Bikr Boy

I wrote last week about picking up my new E55 (next week) and installing a new grille that looks like the CL grille. Dr Chill kindly informed me of the Lorinser grille which works fine if you want to paint it to match the body color but I'd prefer that it be chrome as on the CL. That's the "look" I'm going for. Lorinser does not come in chrome. It seems that only the Expression grille comes in chrome.

From some of the previous posts it seems like the quality is sub standard on this piece, or is it?. It would be appreciated if I could get some specifics from those of you who have purchased/installed it or those who ordered it and returned it with specifc reasons why it was not acceptable. Hope it's not too much trouble but I really don't want to spent $700 on something that will not work.

theine

Try www.performanceproducts.com

EX-BEEMER

I was seriously considering it myself. I had seen an installation done by a board member. If you look closely at his, you see that the grille overlaps the hood in his installation.

In the Expression photos, the grille looks great until you realize that to install it properly, you must grind off part of the hood, weld the grille to the hood bondo over the seam and repaint the whole hood. That's straight from the people at Expression

I chose the Lorinser grille and I love it now, but when I tire of it I can easily change to something else.

amg55

I bought the Performance Products grille at around $240.
It has exactly the same dimensions as the stock grille and exactly the same material and quality.
Chrome coverage is the same also.

There was a previous post about removing the plastic meshwork recessed behind the center star. This was done because that individual didn't like the look of the plastic mesh, and he wanted to match the wire mesh from the front spoiler to the area behind the star.
I think that would look great as well. And it would only take a few minutes to accomplish this, but I haven't been able to find any matching wire mesh as yet.
How visible is the meshwork? Not very.
But if I find some I'll change mine out.

EDWARD CONROY

I'm sure this has been posted somewhere, but may I ask again that if you get a grill with the star, where the hood badge can be purchased to replace the current hood star? And does it fit real well? I know I'm going to torture myself over what grill to get, but I lean toward chrome myself and the price is right .

tjcMBE55AMG

The grille that I bought on ebay (for $135, I think) is pictured here: https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...0&pagenumber=3

and is a very high-quality German make (Schatz???). It appeared to be OEM in the sense that the manufacturing marks matched the ones on the factory grille.

Now, quality of the factory grille is another story ....

TJC

amg55

Eddy: I bought mine on E-Bay. There always seem to be several available. Most of the AMG badges seem to be the same type, with the slightly raised acrylic type clear dome covering the actual badge. I've seen prices anywhere from $24-45. Of course the flat MB star badges are available several places too, usually for a few $$ less.

Two things to look out for: 1) badges come in different diameters. Make sure the seller specifies the car models the badge will fit. The recess in the hood will only accept one size badge.
2) Some badges come already welded to the anchoring apparatus which fits under the hood. Some don't. Mine was not welded. I took some industrial metal glue a friend of mine had and 'welded' it myself. Turned out great.

Dr Chill

The lorinser product IMO is by far the nicest and best quality. There is a small price premium for this product, but for an $80,000+ car the difference is small. The difference in appearance between it and the Expressions grille is significant. Now if you like the appearance of the Schatz product, it's definitely a quality grille, but I think it cheapens the overall appearance of the car compared to the stock grille.

EDWARD CONROY

Thanks, AMG55. I ought to round that piece up first.

tjcMBE55AMG

Chill ... I'm not *sure* it was Schatz ... but the one I have is indistinguishable from factory (identical) except for the center star.

TJC