wusty

I brought my Tails into a car customization shop this week. They have a connection with a guy who does body work at a big New Car Dealership in town, he did a medium smoke and gloss. It cherry'd them out perfect. I think they look dope.

AMGTestDriverNJ

looks clean nice job

ericjburd

looking good

ericjburd

what did they charge you for the shave? my detailer will do it for $50 I thought was reasonable

Barry45RPM

OK... I give... what does "shaved" mean?

starbrite

Barry, the only time I've heard that term, when applied to cars, was to door handles. Which is an aftermarket accessory kit enabling the door to open (not just unlock) remotely, with a touch of a button.

123Mercedes

I beleive by saying "shaved," he is referring to the E320 badge. He debadged it.

Also, this can be done at home with some floss and adhesive remover which is safe for the paint

starbrite

That makes more sense. Appears he had the 3rd brake light smoked as well.

wusty

To answer a previous question, If you take your handles off, emblems, badges, etc...you've shaved. $50 does sounds reasonable. It takes about an hour. I Actually just did it myself. I was super freaked because it's black and all and I thought you'd be able to see an outline of the emblems when they were gone, but it didn't. They're just stuck to the Benz with adhesive, I did it one emblem at a time, I would heat it up with a blow dryer till they were warm, that made the adhesive kinda gooey, then ran some dental floss underneath them, they pop right off. Then used some Goo Gone to get the rest of the adhesive off. It's easy. For reals. Then once they were all off I threw a quick wax job on there and it was good to go. Here's another pic.

220S

If I got $50 for every car I've debadged, I'd have a nice chunk of change. Simple to do yourself; no reason at all to pay somebody to do it....

Polar Bear

My question is how do you put them back on if you want to? There is a specific device (template) used at the factory to place them on the rear of the car. It is impossible to get the spacing/offset correct it you reapply them without that tool. Do any dealerships or bodyshops have that tool available that anyone knows of?

You can really tell that some cars have had bodywork by the missing VIN label and incorrectly spaced rear lettering on the trunk by just looking at pictures. Imagine trying to get KOMPRESSOR lined up and spaced appropriately.

imolas54

now put a E55 badge on it

Benz-O-Rama

I like smoked tails. That's obvious, since I did mine. Not a big fan of smoking the clear parts though. But it does look much better than stock. Now you just need to get the tips out from underneath the rear skirt. Do the cutouts or put a proper rear bumper on it and you're good to go.

gaazmon

Same here, in regards to shaved. It has a door popper pop the door out a bit. Just have to make sure of the poundage you need for the popper, cause different doors weight different amounts. Also, you can install a linear actuator to open the door all the way while holding a button down. SPAL makes the best linear actuators. They're good, the guy is Italian, know him myself.

Quadcammer

prefer the stock appearance. classier.