safesphere

Does anyone know how much this accessory is?

http://www.mbusa.com/vcm/MB/Files/eB...html#/7/zoomed

The brochure says, see your dealer, but my dealer could not find any info on it. Also, do you guys know if this is a replacement part or the dealer would simply paint your existing grille?

Mixedfruits

get it painted at a shop for around 100-200 I think

Knightmare69

Good lord, $1-200?? I painted mine myself for $5 and a couple of hours of my time. But I think the dealer would just sell you a brand new painted grill so you'll end up with 2 grills.

safesphere

No one has ever bought this accessory? Seems strange. Silver grille looks weird on a dark car and not everyone wants to mess with paint himself for less than professional results. You can't just spray alkyd-melamine enamel (real car paint) from a can, as it must be baked at a high temperature like car bodies do. Other paints would eventually peal, chip off, or lose luster, especially in front of the car.

Ron Jr

Like Mixed fruit said take it to a body shop and have it sprayed. Many here (myself included) have gone this route. I would definitly think it would cost a lot less than having the dealer do it.

Don Nguyen

I've been told some shops won't paint grills, since the paint has a hard time sticking to the chrome?

I've had quite a few people ask me to vinyl wrap their grills, but the curves and amount of heat that comes out of that area sometimes makes it not the most practical of things to vinyl wrap.

-Don

xolinlevh

I think its a new option with the 2012s, the brochure is new, and i dont remember seeing it in any of the previous ones

safesphere

You do not have to paint the chrome parts, they are detachable. I would only paint the already painted plastic to match the body color. I think chrome is cool as it is. The problem is not with chrome, but with the paint on the grille not matching the body color. This is exactly what this accessory is addressing, bot no one, not even the dealer knows it's cost. The whole sports grille (the grille conversion kit) is $200. I hope the painted grille is not more that that. $200 would not be the end of the world as a part of a new car order rather than taking it apart, removing chrome, dealing with the paint shop, facing potential color mismatch and re-doing it, re-attaching chrome, putting it all back together, wasting all this time and effort to save a hundred bucks. I'd rather not.

I will press my dealer to get the cost and will post it eventually.

safesphere

Apparently for 2012 MB has limited the choice of grille colors to black, white and gray. The latter is probably what comes by default, so it really is only black and white. The price is $350. Too bad. Will have to paint it in a shop.

Stevedotmil

I really didn't know painted plastic was so expensive nowadays. Find someone who knows someone who can paint it at a shop. There are so many hook ups to be had if you know the right people to ask. I like my plasti dipped grill because I can make it dissappear if I want to go back to stock with little effort. Plus, if it gets damaged I can just redo it for less than 10 bucks and an hour of time.

bigigg

I find it amazing that its offered on mbusa as an accessary.. I guess they realized alot of people were painting there grille. Spend the $150 and have a shop spray it.. you can easily take it off the car yourself.

jimmythegreek

safesphere, I guarantee u that a pro shop can do a better job than MBUSA. My shop uses speis-hecker, the same paint MB uses on their cars. We have special additives for painting flexible and plastic surfaces. The grille comes off very easily, and the star and chrome strips do too. THe trick is to heat the parts in the booth for a few minutes otherwise the clips will break with the cold weather we have here in NJ. Its a 2 hour job plus suppies cost, jsut goto a good shop, the paint will match perfect and will hold up. We use 2 coats with bake in between then 2 coats clear, comes out great. Ive done my personal car, spoilers, diffuser, and marker lights without a chip or nick. U gotta get the dealer idea out of your head, 90% of the time the dealer does a poor job on accessories, and we all read about the horror stories on service........

safesphere

What is amazing is that MB sells cars with the grille color mismatching the body Color that looks horrible. Last year at least the matching grille was sold as an accessory. This year you can only buy black or white and have to go to a shop for other colors. What a shame.

safesphere

Jimmy, I see your point, except this is a factory painted accessory, but this year it is only 3 colors anyway.

So do you work at this shop? I what capacity? Can I send you my grille for painting? Your description sounds perfect. Thanks?