Krypton

Before with OEM Grill


After with Diamond Grill
Hi Members,

Attached is a before and after picture of my car from this weekend!!!

I finally made the swap from the OEM double slat grill to the Diamond Grill on my wife's 2015 c300 W205 4matic Sedan. I used the instructions on this forum as a basic guide to get started but then because the instructions aren't the best, I kind of used my own logic and looking around for anything that could possibly be holding the bumper back from coming off. Since it was my first time and I was doing it all by myself, it took me a total of 4 hours to do this (not including the 1.5 hours that it took me at night to figure out what at the bottom was holding the bumper off from coming out). I started doing this at night around 9 p.m. in my garage without putting the car up on jack stands. The intention was to get started and then once I got stuck, wait it out until morning and then put the car up on the jack stands and then get underneath to take the under belly pan off that attaches to the bumper. Unfortunately I did not take any pictures so I am going to try and explain this out step by step as best as I can. Here it goes:

1 - Turn the wheels inwards on the side that you are starting on - You will see 3 rivets - start on the bottom most one and remove that with a rivet removal tool or the pronged end of a hammer. Similarly remove the other 2 rivets above it immediately in line. Then remove the sole rivet from under the car right below the fog light. This is the one that holds the fender liner from the bottom to the bottom of the bumper. Follow the same process on the other side.

2 - Once these are out then unscrew the 2 screws on the bumper on the inside of the fender liner - you will have to hold the fender liner pulled away from the bumper. Best is to have some help but if not then just stick a screw driver between the bumper and the fender to keep it apart so you can get your hand with a wrench in there. The screw is the one holding the bumper to the side fender panel of the car. There are 2 screws - 1 that you see immediately when you pull the fender apart and the 2nd one about an inch behind it. Unscrew both of these on both sides of the car. This completes working on the sides of the bumper/fender liners, etc.

3 - Pop open the hood, if you haven't already. You will see 3 screws right where the bumper top meets the hood, unscrew those and also unscrew 2 screws (1 on each side) between the bumper and the headlight. That takes care of all that you have to do up top under the hood, for now.

4 - Raise the car on Jack stands (do this very carefully and responsibly at your own risk) by jacking up the car using the center raising point between the 2 front wheels and then once you have got it to a sufficient height then slide in the jack stands on each side under the jacking point behind each front wheel under the front doors. Make sure you are doing this on a completely level ground and not a sloped ground. Lower the car jack very slowly so that the car doesn't come crashing down on the jack stands. Once you feel that it is secure on the jack stands then slide the car jack out from underneath the car and get under the car.

5 - There will be roughly about 7 or 8, 8mm screws that you will have to unscrew from the car underpanel. 1 will be right up front in the center of the bumper and the other 6-7 will be in line with the car jack point between the 2 wheels. Unscrew all of these and then pull hard on the panel right behind the jack point as that will then allow the front panel to drop down and then you can slide that out. Once you have this panel out then you will see 2 screws (1 on each side) right by the front wheel holding the bumper attached. Unscrew these and this will release the bumper completely from the bottom and sides.

6 - Go back up to the engine bay of the car and the 3 screws that you unscrewed earlier. Pull on the bumper so as to slide it out of the 3 tabs that are holding it in place. Don't worry you won't break it. Once you do this then your entire bumper should come out. Once the bumper is out, don't try to walk away with it, go back to the passenger side and on the inside of the bumper you will see a electrical connector. You can either unplug it, if you can figure out how to, or just give it a 90 degree twist and it unhooks from the bumper without unplugging it. The only drawback is that you can't walk away with the bumper and have to lay it down there itself but the wire is long enough to give you enough wiggle room to take the bumper away about a foot. If you are planning on doing anything but installing a new grill then you obviously want to unplug the electrical connector so that you can walk away in far lands with the bumper itself

OEM Grill removal (this was a PITA):

1 - Remove the hard thermocol padding that will be attached to the bumper, this is the back that you see when you remove the star on the grill. It just slides out from each end. Then you remove the rubber cowl that is right under it and over the grill. That rubber cowl just needs to pulled up with a bit of force and it snaps off. If it doesn't or you feel like you are going to be breaking the tabs then with a screw driver give the tabs a little push inwards and pull the rubber piece.

2 - Now you have the entire Grill exposed from the inside of the bumper. Locate the tabs that are holding it securely in place - these tabs are a part of the bumper and should be the same color as your car. Mine where white, which is how I figured that those are the ones that need to be popped out and not the ones next to it. This should free the grill and then all you do is pop in the new grill and clip it in well and that's it.

3 - follow all of the above in reverse order and you should be in great shape! Get the car jack back and raise the car from the center jacking point a bit higher than it is so that you can slide out the jack stands and then lower the car back to normal.

4 - Pat yourself on the back...get your wife/partner to give you a pat as well and cheers with a cold one! You deserve it after saving about $100 to $150 in labor and having a sense of self accomplishment! Come back to this thread and thank me and contribute with any of your own tips or suggestions or pictures and help out the community

I hope this helps everyone and if anyone has any other tips or suggestions or even pictures of when they are doing it, to add then please do so to this thread.

Aboshan

Hi Krypton,

I've realised my swap today, after a first unsuccessful trial not unlike yours. Your guide allowed me to confirm some questions I had on some of the other directions I found online, thanks for that!

I took some pictures during the swap, will post them here.

Cheers,

RunwayOneSix

Excellent write-up! The Diamond Grille looks awesome. Still have yet to install mine, hopefully I'll have some spare time this week to take it on.

Krypton

I am glad I could be of help. Yes, the instructions that are originally posted on this forum and what you find on the web are anything but great so I felt compelled to write this detailed instructions and help out the community! Waiting to see some pics!

Krypton

Thanks man! Do it ASAP...you will love it after the install - even more so because it will be a DIY

RunwayOneSix

Well gents, I finally did it. Installed my diamond grille yesterday. What a difference. Here's a before & after.

AChan123

Looks awesome!

Deeyounee

RunwayOneSix

Most on here, myself included purchased our Diamond Grill from Ebay seller, Muscle Leopard. Here's the link for the grille W205 Diamond Grille

benzdude

Question, Did your original MB grille have the camera hole (no camera) at top?

If so, did you HAVE TO replace it with a diamond grille that has a camera hole or will the non-camera hole diamond grilles fit cars that had camera holes?

My 2015 C300 Sport has a grille with a camera hole, but no camera. I am still not sure if I have to buy an aftermarket diamond grille with camera hole or if any (non camera) diamond grille will fit.

RunwayOneSix

If I have some time tomorrow, I'll take a look at my original grille. My car doesn't have the front camera and the diamond grille I purchased doesn't have a camera hole.

eggsandbacon

MariTheBoss

benzdude

I was told all those grills have the same fit.

If you have a working 360 camera on your oem grille, then you will obviously need a aftermarket grille with a camera hole.

If you have a dummy camera hole (no camera), you can replace it with an aftermarket "no camera" grille (cheaper) or another dummy camera grille (a bit more expensive).

Best thing to do ask the seller before buying.

i would prefer to have a clean no dummy camera looking grille.

MariTheBoss

Sweet- ordered! I'll post pics once it's installed

benzdude

Which seller? Link?

MariTheBoss

benzdude

One issue for me is that one is the silver, i need the black version.

Tabais Campbell

hmmwv

Does it matter if I have factory illuminated star? I'd think not since it's just a hole for the star.

benzdude

Trappers101

...crap.

benzdude

That's a W204, which was easy to remove the grille. This is a W205 thread.

Trappers101

...crap.
Pulled the video.
Thanks benzdude.

benzdude

My dealer wants $300 - $400+ to install mine, says it takes 2 hours.