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Sport grille swap from 2008 Luxury C300.

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Old Jul 22, 2008 | 04:53 PM
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Question Sport grille swap from 2008 Luxury C300.

Does anyone know how to remove and replace a luxury grille with a sport grille? I bought the new sport grille and the sport-type replacement cap to fill in where the hood top emblem is as well. I am mechanically inclined. But, those clips that hold the grille in place are ones I've never seen before. Perhaps I should just pay the $100 to have my dealer do it for me. It's only 2 hours round trip plus the shop time to have it done. Thoughts? Oh yeah. This is my first new Mercedes-Benz. Picked it up last Saturday with only 19 miles on the odometer.
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Old Jul 22, 2008 | 04:55 PM
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Originally Posted by numero uno
Does anyone know how to remove and replace a luxury grille with a sport grille? I bought the new sport grille and the sport-type replacement cap to fill in where the hood top emblem is as well. I am mechanically inclined. But, those clips that hold the grille in place are ones I've never seen before. Perhaps I should just pay the $100 to have my dealer do it for me. It's only 2 hours round trip plus the shop time to have it done. Thoughts? Oh yeah. This is my first new Mercedes-Benz. Picked it up last Saturday with only 19 miles on the odometer.
push inward from the center bottom firmly. It'll swing open. Twist the top cap so it's loose. Unhook the left and right side. Pull out from the center clip.
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Old Jul 22, 2008 | 05:35 PM
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Originally Posted by numero uno
Does anyone know how to remove and replace a luxury grille with a sport grille? I bought the new sport grille and the sport-type replacement cap to fill in where the hood top emblem is as well. I am mechanically inclined. But, those clips that hold the grille in place are ones I've never seen before. Perhaps I should just pay the $100 to have my dealer do it for me. It's only 2 hours round trip plus the shop time to have it done. Thoughts? Oh yeah. This is my first new Mercedes-Benz. Picked it up last Saturday with only 19 miles on the odometer.
You want to sell me your luxury grill???

Where do you live... maybe someone will help you... you definitly don't need to pay the dealer
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Old Jul 22, 2008 | 07:33 PM
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Originally Posted by numero uno
Does anyone know how to remove and replace a luxury grille with a sport grille? I bought the new sport grille and the sport-type replacement cap to fill in where the hood top emblem is as well. I am mechanically inclined. But, those clips that hold the grille in place are ones I've never seen before. Perhaps I should just pay the $100 to have my dealer do it for me. It's only 2 hours round trip plus the shop time to have it done. Thoughts? Oh yeah. This is my first new Mercedes-Benz. Picked it up last Saturday with only 19 miles on the odometer.
I did the same thing with my car and asked the dealer to change it for no charge and he agreed (Ray Catena in NJ) If you haven't asked your sales guy yet give it a try.
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Old Jul 23, 2008 | 10:07 AM
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Thanks so much. I will give it a try and post my results tomorrow.
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Old Jul 23, 2008 | 10:13 AM
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Originally Posted by VIZ
I did the same thing with my car and asked the dealer to change it for no charge and he agreed (Ray Catena in NJ) If you haven't asked your sales guy yet give it a try.
Actually my salesman in Reading, PA said the delaership gets $400 for the grille and $89 (1 hour) to swap the grilles. I bought the new grille and hood emblem for $200 from a Mechanicsburg dealer.
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Old Jul 23, 2008 | 10:16 AM
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Originally Posted by hutch300
You want to sell me your luxury grill???

Where do you live... maybe someone will help you... you definitly don't need to pay the dealer
I hadn't considered selling the luxury grille at this point. My plan was to keep it with the car in case I ever decide to trade up in the future.
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Old Jul 23, 2008 | 10:23 AM
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Originally Posted by Azn_C300
push inward from the center bottom firmly. It'll swing open. Twist the top cap so it's loose. Unhook the left and right side. Pull out from the center clip.
Sorry I didn't originally reply directly to your post. Thanks for the help. I had a feeling it wasn't a major operation. I heard it only takes about 15 minutes. Seems like a rather ingenious way of mounting a grille. I can hardly wait to swap them. Again..thank you so much. Life is good. Live it up.
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Old Jul 23, 2008 | 01:42 PM
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Originally Posted by numero uno
Actually my salesman in Reading, PA said the delaership gets $400 for the grille and $89 (1 hour) to swap the grilles. I bought the new grille and hood emblem for $200 from a Mechanicsburg dealer.
It appears you are doing the work yourself. However, this just emphasizes the difference that exists from dealer to dealer. My dealer (Ray Catena) did not charge me for the sport grill and swapped it out for nothing. He gave me the luxury grill (which I sold, thanks to this forum). Unbelieveable!
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Old Jul 23, 2008 | 07:12 PM
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Originally Posted by VIZ
It appears you are doing the work yourself. However, this just emphasizes the difference that exists from dealer to dealer. My dealer (Ray Catena) did not charge me for the sport grill and swapped it out for nothing. He gave me the luxury grill (which I sold, thanks to this forum). Unbelieveable!
I did attempt the work myself. But stopped. Yeah. Truly is a difference between dealers. The place I bought the car was the only one that even offered to find "my car" at another dealership. They flatbedded the car from Maryland to PA so as not to add any miles. Others never offered to do this. Did you pay full sticker (MSRP) for the car? I got my car at around invoice because of 09's coming out. I've heard of Catana before. In which state is this dealer located?
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Old Jul 23, 2008 | 07:23 PM
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Originally Posted by Azn_C300
push inward from the center bottom firmly. It'll swing open. Twist the top cap so it's loose. Unhook the left and right side. Pull out from the center clip.
I pushed in the grille bottom briskly with both thumbs a few times and even with a good bit of pressure couldn't get any release. It made a bit of a cracking sound and so I stopped. I see how the grille can pivot at the top on the lugs and also at the center at the top. But, the harder I push in at the bottom the more the grille wants to pop behind the edge of the bumper plastic. At this point I am concerned about cracking the grille since it will not release. Is it safe to assume the grille bottom has a detent release similar to the release found on the radio door? My grille is tight against the bumper plastic at the bottom.
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Old Jul 23, 2008 | 07:26 PM
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Originally Posted by numero uno
I did attempt the work myself. But stopped. Yeah. Truly is a difference between dealers. The place I bought the car was the only one that even offered to find "my car" at another dealership. They flatbedded the car from Maryland to PA so as not to add any miles. Others never offered to do this. Did you pay full sticker (MSRP) for the car? I got my car at around invoice because of 09's coming out. I've heard of Catana before. In which state is this dealer located?
Sorry VIZ. You did say Catana was in NJ in another post.
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Old Jul 23, 2008 | 07:42 PM
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Originally Posted by numero uno
I pushed in the grille bottom briskly with both thumbs a few times and even with a good bit of pressure couldn't get any release. It made a bit of a cracking sound and so I stopped. I see how the grille can pivot at the top on the lugs and also at the center at the top. But, the harder I push in at the bottom the more the grille wants to pop behind the edge of the bumper plastic. At this point I am concerned about cracking the grille since it will not release. Is it safe to assume the grille bottom has a detent release similar to the release found on the radio door? My grille is tight against the bumper plastic at the bottom.
its been a few weeks since i did this but here is my assessment. the grille clips in from behind the grille but also sits in with those tubular tabs on the sides. i had a hell of a time figuring out how to get the clips from behind the grill out. i stuck a screwdriver in them and pushed down while pulling the grill until they popped out. (im guessing these are the things you heard cracking).

once that's done, its a matter of pushing it in from the bottom to release the tubular things on the side.
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Old Jul 23, 2008 | 07:59 PM
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the cracking was probably the clips being popped out. The grille is pretty sturdy so you shouldn't have to worry about anything breaking. I got scared too when I first heard that, but when I looked at it after it came out, there was nothing wrong at all. Search the forum for a thread Derspeed posted about this. I basically just followed his instructions when I did mine.
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Old Jul 28, 2008 | 10:46 AM
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New Sport grille is in the lux..

Thanks to all who offered to help. New sport grille is in. Masano swapped 'em for me for only $48. It happened quick. I was in & out of there in about a half hour. We put over 800 miles on the car this weekend. Went for a drive through Connecticut and got 27 mpg running around town and 35 mpg on the highway coming home. I still can't believe the gas mileage on this car!
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