RWagz

I just got it (my first Mercedes ever) several months ago. I'm going to keep my pre-facelift 2010 W212 for a while.

IMO two things made it look dated - one interior and one exterior.

Interior: I replaced the small brown-graphic non-touchscreen COMAND screen with an android unit, thanks to this board. This made adding a backup camera really easy.

Outside: I replaced the grille and that "poking up" hood ornament with something that makes it look a bit more like the facelift version.

Another thread here discusses updating with the actual facelift parts. That looked impractical and expensive. I found a compromise.

• Total cost $270USD
  • Emblem is 000-817-17-01 -
    bought for $49 on Amazon
    bought for $49 on Amazon
    . There were some also cheap fake Chinese emblems. They had bad reviews so I went for a manufacturer part.
  • Grille is obviously not a manufacturer part. I bought it on ebay for $220. There are several variations. My having Distronic limited my choices. This took a week to arrive from Singapore.
• It took about 20 minutes to swap out.
  • Grille comes out with one 10mm bolt. New one snaps in.
  • Ornament comes out with channel locks or by hand.
• I might update the driving/fog lights from the "dual projector" to the LED. They appear to be expensive and I'm unsure if they retain full functionality.
• Distronic still works.

Videos to remove the grille and ornament are on Zaki Garage on YouTube. He has a great collection of W212 videos. I had direct links to the videos but I can't seem to prevent this board from expanding/embedding youtube video links.

Here are the before/after pics: (sorry about the inferior "before" picture, I swear it is only the sunlight and not a manipulation to make it look old-timey!)

Before and after

Teepizzle

Is there any gap on your flat emblem?

RWagz

No. It fit just fine.