I am thinking about painting all my plastic pieces silver to match the paint on my X, if I do it i'm going all out, door handles, bumpers, grille, everything. Has anyone ever seen anyone that did this? Better yet, does anyone have pictures of somone who did this? Thanks!

This is the only X i can think of that i've ever seen with painted bumpers..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/08-NISSAN-XTERRA-LEATHER-AWESOME-LOW-MILES-L-K_W0QQitemZ160299946017QQihZ006QQcategoryZ6403QQss PageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Wow. That looks sharp.

This is the only X i can think of that i've ever seen with painted bumpers..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/08-NISSAN-XTERRA-LEATHER-AWESOME-LOW-MILES-L-K_W0QQitemZ160299946017QQihZ006QQcategoryZ6403QQss PageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

That looks really nice. The only thing i'm worried about is how well those back plastic corners would hold up to mud and gravel being slung all over them. I would be getting this done professionally to ensure a good color match.

Im not really sure.... IMO, Id leave it like it is, your gonna spend a nice chunk of change on getting those painted.. not to mention taking the chance of gravel chips and whatever else... Id hurculine it instead...

Then again, if your not gonna be doing any hardcore mudding or trails... It might be alright... If its just strickly driving here to there...

Nissan decided to leave the bumpers unpainted because they felt that that the probability of you scratching/chipping any paint on the bumper would be great when off roading.

I have seen a couple X's now with their bumpers colored...and I think they look awesome! But, for the money you are paying for the job, I would hesitate taking the painted bumpers off road....just my thought. However, if you are not planning on doing any off roading that requires you to go through tall brush/rock garden/mud pit then if I were you, I'd be setting up the appointment. I guess it's a toss up between looks and functionality...

I have connectins at a local body shop so I could probably get it done for fairly cheap. My main concern is how well it would hold up to mud and gravel and things like that.

I have connectins at a local body shop so I could probably get it done for fairly cheap. My main concern is how well it would hold up to mud and gravel and things like that.

probably poorly....those plastics are kinda thin, if you rub it against something your gonna have serious peeling and chipping....and gravel kicked up would probably gash the paint, as well as the plastic itself

theres a silver "color matched" xterra by me, its owner always parks it on the street outside of where they work...rear bumper corners are scratched and look like hell, and the front bumper/lower valance aint pretty either...

yeah, aside from the plastic being thin its also fairly soft which would make it wear even worse
plus i saw a yellow on here in houston and thought it looked like poo

I seen a dude about five years ago with painted bumpers on a white 1st generation....it didn't look bad, but I didn't get up on top of it and examine it good. It was on a street X and reminded me of the newer pathfinders.
It was alright. I don't think I would do it with my white truck, but if I had a different color......... who knows..............I don't off-road either.

There was a guy in my class at college, he had a souped up 1st gen silver X on 22's, silver ALL OVER, bumpers, grille, you name it, he's got it including a big folding monitor up in the ceiling and bad ass subs.....
I've seen his pictures somewhere, I'll see if I can find it.

There`s a guy on "thenewx.org" with a silver X that`s totally painted silver.Looks awesome.If they use a bonding agent like Bull Dog it won`t be any worse than painted metal.If you scratch any painted surface you get scratches.There`s also examples of some painted trim on "cardomain.com".

I've painted my bumpers with the good ole rattle can and my results were great. Its not that hard to do and it cost me about $5 in paint. The main thing is that you prep it right. Ya know cleaning it, scuffing the plastic up, adhesive promoter helped too. 3-4 coats did just fine. Two months later and I haven't had any discoloration or chipping what so ever. If you want I'll go a little more in depth through the whole process. I'll post some pictures soon as I figure out how to. Can anyone help me figure out this uploading thing...

Clint

my xperience.... my X is "color matched"... although, it is a black X.. and my reason for painting the plastics were due to the level of fading they had received.

I just saw a blue one in a parking lot today that had everything painted (grill, headlights, bumpers, side molding, mirrors, mudflaps, etc...) I snapped some shots on my phone. Ill upload them tonight and post them. Personally, I wasnt a fan of it. I like the grey plastic. Makes it look more rugged or something.

It surely can be done. Next month LA RANA is having her two gray plastic rear fender-well mouldings painted black, as well as the door mouldings. SeXterraPA has recenttly sanded down his plastic rear fender-well mouldings and Duplicolored them black; it looks great with the black aftermarket bumpers.
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn86/XTERRADACTYL/05.jpg

I want to do mine...can someone go into detail with the prep work?

Many members have already written detailed threads on painting the plastics.. Check in the how to section...

I had my plastics painted. It turned out great. Although I think it was a lot of work. I will have more photos posted soon............
see photos below.....................

i think it looks to much like the armadas.. LOL sorry pops... LOL

I agree, just paint them black or gray.