A cautionary tale - I bought an EZ/ Ziegler plastic grille insert for my 190E. Chrome strips wouldn't swap over from the old one until I trimmed the plastic clips a bit. I get the grille in there and close the hood. Oops. Hood won't open. Turns out there is a bit of grille in the path of the safety catch; couldn't pull the tongue out far enough for the catch to clear. If I had compared the old and new I would have caught it and could have trimmed it to match. I had to basically ruin the new grille insert to get the hood open. So - moral to the story - buy OE parts. If not then at least compare and contrast before fitting the new part to make sure. This brand new aftermarket EZ Ziegler plastic grille insert is going in the trash.

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'02 BMW 325i
'85 300D 450k
'93 190E 2.6 170k(killed by tree)
'08 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S 6k
'06 Ducati S2R800 14k(sold)

Should be retitled - "Poor fit of CHEAP aftermkt parts". You're point is right on - I go OE on almost everything because you get what you pay for.

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- Brian


1989 500SEL Euro
1966 250SE Cabriolet
1958 BMW Isetta 600

Well hey - the Ziegler piece is what they sell at Fastlane, & pretty much everywhere else. Got no real other choice than to go to the dealer, and instead of $25 it would be $100. Think I'll try to JB Weld the botched piece, hit it with some steel wool, plastic primer, and some black paint. See if I can't make some lemonade out of this lemon.

If you buy the Ziegler grille piece, COMPARE and trim it out where needed. Learn from my mistake!

At least my aftermkt hood strut works as designed, for now

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'02 BMW 325i
'85 300D 450k
'93 190E 2.6 170k(killed by tree)
'08 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S 6k
'06 Ducati S2R800 14k(sold)

Thank you very much for the post!

I have a new grill bought off of fleabay (the only thing I have ever bought off of there) that I haven't tried to install yet and now when I do I'll be prepared and can act accordingly. Not all of us can afford the stealership.
Regards, Eric

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89 300E "Benzer1" 15.924 Uncorrected
93 400E "Benzer3" 14.200 U.C.
95 E420 "Benzer4"
92 300E "Benzer5" 16.299 U.C. Future turbo CNG
87 300D "Benzer7"
87 300D "Benzer8"
87 300D "Benzer9"
87 300D/70 AMC Javelin "Sidewinder-Benzer"
87 300TD "Benzer11"
06 E320 CDI "Benzer12"
05 E320 CDI "Benzer12A"
71 AMC Javelin AMX 401 "Sidewinder"
74 AMC Hornet 401 "C.K.10" 13.63 U.C.
74 Bricklin SV1 "Presto" AMC 360 pwrd.