E55 Bulldog

Alright... I know there have been a few guys asking about this and I was going to do mine too, so I should go ahead and get the ball rolling....

How do you recommend painting the stock grille black to get quality results and prevent the majority of rock chips...

I was looking at the grille the other day and was about the start the project but held off.

I want to take the grille apart into 2 piece (chrome front and black back)… but as I looked at it I noticed there are a million little lock tabs…. Does anyone know the best way of taking the 2 apart without breaking all the tabs…. I know they tend to break real easy.

Next… I planned on sanding, priming and painting but what products do you recommend… I have used Rustolium Plastic for my emblems but wanted to get your 2 cents on that…. I worry about easy rock chips, I know its inevitable but… I just want to do it right the first time so I don’t have to do it every time a small rock hits it.

Thanks everyone !!

shardul

iTrader: (1)

In terms of the rock chips I got my kidney grills on my bmw professionally painted. I still had rock chips on them. So I had to get them painted once a year.

vinnyz

get it powder coated it easier and stronger . my friend did his c63 it looks amazing with the smoked tail lights

reeper6

Cool, I was going to start my grille painting project this weekend too, PLEASE post some pics while youre doing it.

Finny

I removed the chrome section carefully with a small screw driver one click at a time then sent it to the dudes who do the electroplating and asked them to drop it in the acid bath which removes all the chrome and copper, then I sent it off to the spray painters for a few coats of semi gloss black. Done!

Bullet Tooth

I did mine on my own. It does not look professionally done, but doesn't look bad either.

I took the grill off and, like Finney, took some time with a screwdriver to remove the chrome section from the black portion of the grill. It is not difficult, once you get it started. It is time consuming, however.

Then, I took course grit sand paper and sanded the chrome. Three coats of black spray paint and two coats of clear later and I was finished. The entire process took about 4 hours (I am not sure about this, but that is a decent guess.)

I decided to do it on my own, because I made an assumption (whether correct or not) that rock chips were going to happen. Based on that assumption, I decided that I would probably have to repaint the grill over time.

I have a 3 or 4 small chips and will probably do another coat when it gets warmer. I may be making this sound much worse than it really is, but if you are a perfectionist, I wouldn't recommend doing it yourself.

E55 Bulldog

You can't PC it, its plastic.

.trunzx

You have any pics?

V12Godspeed

+1, I did my grill and it is chipping away...

Bullet Tooth

I don't have any pics of it. I haven't paid attention to it, but after my post this morning, I did look at it at lunch. It is definately time for a repaint. It is hard to tell because my car is so dirty today (tornadoes and storms through OKC yesterday), but it looks like there are multiple chips.

After I get it washed tomorrrow, I will have a better feel for how bad it really is now and give you an update.

phatmitzu

And it didn't melt?


Other than sand off or strip the chrome, make sure to clearcoat it couple of layers. It will protect the paint better.

RenntechE55

so if you have a sport grill with the black back ground you remove the chrome trim and jsut paint that? does it looks funny being two different black?

RenntechE55

so you can acid drip plastic?

Finny

Looks good imo...

Yes, it's reactive to the metallic layer only.

jangy

Nice Finny!! Adding value as usual!! Any chance you would know the acid formulation? I'll give it a whack on Monday...

Finny

I gave it to the guys who do the actual chroming to remove all metallic coatings.

They were doing some other stuff for me and chucked it in for nothing. Not sure of the acid formulation though.

jtc55

does anyone know if u can vinyl wrap the front grill? i know people do it on the chrome trimming around the windows and was wondering if it can be done on the grill? how durable will it be to outside conditions (i.e. salt, rain, car wash) ?

The Godfather

I had my grill painted by my body shop. They kept it in one piece. I don't know how much they sanded it down but not a whole lot I'd venture to say. I did it a couple of months ago but it's already chipping, despite the several coats of clear applied. Inevitable.

Karlson

so what would be the best way to paint then. Mine is chipping pretty quickly. Did anyone use Plasti-Dip Spray? I used it on my other cars and it holds better than after its painted from the body shop

Max.H

That actually sounds like a good idea... but might be hard to do. Anyone willing to try? Mine is getting sprayed right now. Should I tell the body shop to sand it down first?

ECBAOBAO

Hey Max,

How much are they charging you?

Anyone have pictures of a black e55 with matte black grille vs a color matched one?

Thanks

AMGfan

Try this thread...another forum member is selling his car and has a blacked out grill.

https://mbworld.org/forums/mercedes-...cs-inside.html

ECBAOBAO

Thanks a lot AMGfan!

hhughes1

My grill was vinyl wrapped 3 months ago along with the window trim. Absolutely zero chips ,marks or other blemishes thus far. Close-up available in the Mars Red post in the C63 forum.

ECBAOBAO

Hey,

How much did that cost you?

And also, where do you find a place to do this?