cnolke

The chrome on my '12 wagon (especially the grill) has been bugging me since I first saw the car. I'm just not of the opinion that a refined German super-wagon needs any chrome on it at all.

The dealership uses a tint/vinyl shop here in town that I also encountered doing work for my employer. We discussed options for de-chroming the car and I decided to go for it. The good part is that none of this is permanent, in the sense that paint is strippable from chrome, badges are replaceable, etc.

We wrapped it up, but I'm not sure it perfect. The problem is "50 shades of gray". Apparently black paint is never without a tiny bit of color, and you see it only after diluting it significantly (ie there is a brown-black, a blue-black, and even a green-black, but never a "black-black").

Below are some pictures of the various ways we treated the chrome and the colors they turned out.

The grill/hood ornament/badges/door handles-

We used a tinted clear for the grill, the hood ornament. We had to choose between various versions of "gray" and went with the one that was built from brown, since it had a slight element of anthracite in the color, which I thought I could work with elsewhere. Prepping the chrome to hold the paint was really tough. I've included a photo that exaggerates the clouding that was caused by using 2500 and steel wool on the chrome grill. We could polish back out, but at the expense of longevity. It ends up looking like brushed chrome, but you have to choose the direction of the brushing.










Window surrounds/Rear Hatch chrome- I used Shadowline Trim Vinyl in a 3" matte black vinyl. I did this myself, though it was a little more challenging that I had expected. It took me a few tries to get it reasonable. I chose matte black because of the matte rubber around the doors. I think gloss black might look better on the rear hatch. The matte looks slightly out of place. THe matte requires, like the rubber on the car, occasional maintenance so that it doesnt look dried-out/uneven, like the rear hatch piece looks at the moment. I'm not sure what that product is yet that keeps it looking good over 10+ years.



Roof rails- We decided to wrap the roof rails in tinted clear-bra type material, since it would stand up better to roof-rack use than tinted clear coat. Unfortunately the tint of the clear-bra stuff seems a little green to me.



Exhaust tips- There has to be a better gray out there that isnt quite so "anthracite" in the bright sun, but after 10 different "medium gray" high-heat ceramic paints, this is the one that best matched the emblems. It looks more aggressive and less brown in person, and I like the way the matte-color tips have a little more refined aggression to them.



Rear badges?- I can't bring myself to put the rear badges back on. I always told myself I'd debadge the car, and so I'm trying to hold myself to that. (Its stealth. It's humble. I tell myself these things.) But the badges nicely tie the star/exhaust tips together. I can always put them on when I change my mind.

Here is the car out of the sun. We're in Portland, and sun isn't exactly rare here, but its safe to say that the car spend more time out of it. The things that I'm critical about recede significantly when out of strong sunlight. On the other hand, this is a damn near perfect car, and I'm a little irritated at how difficult it has been to continue the stock level or refinement while trying to tone down the chrome. I don't want a murdered out car... that feels very played out to me. But I understand why its an easy choice.









The wheels- I know. 2 more shades of gray. And one has a tiny crack that lets out air at 1psi a day. Until I can find wheels that match the tinted chrome color without spending $7000 for a set, I'm going to keep looking. Worst case I'll buy some 19" OZ Ultraleggeras and have them tinted and painted to match.

Thoughts?

xxGenericSNxx

It's looking good! If you're up to it, I'd also paint/sand those orange markers black to match the car. The US spec cars stick out like a sore thumb.

That's cool that you had paint protection put on the roof rails. I'm thinking to do the same- although for me it would be to protect the chrome finish from the roof bars.

otakki

Well done. Looks pretty good. What's up with the tiny crack in the forged wheel?! Can't you get it repaired or something for a small price?

kart125

Nice looking black wagon! The matte exhausts are a subtle touch, still able to see the quad breathers for proper intimidation but less shiny!


Any advice for the Shadowline trim? I have a 3 inch roll of gloss black waiting for the car in my garage and I'm planning on doing it myself also. I've read the how-to that they supply with tape. Seems quite easy but I'm sure there is pitfalls! Was thinking of doing window surrounds, tailgate strip and front grille... Did you try wet application? I was thinking of it.

xxGenericSNxx

A couple friends and I tried our hand at vinyl wrapping the trim on one of their S550s a few years ago. It was really easy to do the vinyl wrapping ourselves. All you need is a hair dryer, scissors, razor blade, and some trim tools/credit card/squeegie plastic wedge thing to tuck the corners into the panel gaps. It definitely makes for a fun weekend project and something to be proud of after you finish. We ended up doing the window trim, lower door trim, trunk "mustache" above the license plate, and matte smoked the tail lights. We even did the emblems in matte black with plasti dip. All of this stuff is good DIY things. Just be careful not to scratch the paint when cutting with the razor!

kart125

Tanks generic for the reply. I'll post before and after pics.

cnolke

I'd echo the same, but I'd stress the need for a couple (at least) of the cheap squeegee blade-thingies that Shadowline sells. I used two doing the window surrounds.

You'll learn as you go, and your results will be in line with your patience and the amount of time you are willing to put to it. It's not rocket science, but doing it quickly resulted in sloppy results for me inconsistent with the quality of the car. Taking my time and having patience helped a lot.

I didn't use any liquid when installing, or even a heat gun/hair dryer. Just veyr slowly and carefully laid it over, removed bubbles, and then cut or pushed in the edges.

I'm still not sure what product to use to keep the matte black looking decent. Perhaps I'll call Shadowline.

cnolke

I'm sure I can. I just have a slight hankering for an excuse for new wheels.

I'd bet you know exactly what I mean

cnolke

Went ahead and used glass black Orcal wrap on the front side markers. We'll see if leaving the bulbs in there is an issue.

Certainly cleans up the front. Almost too much gloss black. Too plain?

Might have to get a tarted up grill to sport it up a little. A de-badged black wagon is becoming too stealth.