DIY: How to remove ugly US-spec airbag warning decals from vanity mirror covers:
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Note: there is related, but 10 year old thread seemed to cover a similar technique, and it has non-functioning pictures, but nonetheless, I'll link to it here: http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-general-discussions/12227-bye-bye-airbag-warning-decals-2.html]
Step 1: assemble the supplies:
* "Hi-test" isopropyl / rubbing alcohol (I used 91%, but the more readily available 70% may work OK)
* paper towel
* short-nap microfiber cleaning cloth
* disposable nitrile gloves (not shown, but recommended)
Step 2: put the top down, and orient the sun visor down a bit for easy working access.
Note: I recommend a flat surface, so the alcohol won't run excessively in any particular direction.
Step 3: fold the paper towel, soak the corner, and rub away the bulk of the decal with a first, initial pass. The decal will soften when exposed to the alcohol for a minute or so, and gentle agitation of the paper towel will easily rub it away - sort of balling up fragments into crumbs, and smearing it a bit.
Fold over or tear off "spent" areas of paper towel, and start again on a new fresh section of the paper towel:
Take your time to not make a mess. Keep the alcohol and decal residue away from the crevices, and the hinge area! Keep going until the high spots of the textured plastic underneath are all bare to the colored decal, and no "crumbs" remain.
Step 3: when you're gotten off the bulk of the decal in a first pass, switch to a disposable, short-nap microfiber. Like the paper towel, wet with alcohol, and rub in small back and forth or circular motions:
The idea is to flip-flop the short bristle tips of the microfiber back and forth, so they work down into the get the valleys of the textured plastic, to get out the remaining decal.
The result, after about 10 minutes, looks really good under ordinary lighting from about 1-2+ feet away:
(If you used a high-powered light and microscope or high-powered magnifying glass, you could probably find some residue in some of the deeper pits of the texture, but this is probably adequate for most applications.
Alternatives:
1. I've read some people use a black dye afterwards, or perhaps even over the top of the factory graphic. This may shorten the time required rubbing.
2. Other people buy matte black, cover-up decals from eBay, and stick them on over the factory decal. I'd imagine this "cover-up" would be quicker, but might be more noticeable up closer. An eBay listing example for a set of these "cover-up decals":
Porsche Sun visor Cover-up decals 911 Boxster Cayman Carrera S 997 987 986 996 | eBay
Note: The seller advertises the decal is thin enough to assume the grain of the plastic, but it's hard to imagine vinyl decal not changing the texture somewhat. The only picture from the above-linked eBay auction doesn't provide more than about a 5-10 foot quality level of detail:
3. Other people have reported purchasing ROW (non-us spec) vanity mirror assemblies and swapping those for the us-spec assemblies, as the ROW spec don't have the warning labels.
Cheers!
Threaded Mode
