Kidney Grill Advice
 

I am wanting to change out my chrome framed kidney grills to black on my Jet Black E53. So my question for advise is matte black or gloss black?

I checked ECS Tuning and FCP Euro and neither have black face lift kidneys. Any other vendor I should check?

There are plenty of black E53 Chinese grills on fleaBay. I know the fitment is not recommended for the E46, does anyone have experience with these on their X5? TIA :thumbup:

I know this shot is a pre face lift model but I just kinda like the look.

https://c1552172.ssl.cf0.rackcdn.com/613947_x800.jpg

Have you considered plasti-dip? Cheap, easy, looks great, and matches the oem finish of the bumper. No need to destroy the clips on the old grills either..

No I hadn't thought of that. I ordered a set off fleaBay for $45 and if they don't fit to my standards, I might give that a try. Thank you for your input! :thumbup:

Here's some food for thought.. hope it helps!
http://i.cubeupload.com/oXPCBX.png

One of my grills fell out (or maybe stolen). I bought a set of some of the higher priced eBay set and I got matte and I'm happy with them. They aren't perfect fit but you have to look to find seam gap. (And look a hell of a lot better than a missing grill!)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

You can check this website as well

https://www.schmiedmann.com

Thanks! I'm gonna try those and see how the fitment is. I have paint matched aftermarket kidneys on my E46 and they don't fit perfect either but they have been fine for 13 years.

The fitment on the face lift e53 grilles I ran was fine around the edges, but I did use silicon in key places as an extra to hold them in. The grille slats were cheap though. They were the 6 series style grille though as that was the only gloss offering at the time when I purchased them. Now I believe they have OEM e53 style available in both gloss and matte.

Right now I am rocking plasti-dipped OEM grilles with glossifier. They look good, but I'd prefer gloss OEM style grilles. Keep us updated as I might purchase another after market set if they are worth it.

I've been searching for a set for years and still couldn't find anything to date - not sure why no one is making the facelift grille ;) Most of the clips on mine are so brittle that it would come apart at anytime - a couple of them already disappeared. Please update us on how those replacement work out? Thanks.

Will do. They are shipping today but I still don't know where they are coming from. The seller is located in the US but who knows if he drop ships from China... I'll take plenty of pictures and document the process. :thumbup:

I got mine from BavAuto, but it has been several years. Check their web site...

They only have the OE chrome rings with black slats - I may have to buy those when mine comes apart. I was hoping to find some gloss black that isn't the "mustache" style

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... :bustingup

Wait what? I can fit facelift kidneys on a pre-facelift X5 so that there is no more huge chrome ring?

Not sure about that. Mine is a face lift. I know you can get matte black pre-face lift grills from fleaBay or ECS Tuning. I hated the chrome rings too.

ECS Tuning didn't stock face lift so I had to go Chinese fleaBay... Here is a shot from their website for your pre face lift.

Thanks for posting your update - Those actually look pretty good :thumbup: Do you have a link for them? Do you know if they have anything painted? Not sure if I wanted unpainted matte plastic as those can turn grayish pretty quick.

Here are some for face lift off fleaBay. Look a little harder a you might find some cheaper but this seller is in NJ.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gloss-Black...1YBGWh&vxp=mtr

Seemed too good to be true. I'm not so much bothered by the chrome since my x5 is silver, it doesn't pop out. I'm a bit bothered its not black like the rest the window trims.

My main interest was to have it "flush" rather than sitting on the frontend.

Thank you

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 :bustingup

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.

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! :thumbup:

Sold On Plasti Dip
 

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?

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.

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

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.

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...

https://xoutpost.com/attachments/x5-...221_163133.jpg

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. :thumbup:

Love it! I debadge all my vehicles, looks so much cleaner!

Kidney Grill Advise
 

Awesome. Mine came debadged and I'm a big fan.

Also: nice rims that's my second favorite e53 rim

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Anyone try these?


https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/cgJ6Iw0C

I would spray mine but being cold these days wouldn’t be able for a while and getting impatient.

Looks like the ones on ebay from NJ.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro