kgc

I was a little surprised this was not a standard item. Does Acura think it's unnecessary? I see it on virtually every car made. Do you all think we need it? I hate to pay for it and I've haggled with the dealer so long I'm tired of it.

gary

I don't think you need it, I've heard alot of new cars are going w/o side molding to give a cleaner look. I think it would destroy the lines of the new TL to put side molding on. If it were not for the accent strip on the side I think you would be alright w/ the molding.

larrynimmo

Early in the talk about this car, the sheet metal was supposed to be a very high tensile steel which makes the body parts more difficult to bend, but once they are bent, very difficult to move in any other way. In other words to body is very dent resistant.

stlgasman

I think they serve a useful purpose, but the new TL has them too low. I don't think a 50% increase in metal strength is a cure all. When the MDX came out without mouldings, the rationale was that they weren't effective. The other car must hit your moulding to be effective. My 00 TL has dings several inches higher.

BLEXV6

IMHO, the moulding is better than none as wipes out there are always hitting your car door with theirs. Any time I see a car such as the CL, with none, there are always dings in the areas where the TL has the mouldings.

brandomc

At first I didn't like the side molding but I think it complements the channel that runs the length of the car. I just ordered a Satin Silver / Quartz with side molding, deck lid spoiler, and llumar platnium plus tint. Expected Oct 31st.

tyskow

Does anyone have any pics of the 04 with BSM's?

turbowhat

oops, messed up post

oracion

Unles you're ready to see dings you may want to put the BSM's on.

turbowhat

which dealer did you buy it from?

kgc

I'm really torn about this. I guess it would help if I could see a car with the moldings. The build-car images on Acura homepage are too small to tell.

brandomc

[QUOTE]

turbowhat

which dealer did you buy it from?

********************

I bought from David McDavid in Plano, TX. Paid MSRP but they seriously worked with me on accessories and trade-in. '02 TL-S.

SSM / Q / Navi

stiletto

the accord V6 (<03) coupe was very easy to find without the BSM...

DNA

Me too. You can get the little TL accessory brouchere from your dealer that has a couple larger pictures showing BSM. It doesn't look too bad but the TL looks better without it, IMO. BSM could always be added later.

turbowhat

Brando... i just got a SSM/Q/Navi from that same dealer... my delivery is on thursday 10/23, what about u?... i went for the Centaur Tint since i heard Plat Plus was too reflective for silver... but im starting to think PP looks better.

it seems weird for a dealer to have basically 2 of the exact same car... my VIN build is in the 5000's

Mark_Ulrich

You should get it. I just did on my '04 TL, and besides reducing the likelihood of dings (I was absolutely paranoid during the one week that I had the "clean" look without body side molding), I feel that the molding really improves the look of the car.

Good luck!
Mark

Eiffel

Post some picures of it and what was the total cost with installation?

acuraddict

I'm kind of torn. I saw a green 04 with the side moldings and I thought it looked to busy, and detracted from the looks and detracted from the groove along the side. I don't want dings, but I'm not sure yet what I will do. Dilemma.

mook

I've got it on my Abyss Blue. I agree the car looks much better without it, but on the other hand the car looks much better without door dings.

I park in a parking garage in downtown Houston and I can't always protect my car, so I opted for the molding as extra insurance against door marks.

The dealer was asking $250 for it, but I got it thrown in (along with other stuff) for free. The web site lists it at $175, but that probably doesn't include installation.

If you park in public lots and don't have a choice on who parks next to you, I'd go for it. It is good quality molding in exact body color. How well they will hold up, who knows?

Rocketsfan

Hey Mook, do you have pics?

mook

Rocket,

No pics yet. My poor car was a mess after the storms on Monday. Needless to say I was a nervous wreck driving a 2 day old car with the streets flooding all over the place. Looks like the weather is going to get rainy again this weekend, so I'm not sure when I can snap some pics and let you folks see the door molding. If I get a break in the weather this weekend I'll try to post some pics.

jdriver

I've had my car just one week. A couple days ago we had a very unusual hail storm. Luckily I only had a few minutes of grape-sized hail to fret over that did no damage. About 1 mile away it was golf-ball to baseball sized and caused a lot of damage. *whew*

brandomc

Hope this helps!!!

danno

The car definitly looks better WITHOUT BSM. Too much line direction from bottom(rocker moulding) to top(door handlecrease)

mook

Here are some pics of my car with the molding. As you can see on the darker colors they don't stand out as much as on silver or white. Hope this helps.

mook

Pic number 2, a close up of the molding.

Mark_Ulrich

Mook,

Nice pics.... Too bad I didn't see your color - I might have chosen it for my '04 TL rather than the black. Oh well... Anyway, agreed that the darker color helps soften the line definition (I had the body molding on my black TL as well - no regrets...)

Your previous post said you office in downtown Houston. Which dealer did you buy from? I bought from Sterling McCall, and am fairly happy. You?

Regards,
Mark

MikeRadio

Mook,

when did you steal my car

I have the side molding and wouldn't have it any other way.. just for protection when in a tight parking spot in a lot.. and there are MANY.

In fact, just walk through any parking lot and see how many cars have some kind of side molding protection!

Most!!

mook

Mark,

Yeah, got mine from Sterling McCall. I'm happy with the deal I got and very happy with the car so far. I've experience the seat memory disappearing problem and have an intermittent squeak in the back somewhere that only manifests itself on rough roads (ie anywhere in downtown Houston ) Haven't had a chance to see if I can figure out where it is coming from precisely and since it isn't there most of the time it isn't that big of a pain.

The Abyss Blue has turned out to be a great color. Looks absolutely spectacular in bright sun and believe it or not under some mercury vapor lights. I came out of a store the other night and couldn't believe how the colors in the paint shined in the MV light. Weird....

I just hope that the dark color isn't too much of a pain with chips and dents. We'll see. The sides are protected and now I'm thinking seriously about putting a clear bra or some other protectant film on the front end.