Bonz2011

Hello,
considering blacking out the new 2006 C55 I just got. Has anyone done it? it's black already and although I am not sure how it would look, I would imagine darn good. Anyone done it and got pics? If so, can you share links to what you purchased or did?

MIKESV8

here's what i did. subtle, yet menacing look IMO. blacked out grill, smoked side markers, 5.5 amg side badges, tinted windows, flat badge

togaclk55

^ Looks good. You can also tint the head/tail/fog lights, windshield, and black out the chrome trim

Bonz2011

thanks MK, You're becoming my source for all! Thanks! I am thinking about matting out the car...flat matt black.
Where did you get the badge? and aluminum one or sticker?

CFiftyFive

Mike, did you sand and paint the grillle or wrap it?

If painted, what paint did you use?

thegreatfnr

To anyone looking to paint the chrome trim/grille I strongly suggest having those parts wrapped and not painted. I had mine professionally painted originally and within a year the rock chips were horrible due to the chrome showing though from underneath.

After I got tired of touching them up over and over again I decided to get them wrapped and couldn't be happier.

Saaboteur

How did you wrap the vertical pieces on the grille? I can visualize doing the larger, horizontal slats, but how to do the small pieces without them looking like crap eludes me for now.

I have a huge pile of carbon look vinyl kicking around, and was contemplating wrapping the grille, but I might get black vinyl instead. I've done a bunch of interior pieces on my S2000 with it, and the b-pillar trim on my C43 this way, looks decent.

thegreatfnr

That is a good question that I cant unfortunately answer. When I had my grille wrapped with the carbon vinyl it already had been painted black and they just did the horizontal slats since the vertical one did not look bad.

A pic I took a while back for reference. FYI I have since swapped to the SL gapless grille and it no longer looks like this.

CFiftyFive

How did you wrap the chrome trim on the bumper? Did it need to be taken out?

And this might sound like a stupid question, but are the vinyl wraps self adhesive? Or do you have to apply some sort of glue while wrapping? Sorry, I haven't vinyl wrapped anything in my life

Saaboteur

Pix of the SL grille, or it didn't happen!!

From previous experience, I would say you would need to remove all trim bits to wrap them properly. Otherwise, it'll look like...you stuck wrap on them without removing the trim to wrap them properly!

The vinyl wrap is self adhesive. For complex curves or sharp corners, a heat gun or hair dryer helps to persuade it to fit.

thegreatfnr

The guy I had do mine for me wrapped my grille off of the car but for the trim peices he laid out a thick strip and he used some tools push out all the bubbles and cut the extra off while tucking it in (think fancy small xacto knife). The main reason we did it this way was that he was worried about breaking tabs on the trim. It turned out great and does not look bad but I could see where some would want to take the trim off to wrap as well.

Saaboteur this one is for you.

MIKESV8

i had a body shop do the work on my car. they did the grille by first sanding off all the chrome the best they could. then they painted it with normal car paint, then they put 2 coats of clear coat on it. i 100% believe that depending on the area where you live + road conditions and how for you drive behind the car in front of you affects your rock chips and how bad your grille will get chipped up. i have no chips on the front of my car nor in my painted grill because our roads where i live are too nice and i never tailgate anyone. i keep my distance. the second pic. i posted is a pic i took after i washed my car in nevada right after driving there from california (although, i did use blue masking tape to cover it up while i drove back and forth) nonetheless, no dents or chips.

Saaboteur

FNR, thanks for posting that pic, gives me an idea on how it'll look. Not yet sure if I want to go that route myself, but I suppose I'll have time to think about it. I could see how your guy did it now, that would make sense too. Would take plenty of time to do, but then again, probably less hassle than removing the trim entirely. Probably one would need to remove the whole bumper first, to properly get at the trim from the inside of the bumper skin. Did your guy do the chrome trim on the windows too?

From contemplating purchasing an E60 545i before I went for the C55, I read about BMW's 'shadowline' trim, on their higher end models, or as an option I think. All the chrome is replaced by just black pieces. Reminds me of my old Saabs - 'classic' shape 900 Turbos had black trim, the lower models had chrome. I loved the darker look. I think I'll acquire a whole pile of black vinyl and do up the whole car. My wife may object but...I drive the car, so that's that. She doesn't like my retro Mobil 1 Pegasus stickers on the rear windows, but they're not going anywhere...

Kuzni, I agree with you on the road conditions / environment re: chipping. I know from my own experience that painted grilles will get chipped to hell quite easily where I live, especially if winter driven. It's not the snow that's the problem, it's all the other crap that is dumped onto the roads for traction, and then kicked up by other cars. We just had our first major snowfall of the year, and I can't wait for spring... One of the previous owners of my car had put on a new bumper - but hadn't installed 3M yet, so I'm going in on Thursday to have that done. Fortunately, the 3M protection is still on the hood and fenders from the original owner (I believe).

Bonz2011

anyone know of a good wrapping guy in the orange county,ca area?

MIKESV8

i know of amazing shops that do wraps in your area, and then there's Frank W. on here who did his own wrap in your area.

Bonz2011

How do I get in touch with Frank W? i dont see his name on the thread.
which stores? thanks!

thtguy

mike, you need to take apart your headlights and paint the chrome black now.

on the rock chips, try driving in Florida especially highway driving, all our roads are so damaged by the heat and sun that it is basically like driving on loose gravel.

AMG Sleeper

LOL. Single fin looks great by the way... where'd you get it, formymercedes.com ? Is it completely flush / gapless?

thegreatfnr

Thanks. Yes it is gapless. I got my grille off of ebay. Beware though as there is one version that does have a gap and is not good quality. I bought that one first and it was junk but then found the proper gapless one.

Saaboteur

Can you clarify by which gap you are referring to when you mention 'gapless'? All the ones I see on eBay look the same to me!?

thegreatfnr

Here is an older pic of the gapped grille on my car. You can see it does not align properly with the hood. You can also see where the mesh is sort of filled in above the star. Also the gapped grill has a removable star with a mesh backing where as on the gapless the star is one piece and has a solid black backing to it. Those are the things to look for on the ebay ads that will tell you which one your looking at.

Saaboteur

Okay, I'm seeing the distinction more now.

I think this is the 'proper' gapless one to get:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/03-09-W209-C...sories&vxp=mtr

These are probably ones to avoid, however:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FRONT-GRILLE...sories&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mercedes-W20...sories&vxp=mtr

AMG Sleeper

I think so... except the first one it's hard to tell if it is in fact truly gapless, since the car is black and the pic isn't that clear.

thegreatfnr, is there a particular seller or search term you looked for? And pricewise is it the same range ($110ish)?

Saaboteur

The other aspect I looked at was the 'protrusion' of the star's circle. The first link has the circle 'contained' within the upper portion of the grille; the others all protrude upwards more.

dre5373

That was what I noticed when I was looking Saaboteur, the top of the star on the gapless grills are even with the top of the grill frame.