Woodgrain Upgrade + Chrome delete

[IJP86]

2025 Lightning Lariat here. New to the forum, 18 months in to ownership. Before the Lightning, I owned a 2020 BMW X5M. And before the Bimmer, three other Fords — most recently a 2018 Explorer Sport. Although I knew I'd miss the Bimmer's interior, I was keenly aware of what I was getting back into. I have few regrets on the switch - the truck is incredible — but man do Ford interiors leave something, or everything, to be desired.

Start with the complete absence of choice. The fifty shades of grey: exterior paint, interior plastic, the wheels, more grey plastic inside and throughout. The huge plastic dash. And just when your eyes need a break, more chrome. And what is going on with the bronze chrome? Why did they choose this weird grey-ish faux wood pattern for somethings? I am genuinely confused as to how this ended up as the interior for a $75k vehicle. The only things this interior has going for it are size and seat comfort. Even then, the seats are painted leather that they try to sell as better than real leather? At least my toddlers can do their worst on road trips - which, they have - and I simply don't care. "Upgrade to the Platinum" you might say... Ya... no. I skipped the Platinum because the massage function didn't touch the Bimmer's, which we barely used anyway, and $10k for white "leather" with two toddlers was a hard pass.

All that to say.. After 18 months of staring at the sea of grey, I finally broke down and vinyl wrapped the interior with 3M™ DI-NOC™ Wood Grain. Do I love it? No. Is it better than stock? Absolutely. The woodgrain actually picks up the brown stitching that's running through the cabin and breaks up all that grey. I'll probably redo the sliding cubby cover in all black — the wood's a bit much there — but overall, I'm happy.

What do you think?

Woodgrain: 3M DI-NOC Burma Teak Woodgrain Vinyl
Black: 3M 2080 Matte Black Vinyl Wrap | M12

Next up: Katzkin throughout.

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[RLXXI]

2025 Lightning Lariat here. New to the forum, 18 months in to ownership. Before the Lightning, I owned a 2020 BMW X5M. And before the Bimmer, three other Fords — most recently a 2018 Explorer Sport. While the Bimmer was my dream car, I knew what I was getting back into. I have few regrets on the switch - the truck is incredible — but man do Ford interiors leave something, or everything, to be desired. Where do I start.

Start with the complete absence of choice. The fifty shades of grey plastic. And just when your eyes need a break, more chrome! The only things this interior has going for it are size and seat comfort. While we miss the massaging seats, I skipped the Platinum because the massage function wasn't even in the same zip code as the Bimmer's, and white "leather" with two toddlers was a hard pass.

So after 18 months of staring at the sea of grey, I finally broke down and vinyl wrapped the interior with 3M™ DI-NOC™ Wood Grain. Do I love it? No. Is it better than stock? Absolutely. The woodgrain actually picks up the brown stitching that's running through the cabin and breaks up all that grey. I'll probably redo the sliding cubby cover in all black — the wood's a bit much there — but overall, I'm happy. What do you think?

Next up: Katzkin throughout.

So long as you like it, that's all that matters, never been a fan of fake wood grain myself. Had it on a station wagon I owned back in the early 90's down both sides.

 

[IJP86]

Undstandable! I still remember staring at the "wood" down the side of my mom's Plymouth Voyager thinking, "why would the do this?" This Di-Noc vinyl is a significant upgrade from 90s faux wood. It's architectural vinyl used primarily in PJ and yacht interiors. It's really very good.

 

[Athrun88]

Looks really good! Did you have to disassemble anything to make things fit and look stock? Personally not a fan of woodgrain myself, but would definitely be interested in covering surfaces in a matte black. I'll be checking out the Di-Noc vinyl for sure as well.

 

[Rayden]

A bit much for my personal taste, but you did a fantastic job! Did it come in a precut kit or did you do that yourself? I have to admit, if I did that it would likely look a 3rd grader's handiwork.

 

[IJP86]

Thanks! I did it myself from a large piece I ordered. No pre-cutting. The only pieces I disassembled were the two long pieces in the center console area. Everything else was wrapped in place. It took me some time, but having regular plugs makes it much easier to use the heat gun! The wrap job I did on the light bar was a much different story. It looks so bad I have an appointment to have it done professionally next week.

Two things I'll likely change to matte black: the pieces on the door handle and the cover to the charging cubby.

 

[K6CCC]

As several others said, not really my cup of tea, but you did a really nice looking job.

 

[Newton]

I’ll go against the grain here and admit that I like it!

 

[Zprime29]

I would prefer a darker stain color and a bit less of it. But you nailed the execution of it and I like the idea. Never attempted anything like that though, so it feels a bit out of my wheelhouse to DIY.

 

[IJP86]

I would prefer a darker stain color and a bit less of it. But you nailed the execution of it and I like the idea. Never attempted anything like that though, so it feels a bit out of my wheelhouse to DIY.

Thanks! I agree on less of it, and I thought the same thing about the stain color. I ordered six samples with this being the lightest, and was surprised that I liked the look of this one the most.
Here's another option that I think most would go with. It matches the wood in our Rivian exactly.

It's not very hard once you get the hang of it. Vinyl is very forgiving and can be repositioned a few times. There are endless how-to's on Youtube.

 

[ctuan13]

2025 Lightning Lariat here. New to the forum, 18 months in to ownership. Before the Lightning, I owned a 2020 BMW X5M. And before the Bimmer, three other Fords — most recently a 2018 Explorer Sport. Although I knew I'd miss the Bimmer's interior, I was keenly aware of what I was getting back into. I have few regrets on the switch - the truck is incredible — but man do Ford interiors leave something, or everything, to be desired.

Start with the complete absence of choice. The fifty shades of grey: exterior paint, interior plastic, the wheels, more grey plastic inside and throughout. The huge plastic dash. And just when your eyes need a break, more chrome. And what is going on with the bronze chrome? Why did they choose this weird grey-ish faux wood pattern for somethings? I am genuinely confused as to how this ended up as the interior for a $75k vehicle. The only things this interior has going for it are size and seat comfort. Even then, the seats are painted leather that they try to sell as better than real leather? At least my toddlers can do their worst on road trips - which, they have - and I simply don't care. "Upgrade to the Platinum" you might say... Ya... no. I skipped the Platinum because the massage function didn't touch the Bimmer's, which we barely used anyway, and $10k for white "leather" with two toddlers was a hard pass.

All that to say.. After 18 months of staring at the sea of grey, I finally broke down and vinyl wrapped the interior with 3M™ DI-NOC™ Wood Grain. Do I love it? No. Is it better than stock? Absolutely. The woodgrain actually picks up the brown stitching that's running through the cabin and breaks up all that grey. I'll probably redo the sliding cubby cover in all black — the wood's a bit much there — but overall, I'm happy.

What do you think?

Woodgrain: 3M DI-NOC Burma Teak Woodgrain Vinyl
Black: 3M 2080 Matte Black Vinyl Wrap | M12

Next up: Katzkin throughout.

I'm a fan of wood, but in my opinion you overdid it just a bit for my taste.

Still, you did a really good job with the install and as far as how clean it looks, I can't find any defects, there! Good work and as long as you like it, that's what counts!

 

[TwentyTwentyThree]

Well. Now onto the exterior. I kind of don’t hate it.

 

[FloridaMan655321]

Well. Now onto the exterior. I kind of don’t hate it.

I'd buy

 

[IJP86]

Well. Now onto the exterior. I kind of don’t hate it.

I love it.

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