Kidney Grill Advice

[dkl]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

The new formulation of Rust-Oleum paint is designed for plastic. The grill is very low traffic you can paint any color

True, but I would rather not messed with a rattle can if I can avoid it. Knowing me, I would probably put orange peel on even the simplest stuffs

[Overboost]

Originally Posted by dkl

True, but I would rather not messed with a rattle can if I can avoid it. Knowing me, I would probably put orange peel on even the simplest stuffs

My original grill clips and tabs disintegrated when I removed them after nearly 14 years so you would have to paint them on the car if you went that route. Plus the entire install was less than 5 minutes so if budget is not a consideration, just replace them.

[Overboost]

Originally Posted by Overboost

Got my face lift matte black kidney grilles in today. They fit pretty good for Chinese. They are tight and look good.

Now it looks like the titanium mesh grilles stand out like a sore thumb and need to go so ordered Genuine BMW black mesh grilles from ECS. The lower grille had some small debris damage anyway.

Looks like the front bumper is coming off... again...

My new OEM black bumper grilles came in today and pulled the front bumper and replaced the titanium color mesh grilles. Definitely matched the blacked out front look better. Also took the opportunity to replace the right side bumper guide that I broke one of the tabs off a couple of years ago. Nice and tight again!

[Dagbaugh]

Quick story: Wife has red 2014 328i, wanted black wheels, bought a package for $1,800. Looks good. Son has a 2009 328i, wanted black wheels. Bought him six cans of Plastidip and new center caps for $50. Looks just as good, if not better, because the wheels are OEM. Went ahead and dipped the grills while we were at it. That was the finishing touch. Painted over four months ago and not a single tear, scratch or rash. The best part: When you get tired of the look, it just peels off. Avoided Plasti Dip for a long time just because of the name. Sounds cheap. Plastic. They should really call it Euro Coat or something that would attract us Bimmers that don't want to go cheap. LOVE PLASTI DIP. Try it. And if you don't like it, peel it off.

[Overboost]

Originally Posted by Dagbaugh

Quick story: Wife has red 2014 328i, wanted black wheels, bought a package for $1,800. Looks good. Son has a 2009 328i, wanted black wheels. Bought him six cans of Plastidip and new center caps for $50. Looks just as good, if not better, because the wheels are OEM. Went ahead and dipped the grills while we were at it. That was the finishing touch. Painted over four months ago and not a single tear, scratch or rash. The best part: When you get tired of the look, it just peels off. Avoided Plasti Dip for a long time just because of the name. Sounds cheap. Plastic. They should really call it Euro Coat or something that would attract us Bimmers that don't want to go cheap. LOVE PLASTI DIP. Try it. And if you don't like it, peel it off.

Thank you for your post. I have been pondering Plastidip for my 3.0 emblems on the side and the X5 emblem on the back. I would love a color like black chrome or shadow chrome. I like the ease of painting it right on the car and the bail out method of peeling it off if I don't like it or get tired of it. Anyone done this?

[Dagbaugh]

No problem. You might find the colors you're looking for online. We blacked out our "328i" and "X6" emblems via purchasing from Bimmian. They're cheap and look great (and lots of colors to choose from). Ask for Ed, tell him Dawson says hello. Removing the old ones is easy. Just take some fishing line, wrap around your index fingers like you're going to strangle someone, start at the top of the numbers, and pull down. They come right off. Use a little Goo Gone to remove the residue. Be sure to then clean off the GG with some Simple Green so the new emblems stick. Alignment is also easy because the paint looks brand new where the old emblems were.

[Overboost]

I think if I were to remove the old emblems and buy new, I would take the Duplicolor shadow chrome method before replacement.

https://youtu.be/lUPcm3ALQik

[Crowz]

Looks good !

I need to replace the ones on my 323i one day. The drivers side grill pops out some when I close the hood. I have been just pushing it back in place when it does it so long I catch myself trying to push my X5's grill in when I close the hood.

[Overboost]

The more I look at this picture, I may just go out and debadge the side 3.0i emblems. It just looks like the door moulding flowing into the side marker would be cleaner without the emblems...

[Overboost]

OK so debadging the front fenders looks much better IMHO.

I took a heat gun and heated the emblems to soften the adhesive. I used a plastic tool to remove the emblems. There was a lot of adhesive left on the panel but kept applying heat and lightly rolled the excess adhesive off with my finger. Then used a Meguires #7 polish and buffed the area where the emblems used to be. Viola!

I love it when I can perform a mod I like without spending a dime! The side mouldings just flow much better without the emblems.