russellm

Took a few months, but I used the 2K mile service to also have them paint my wheels and trim (around windows and rear).

I know its not for everyone, but I just dont like a lot of Chrome on my car

After:


Before:



P.S.
1) Supposedly the side reflectors are very difficult to get to (so if anyone has specifics on how I can get to them, the paintshop told me they would smoke them for free)
2) they were unwilling to paint my front grill (and I don't blame them) because a) they are concerned with rocks chipping and the paint coming off (already have one rock hit) and b) there is "embedded" Chrome into the radar that is installed. I am having the dealer look into seeing if I can get the grill wrapped.
3) I really want to get it lowered.... But I dont know if adding spacers (along with the coil over kit) will mess with my tire pressure reader, etc..

Thanks
Russell

jayb289

great transformation! would love to see more pics of your beast

jdeastbay

Looks great. I can't stand the chrome around the windows, can only pull it off on a silver car. MB should "shadow" it out like BMW does on sport / M series cars. A much cleaner look.

drop997stop

Look plasti dip, It's the new craze for painting grills and trim black. It's a rubberized coating that does not chip and when your done with the look you can peel it off

russellm

Will look into it but I dont think it can be dipped because of the embedded Radar into the Grill

Thanks for the suggestion

Russell

diggo

Lookin good Russell!

Don't do plastidip, it looks cheap and nasty

BenzoBoi

Looks great!

NickyBlack

my front reflectors are painted... have the body shop remover them, sand them, and paint. Looks great. Car looks good blacked out as well....very nice

russellm

the guy at the bodyshop said they are a PITA to remove... he said that it requires removing the bumper. He said if I get them removed he'll paint them for no charge. I have done some research on this site for how to remove them and it looks like its been a huge pain to do.

ferrariyellow44

I know you probably dont want to hear this, but I prefer it with the shiny bits!

russellm

Haha, no worries. It's not for everyone. My mom likes the chrome too. However, I love being able to drive in a car that doesn't look just like everyone else's

Russell

_AMG_

Looks way better blacked out.

NickyBlack

I doubt it's that hard they should just pop off, but even so, i'd remover the bumper, the amber lights now look even worse. GL

Vic55

Im kind of in the same boat here... the small chrome accents offset the car and the wheels (prior to painting) well. If one is going to get rid of the chrome trim then I would do the entire car meaning badges too. Looking at these two pics over and over and I tend to like the stock color wheels approach with the chrome pipes, accents, etc... But thats me and the car does look good in black too. I think it depends on the car because I have a black CLS and didnt like the stock silver wheels at all and went with black but I did change the size of the wheel and the look (HRE).

FYI- lowering your car and adding spacers will NOT affect TPMS. The air in the tire is... well air in the tire. And with your current black out look the drop will make the car look more mean. Since you have the PP your suspension will not change much since the stiffer shocks work well with the lower stance and reduced compression and rebound.

russellm

Thanks Vik... I was kind of waiting to see your new wagon lowered since I know you bought a kit from Vivid, but now that you have the rear shock issue, I guess that is going to be awhile. The reason I asked about the TPMS is because I simply do not know how the technology works.. I.E. what communication mechanism is used between tire and car to know how much air is there... on a side note, going to a 20" tire, how does it affect MPH accuracy and TPMS as well?

I do agree about the other pieces of chrome... I am going to have to deal with them. One other thing that become really obvious to me in the pics is the rear lower diffusion piece... it sticks out like a sore thumb. But other than current stance, and those ugly organge deflectors, I love the side view of the car

Russell

Vic55

You will be fine with 20 inch wheels and tires as long as you do the plus size set up. EG you run 19 inch wheels with 255x35 and 285x30 tires- the plus size bump to keep the 26 inch overall diameter is 255x30x20 and 295x25x20 tires. You could run 285x25 tires as well. As long as your overall diameter is the same you will be fine. This is to maintain odo/mph accuracy. TPMS functionality is exclusive of plus sizing- you could be way off in diameter and it would still work.

The wagon dynamics will differ from the sedan/car; lowered vs lowered because of the weight distribution. The wagon has more rear weight bias and even in the PP format it does not get the stiffer shocks. I knew this but am mad that AMG didnt offer up the stiffer set up. Since my shock is bad I am actually trying to source a set of PP shocks but its like finding a needle in the haystack. No dealer in the US can locate them nor are they available in Germany. Im finding the same bad luck for my standard replacement shock. It seems the factory is only making or using the current batch of shocks for production cars but not stocking up their part centers. And of course they are Monroes- made in Spain.

otakki

Looks good! Was thinking the same thing about blacking out the badges for your car, too. Maybe the same goes for the exhaust tips to blend everything in. Who does the painting? It's not the dealer, is it?

It's quite surprising it's hard to even locate a replacement shock. Do they not expect people's shock to break? Anyway, I hope you will get your shock fixed and get your car back soon, Vic.

areuv

it looks like you also painted the chrome part of the outside door handle, it looks much better this way and I plan on doing the same, do you know if the chrome part of the handle snaps off for painting once the handles are removed?