Restoration of black bumpers on T5

[Wolfgang]

The bumpers on most T5s I saw were actually grey.

Were they grey before or after they have faded in Australia's sun?

[aSimpleLife]

The bumpers on most T5s I saw were actually grey.

Although to be fair...I did post about grey bumpers in a black bumper thread

[Dublediff]

I have used a heat gun on black bumpers on a jeep, yeah, I know. Worked well, it had a dimpled finish that was well and truly gouged by brick walls that were allegedly moving quickly. Lol. Anyway, i heated the bumper to a malleable state, smoothed it over with a bit of flat bar till it smoothed the gouges out. Heated it again with an clothes iron, don't tell my wife, using a bit of coarse sandpaper, with the rough surface down. This imprinted the grain into the plastic. Result, good from afar, but far from good. Actually it was quite passable and a lot cheaper than new bar, and after all it was just a jeep.

[LogicprObe]

The bumpers on most T5s I saw were actually grey.

......but a fairly dark grey......................

[aSimpleLife]

Thanks for all the feedback.
I don't think cutting back the bumpers first really made much difference. Maybe I need to cut back further. I went over the worst areas 3 times.
I unpacked some stuff and found a bottle of Meguiars Ultimate Protectant Dash & Trim Restorer i must have bought for something at some time. So I have used that up on the bumpers before I try anything else.
The areas that already looked ok look better. But the stained/faded areas still look stained/faded.

[Sunny43.5]

There is a product called Turtle Trim Restorer its not black but it does put the colour back into the bars lasts for 3 months and covers all colours sort of a clear coat https://www.turtlewax.com/shop/produ...-trim-restorer

[LogicprObe]

I did use a product called Back To Black on an old Barina I was selling.
It worked pretty well at covering up really worn and stained plastic bumpers.
I don't know how long it lasted because I sold it a few weeks later.

[Sunny43.5]

Back to Black is good for the T4 bumpers as they are black , the Turtle one is a clear coat so it makes the T5 bumpers look normal grey again .

[aSimpleLife]

OK I'm off to buy the Turtle Wax Trim Restorer right now - I have a supercheap voucher that expires tomorrow so I'll get it for free

If this doesn't repair the damage I'll try the Autoglym and the Autosol next.

I'd love to try the Mix 50/50 linseed oil and turps...but the turps part worries me a bit...I might leave that one till I am really really poor.

The OP's pic looks very similar to mine, so even if the title of the thread is black, it looks like it's the same grey we are talking about. On top of the general fading, mine also looked like it had been stained in several areas. I thought it unusual that it all started happening around a certain time. My theory is, because I was careless and did not look after my bumpers (in my defence I had only previously had chrome and then painted ones, and didn't realise what could happen) that at a certain stage of neglect they became porous. I have noticed my mechanic is not the most clean and tidy with my vehicle generally. So I think that the stains have come from where fluids have been spilled or dripped during servicing, and even though they got wiped off, because I had not been maintaining the bumpers surface, the damage was already done and became more obvious over time, as they seemed to come from nowhere. Anyway, that's my theory until it gets discredited

[aSimpleLife]

...Now we used Turtle Trim Restorer on our older T5's and it works a treat...

Thanks again for your excellent advice. This product has given a great result on my badly faded/stained grey bumpers. After trying the products I already had I was disappointed and not confident I would get an improvement. Still not game to try the "50/50 linseed oil and turps" though