Matte Black Vinyl Wrapped Grill

[TheGodfather]

My grill was looking really crappy with a bunch of rock chips so I decided to wrap it in vinyl. I got the idea from this fellow at e90post.com. (go here for DIY details)

The vinyl wrap maybe great for anyone who doesn't want to sand down their existing chrome trim. It was a bit of a PITA to do.

Cost $10 for 2 feet of material.

Sorry for the crappy iphone pics.

[sethro]

Love it your hood looks full of rock chips or is that just dirt

[diyanich]

My hood looks pretty chipped as well...that's North American roads reality...

[TheGodfather]

My hood is definitely horribly chipped. The pictures of the chips look worse in pictures than in person.

Where I live, rock chips are a certainty. It's too late for a clear bra for me. Though, all our new cars get the rock guard right when we take possession.

[X5Dawg]

Looks great - so you wrapped only the outer trim ring?? I recently painted mine gloss black and I love the way it looks, but even after much prep, many layers of paint and clearcoat, I am already seeing the chrome coming back thru just after a few months.

Where did you get the wrap from??

[NY98M3]

Just buy the blacked out ones already! The last forever.

[TheGodfather]

Originally Posted by X5Dawg

Looks great - so you wrapped only the outer trim ring?? I recently painted mine gloss black and I love the way it looks, but even after much prep, many layers of paint and clearcoat, I am already seeing the chrome coming back thru just after a few months.

Where did you get the wrap from??

Yes, just the outer ring. I got the vinyl from a place that does auto graphics and tinting. I also bought a square foot of the stuff they use for taillight tinting. I tried tinting the white corners and rectangle on the taillights, didn't work out too well.

NY98M3: Once the vinyl fails!

[X5Dawg]

Originally Posted by NY98M3

Just buy the blacked out ones already! The last forever.

I have had those - (1) they only come in matte black (I want gloss) and (2) the aftermarket grilles don't fit as good as the OEM grilles.

I am going to try this - thanks for the info.

[powers1]

Originally Posted by X5Dawg

Looks great - so you wrapped only the outer trim ring?? I recently painted mine gloss black and I love the way it looks, but even after much prep, many layers of paint and clearcoat, I am already seeing the chrome coming back thru just after a few months.

Where did you get the wrap from??

Sorry for asking,but did you apply clear plastic primer before the paint???
I had mine for a long time and no problems..

[X5Dawg]

I used plastic primer, but it wasn't clear - apparently the primer is my issue bc the few rock chips that I have went all the way back down to the chrome.