tudu

Spent 16 hours covering chrome strips and grille in CF vinyl plus 2 coats of clear lacquer. Always thought about achieving a stealth look. AMG III's in to be painted gloss black next week to complete look. Not to everyones taste, but i like it. Enjoy, click to enlarge.

TruTaing

awesome! I like the lil cf wrapped chrome strips. Your car has a very classic black mb look w/ the bright wheels

W/ the chrome strips that run along the sides of the cars, are they just held on w/ adhesive or do they actually clip on/off?

tudu

Thanks. Chrome strips are clipped on. Had to release them a bit to tuck CF vinyl in behind. Don't know about wheels, once my other set (AMG III's) are painted gloss black next week i will see which i like best.

///Icon

car looks nice man. What wheels are those? they look pretty sick on you ride.

KIRA

nice mod you did, but the wheels look too sporty for your sedan tho

JLD2k3

Lower that bad boy and the wheels will fit right in IMHO

tudu

They are Kleemann TS-7's.

tudu

Thanks. As i said in post - having my previous AMG III's painted gloss black next week. Want to see what a set a black wheels will look like.

tudu

Thanks. I am happy with 18" as our UK roads, and my back don't cater for 19's, and the car already came with sports suspension which is just about right for me.

tudu

Just finished lightly smoking the front headlights to complete the look. Will post pic's tommorow.

WaveyKat

wow looking good i like the CF Chrome Strips i wish i can do that to mines

tudu

Thanks.

FrankW

looks good

I only did the middle portion of the grille because i got lazy. thought about doing the chrome strip around the car too, but I got the new window trim instead so decided to keep the chrome.

tudu

Thanks. Well worth doing whole of the grille, just need a bit of paitence.

D_Star

Your car looks real sporty with those rims and the 16 hours of work is definitely worth it!! Looks really good.

Just a question though, when you smoked your tail lights, did you spray from the inside or on the outside? Thanks.

tudu

Thanks. Front and rear lenses were all sprayed from the outside. 2 coats, rubbed down, followed by 2 coats of clear lacquer - left to dry 24 hours then polished.

D_Star

Thanks for the tips!! But what do you mean by rub down? is there another special chemical reagent needed?

dac086

how are the projector fogs compared to stock? are they any better?

tudu

After masking up and spraying, and to achieve the depth of darkness i wanted i lightly rubbed the lenses down with 1600 wet & dry. Once dry sprayed 2 coats of clear lacquer left to dry, then light polish with Tcut. Hope that helps.

tudu

Having had them for over 6 months on the car, i would not change back to OEM The projectors give a lot cleaner light, but thats my own personal opinion.

DamonAnthony

I had my tail lights done with tinter mixed in the clear. We gave it 6 coats then unmasked the clear indicators and 2 more coats, just to smoke the clear. I think yours are alot darker though, I have toyed with the idea of re-doing them, now I see yours i'm sold! They look awsome, as does the whole car, would like to see pics with the AMG rims black. I soo wish my merc was black not blue!
Also, I see you have the header, I think I've read the post too, but do you have the pulley kit to go with it?
Phil

tudu

Thanks. The darkness of tint is personal choice, i just prefer mine a little darker also might lightly smoke the clear part of the lense. Yes, i have the Kleemann header and sports cat linked up to a custom stainless steel dual exhaust system with quad tips - the sound is amazing. My next job after getting a set of AMG III's painted gloss black is to fit the Kleemann performance (pulley) kit.

Have you got it already, and did it offer the promised performance increase? With a remap and the Kleemann header my car is currently running 175 BHP.

DamonAnthony

I have the pulley, its great-really, it is! I considered the header, cat and exhaust but I was quoted $7k from memory. I have read about the Kleemann piggy back for the ecu that fools it to run at 12psi non stop-assuming i have read correct. I have emailed Kleemann Au a couple of times but have not yet heard back. I have to say, if my car was about 1 second faster 0-100, took off with out a delay, and picked/chose and changed gears faster, I would be content. Since the kit has been fitted I really notice the torque of the car, kiiind of like a t/d golf, makes it feel probably faster than it is, but well worth the upgrade!

would you be offended if I stole your idea with the cf andd tried it out on my grille?

phil

tudu

Hi. Thanks for the info re the Kleemann performance kit. That is probably the last mod on the list after having wheels painted gloss black. You are more than welcome to use the CF vinyl idea as the idea of forums like these is to share experiences, and if this mod works for you i say go ahead and get it done. You will need a hot hair dryer (helps to Strech and mould the vinyl in place) especially between the slats which is the most time consuming and tricky part, and a good sharp craft knife (i use a surgeons scalpel myself) as mega sharp. Once you have the grille covered tuck pieces behind the grille and secure with either double sided tape, or waterproof duck tape as i did. The finishing with 2 coats of lacquer seals and waterproofs the vinyl, plus stops leaks (vinyl lifting) if you missed a part. Good luck and let us know how you get on. I am sure that others will come along who have done/tried this mod before, and some may have been more successful than me.

djraman408

Just plain Beautiful