Recently I got one of those s600 grilles from ebay from redcometm3. When it arrived I was sort of disappointed by the build quality. The "chrome strips" are really molded into the plastic and spray painted silver unlike the OEM ones which are removable strips. Also the height didn't seemed to be short on the bottom. Anyone know where to find a better quality one, or are they all made out of plastic these days?
I might just keep rocking the OEM grille painted black
Take a look at the ones they have at the Benz Bin, they have the black S600 style grille that looks exactly the same as the one on Ebay. They also have just the insert. The same company also makes an oem version grille, so maybe there quality is much better than that of the ones on ebay, or maybe there exactly the same...
Where do they sell pieces of clear bra so you can stick those over the black portions of the S600 grill? Problem with painting the stock grill does not solve the chipping problem either.
I finally got the grille mounted. Had to trim a little off the back in order to allow enough room for the latch to move and adjusted the hood pull as well. It doesn't look too bad from a distance, but if you're up close you can see how the chrome fins don't quite line up perfectly like the original
some quick pictures that I snapped of the finished installation. Third pic shows how the middle strip comes up a little short. Fourth pics you can see the chrome fins taper unlike the OEM which goes all the way across
Good job on the fitment... but the trimming needs to be rounded and filed nicely
As long as it is hard plastic (not nylon like the side panels) I would spray the whole insert (both black portion and silver painted lips) in transparent varnish... like 3 to 4 coats with good dry up intervals
I think this should protect it against chipping
Any self adhesive bra-like solution will be ugly as it will look like an added layer
haha, yeah I gotta work on that. It's only noticeable because of the harsh lighting and picture angle. I'm supposed to have a dremel tool arrive this week so once I get it I'll straighten the cut out. usually when I get new parts, I test fit them and make tons of adjustments later
Thanks for posting the pics. It is such a good looking grill....it is too bad that the black paint chips. I was thinking of a clear-bra solution to cover-up the black portion, but that would seem like too much work. Adding onto Raed's solution of spraying a clear coat is a good idea. SEM makes a clear coating that is used on the rocker panels as a chip guard. I was thinking of taping off the chrome strips and spraying that stuff on. The problem is, I do not know what type of paint that the grill manufacturer used because that SEM stuff could possibly lift enamel based paint plus it is meant to be sprayed on thick and create a texture like you see on lower rocker panels on some cars.
True. Automotive clear coat be sufficient but that would require you taking it to a body shop to spray. Unless you have your own compressor. But buying clear coat and activator on your own to spray is not cheap either.
I'm begining to wonder if the maker of the grill properly preps the surface prior to painting it black or do they just spray over the chrome plating? There is a person here in vegas that has this grill and it is all chipped up as well.
Why don't we just strip the black and leave the entire grill chrome? Or is that too "pimpish?" I too, was going through the SEM product line in my head.
Well, I decided to buy this grill from redcometm3. I guess I'll install it and let it chip. When it does, I'll just follow ducatipaso's tip on using SEM bumper coater.
The can says, "Urethane Clear." I wonder if it is one of those hybrid cans that has two chambers. One for the clear and the other chamber for the activator. If so, that is good stuff. It is priced as much as the hybrid can.
This sounds like the stuff you are thinking of Aerosol KK7 Urethane High Gloss Clear Kit - ColorRite
Although Colorrite says to use only their paint, I would test it on the paint you plan on using first. Better yet if its only the grill that is being painted just buy a can of black from them.
I just noticed that the reviews for the delivery system aren't too favorable.
Might have to try some of that. Oh, made in Germany, even better yet.
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