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My grille had flaking of the chrome strips on the Distronic guard and a very small bubbling of the chrome on one of the edges, so I decided it was time to swap out the grille. I purchased the new one from a seller on Ali Baba. The new one is the pre-facelift S65/2018+ grille style. The front camera and connections went right in without my fuss and the entire job took less than 30 minutes to do. Total cost with shipping was $220 and it was here in about 5 weeks.
Tip for removing the camera: After you remove the 4 T-20 screws holding the camera mount to the grille, you need to pull the camera door flap on the front of the grille open in order to get the unit out. When installing it to the new grille, you need to pull that flap open in order the get the unit into it before screwing it tight (that's what she said).
Was there any special alignments needed for the Distronic module?
The Distronic is attached to the car, not to the grille. The only thing that attaches to the grille is the front camera. And that is fool proof as it screws right to the back of the grille. Just make sure the new grille is perfectly centered and you'll be good to go. Also, the holes where the rubber grommets and grille badge go into are slightly larger than the original....thus the badge is pretty loose in there. So I put a couple of dots of JB Weld on the grommets and that seems to be holding it in place quite well so far.
2015 S550 Executive, 2017 Volvo XC60 R design, 2009 BMW Z4 35i DCT TwinTurbo
I too have a similar flaking situation though not as extreme as yours. If the original German grill is doing this, how do we know the Chinese knock off wont do this and even sooner when exposed to weather.
Is there a procedure video or directions on how to remove and reinstall this grill.
I too have a similar flaking situation though not as extreme as yours. If the original German grill is doing this, how do we know the Chinese knock off wont do this and even sooner when exposed to weather.
Is there a procedure video or directions on how to remove and reinstall this grill.
Nothing in life is guaranteed except death and taxes. For $220 shipped to my door, vs around $1300 for a new OEM grille, it was a no-brainer for me.
Interesting ... is the grill molded plastic with a chrome finish? Metal seems to be increasingly rate, even on very expensive cars!
Yes, it is ABS plastic with a chrome coating....exactly like the OEM grille. The quality appears to be every bit as good as the OEM grille. The Chinese seem to reverse engineer almost everything as I don't think they've ever had an original idea.
Originally Posted by Nice Ride
How did you remove the rubber and re-install. Thanks for point that out, I never see that as an option to add to the grill to keep water and dirt out.
Good find
It pulls right off out of the slot and easily goes into the same slot on the new grille.
Tip for removing the camera: After you remove the 4 T-20 screws holding the camera mount to the grille, you need to pull the camera door flap on the front of the grille open in order to get the unit out. When installing it to the new grille, you need to pull that flap open in order the get the unit into it before screwing it tight (that's what she said).
Thanks
I have the same problem looks like this is my next project once back home from trip. I will be going for oem part.
06-04-2021, 04:19 PM
