drexappeal

LOL...Doug, didn't mean for it to come off like that. Just didn't want you think I was saying it looked bad...hahaha...I know you're not an old man.

I wouldn't suggest taking a dremel to it. I think painting will be fine.

Yeah, it'd probably be worth it to experiment on another grille first (just in case it doesn't come out right. Either way, your car looks much better with the '05 grille. They did a great job .

How's she running (that's the most important part)?

CitronC230K_03

the sensor was about $200.
new switch row with IMS button was $260. the switch row is the fully loaded one with headted/vented seat buttons, PTS, etc. from a W209.

wiring harness was like $40 and bracket was $10. it was about $500 for the entire project. i bought all the parts over a year ago and finally had it installed. need to find someone who could lower the headliner. i couldnt!

still in the body shop. the brackets didnt get in until today. replaced the side clasps and had to order those monday and they came in late today. the side clasps got stretched from the weight of the bumper not being supported by all 4 brackets. should be ready tomorrow. the gaps in the fender/bumper area and hood/bumper area will be fixed.

drexappeal

Doug, is everything all done? You get her back yet?

JohnCL

Doug, as always you have a sweet looking coupe but I like the old style bumper better. I may take a beating for my comment, but oh well. The car in any case looks great once again, but that bumper is not for me.

CitronC230K_03

john, everyone is entitled for to their opinion and i respect yours, but i have to disagree. i love the more aggressive look of the new bumper and larger opening for the intercooler. im sure the new bumper alone is a 2hp gain!

thanks for the compliments though, i did like the old bumper, but the new one is great, and i was ready for a change, the car will be 3 dec. 17 this year (build date).

CitronC230K_03

yes i did get the car back. they had it all week. didnt work on it at all from monday to thrusday at lunch time. they told me the brackets were installed the just need to align the bumper. i got on my hands and knees and felt under their and sure enough no brackets. i look on the passenger seat and there is a bag. i open the door, pull it out and its the new brackets, still in packaging. the guy was embarassed but i was fuming at that point. they basically got my money put me at the bottom of the priority. i got the car back friday at lunch.

CitronC230K_03

here are the pics i took today. i have the yellow fogs in. the body shop relaced them.

Blake P

Your car looks like it's smiling...glad to be home, I'm sure!

CitronC230K_03

yes. very glad!

the new bumper does have that smiley face look to it. that why im considering painting the vertical lines on the lower grill.

WyattEarp

Quick question. Are the grille, lights and bumper all 05 model components? Did your body shop have to do anything special? I recently had damage to the fronmt bumper and hood due to hurricane wilma and I will be replacing those components. I would appreciate your insight in this modification.

FrankW

the car looks great Doug!!

drexappeal

Doug, it looks good, but is there supposed to be a gap between the hood and the bumper? I circled what I'm talking about in red. Just wanna make sure, cuz since you mentioned how detail oriented you are about your car (as much, if not more than I am), I figured I would ask in case you didn't notice.

Other than that, it looks awesome! Good choice on the 2005 front end upgrade.

Drex

Outland

Yes, they are all like that. It allows the hood to go down a little before the springs push it back up level with the fenders. IIRC, the sedans have the seam closer to the bumper, but its just as big. The grille lifts on the Sedan, it stays down on all the coupes.

The gap on the left looks fine. The gap on the right side of Doug's car looks a little too big though.

CitronC230K_03

i know, that i need have fixed. im just tired of going back and getting the run around of having my car sit around for a week until they finally do work. they said i can bring it back and they would adjust the driver side. i dunno!

this last week, i took my car in on monday 7am, and those ****ing toss pots had it until friday at noon. they didnt even install the new brackets, let alone do anything to the car until friday morning. im dreading to go thru that again!

CitronC230K_03

in order to get a 2005 upgrade you will need:

2005 bumper skin
2005 impact strips
2005 mounting brackets
right mesh
left mesh
centre mesh
2005 foglights (optional)

the part numbers i have for the 2005 bumper have the washer holes, and the impact strips i have p/n for are euro with PTS holes. other than that i can provide p/n is you need it. the underside are all the same, you can even use pre 05 fogs lights. only difference is the beam pattern. i like the beam pattern. it has a nice straight line angle out from the front bumper.

Outland

Now you know why car repair is so expensive. A lot of time and labor, little result.

CitronC230K_03

no *****

drexappeal

Outland, I never even noticed it on my car until you pointed out that it's the same on the sedans. I looked at my pics and sure enough, there's a gap there...LOL...I guess, it's those little things that I normally wouldn't pay heavy attention to, but in this case (because Doug had his car in the shop for so long), I was looking for whatever imperfections he would need to have the shop re-do.

Doug, car definitely looks a lot better. Re-post pics when you decide to re-do the lower grille.

CitronC230K_03

oh ill post pics you know that. im leaving for my thanksgiving holiday in an hour.

Saprissa

glad to see it all back in one piece, Doug.

will have to get Justin and Christian too, and have a Coupe photo-shoot next summer when I get back from the Afghan mountains...


Carlos

Saprissa@aol.com

KIRA

nice, your car looks new and smiling at you