HBC350

2014 507 Coupe. I want to make the trunk emblems (C63, MB Star and AMG) matte black. What is the best way to do this? Are they merely stuck to the car with double sided tape? Will I ruin them in the process of taking them off to paint? Should I just buy a new set and paint them? Plastidip? Paint?

Sidv22

I had the same questions few months ago and found that plastidip is the best option. It is super easy and totally reversible. Mark a square area around your emblems with painters tape and spray on number of coats on the emblems including the trunk area surrounding the emblems. once you are satisfied with the finish, peel off the coating on the paint leaving plastidip only on the emblems. Seems scary at first but its really easy.

HBC350

I'm a little reluctant to do it while on the car. Sounds very imprecise.

Sidv22

The process may seem imperfect but the result is better than taking the emblems off and risk misalignment. the plastidip easily comes off the paint as long as you lay down thick coats. in case of overspray, you can wipe it off with goo gone

CarHopper

Fast forward to 1:50

jcfay

yup, plastidip. Removing the emblems is a little dangerous as if you don't do it well you can damage the paint, plus you need to reinstall accurately, and if you want them chrome again you've obviously got to paint them again. And plastidip is pretty much idiot proof. and if you don't like it just rub it off. Easy. Watch some youtube videos on it, and you'll be reassured.

dchl21

I did on my e with plastidip. left the side emblems black for 3+ years then peeled off.


no problems. just make sure you tape off and cover EVERYTHING good. over spray of a thin layer of plasti dip is a B I T C H to get rid of. I messed up once..


make sure you cover a huge area with news paper and tape.

HBC350

I'm going for it. That stuff looks harmless.

dchl21

you are welcome

unruin

lol

kjkidd21

I just bought all new emblems off Ebay. The ones I bought, however, are gloss black. You could buy the gloss black ones, scuff em up a bit and spray them with matte black spray paint. Then take the old ones off and stick on the new ones. The new ones all came with 3m double sided tape on them.

All together, from different sellers on eBay, I believe they were ~$50.

HBC350

I am a believer. That crap is magic.

Thanks.

papashango

Reading this thread makes me want to plastidip the chrome trim beside the windows. Any videos of showing that?

CarHopper

^I'd wrap those in gloss black. Trim can be much more picky. The reason it peels so easily off the rear emblems is because there is a big gap between the badge and paint.

Trim can be done, but again, I recommend a good wrap job. Also, pastidip comes out matte and I prefer the gloss trim look anyways.

papashango

There's no plastidip in gloss black? I would prefer that too for the trim and if I do that for the trim I'd prefer it to be consistent for the emblems too. My roof is wrapped in gloss vinyl so I'd like to keep it all consistent.

CarHopper

I believe you can do a clear coat over the black to give it the gloss effect. I'm sure there is a way to do it. Just plasti dipping the trim is a bit more time consuming.

Youtube it, I'm sure there are videos.

SaphGreyC63

Plastidip has what they call a "glossifier" coat you can spary on.

Also, I would wrap the trim surrounding the windows (both upper and lower). I tried plastidipping them, it didn't come out good.

Everything else is great! Emblems, Grill, and LED surround came out gorgeous and two and a half years later still holding up great.

jcfay

as mentioned, to get plastidip gloss you need to add this glossifier coat which sounded a bit sketchy to me. For the window trim, as mentioned, I'd also recommend vinyl. I wrapped mine in satin black (I wanted it to match the rubber window material rather than the paint), and it turned out pretty great. Working with vinyl, unlike plastidip however, is a bit more work. Mine turned out fine but it was a little touch and go sometimes. Removing the trim is a little sketchy (as is reinstalling it), since it's held on by somewhat delicate snap fittings and it also runs behind the side view mirrors (although you can delicately slide it out from underneath them without having to remove them). It took me a day, but I'm happy with it, but considering the cost of the vinyl and the few cheap tools I bought I'd probably recommend having someone else do that. You should be able to get it done well for a couple hundred bucks, I imagine (I'm sure others have quotes). It looks great, though.

And as also mentioned above, whenever spraying anything mask everything around it in a much greater area than you'd think you'd need. A quick squirt from the can or whatever can easily send material to a place you'd think would never be touched by the spray.

Ihopaz

If you look on eBay you should be able to find them all in flat black or Gloss Black. I couldn't find the star so I found an OEM one on EBay. I bought that one and I plastidiped it and then iput it on the car. I did this with a few parts I bought duplicates and plastidiped or painted them and kept a set of actual OEM originals.

sventastic82

I would buy a new set.
Removing the current emblems is easy. Use a fishing line and a hair dryer.
If you don't heat up the paint too much then there is no risk of damaging the paint.
I would put some tape around the current emblem before taking them off so you get the new emblems positioned right.

Here is a link where you can find all the emblems in matt black.
http://chromecarletters.com/mercedes...lettering.html

c63buckeye

Can you post (or pm me) pics of what those look like on your car? Thanks man.

Sidv22

Whats the point of so much hassle when you can just dip them without removing from the car? Besides, duplicate emblems aren't as good as the OEM's.

g-f

Plastidip for the win!

Easy to do. Reversible. Cheap.

jcfay

x2. Just dip em. Why replace them? Seems like an odd choice for something you may want to eventually revert back. Especially when PD holds up so well, is cheap as heck, and super easy to apply.

WESLEY KAY

I have a 507 as well and just bought a can of the black plasti dip and a can of the glossifier. I am going to spray one coat of gloss on it to make it satin like in the wheel video above. Good luck! eBay does sell the actual newer style emblems in gloss black. Easier to do plasti dip and completely reversible