (especially the places to grip it) but balked at paying $690 at my dealer to have it installed.

phile

Yeah the price is pretty outrageous considering it's not even real wood. But it actually is matching the real wood in pattern.

The wood kit for this thread is the non-matching one. If you look at the website, none of the wood veneers (red burl, rosewood, etc) matches the stock one from Acura (curly maple).

CL6

You guys are always saying how the RL is better than the BMW 528i sedan. To add Sirius radio is $600.00. The RL already comes with XM standard. The RL's moving headlights are an $800.00 option. Front heated seats are $500.00 extra. Power rear sunshade and manual side shades are $575.00. Upgraded sound system is $1,200.00. All this and you're still not getting SH-AWD or nearly the same horsepower or the same kind of reliability. Even if servicing is 'free' you'll still be out a lot of time bringing your BMW to the service department for repairs.

So $559.00 for the 'wood' wheel (plus installation) doesn't really seem that expensive, does it?

Not to mention the $7,000.00 or so savings off the MSRP.

Quit yer bitchin'!

lland

Considering the list price for the standard leather steering wheel is $505.87, the "wood" wheel isn't that much more. I guess Acura decided to make leather standard so they could sell more accessories. As for the price, I bought my "wood" wheel off eBay for $199 and wood shift lever for $40 and installed them both myself.

LL

SpicyMikey

[QUOTE=neuronbob] too bad that link doesn't show anything, I'd love for someone to photochop a wing on an RL just as a joke.

Sorry the link didn't work. Here's my RL with the new wing. Haven't had a chance to paint it yet. Thinking of maybe leaving it that color. Any thoughts? Be honest

Touge

That ps makes the car look like it has reindeer antlers ! LOL

Mike_TX

[QUOTE=SpicyMikey]I'm really, really likin' it. I think I'd paint it canary yellow myself, to make it stand out more, but that's just me.

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CL6

Loose the lip spoiler first.

kmcheney

I agree! Also needs a big tomato juice can exhaust and some awesome big chrome spinner wheels.

SpicyMikey

Nothing says "you've arrived" like chrome spinning wheels! Such a classy look