560SEL Black grille

[cgoodwin]

The front end of the W126 is such a beautiful and classic design I just got tired of the old plastic and crap US spec lighting.

The first step was to refresh the grille, ours had a piece broken off, was old and chalky and the chrome bits looked crap so we elected to buy a new grille piece and new chrome bits, the screen was around $30 and the chromes around $5 ea. Once they arrived we decided to spray bomb them satin black and let the whole thing cure overnight. The following morning we cut the chromes to match the old ones for length (die grinder), bent them a little to match the curvature of the grille and installed them.

The grille assembly removal is simple, about 10 8mm sheet metal screws which screw into speed nuts and the whole unit comes off. Lay it on the bench on a fender cover (to protect the chrome and freshly painted plastic) and slide the 3 spring clips hon each side (holding the plastic to the chrome Grille surround) inward. Remove a phillips screw on the bottom and a 10mm nut which screws onto the back of the Mercedes crest and remove the plastic. Put the new one in and you are done!