The bottom lip of the German trim doesn't leave a gap (I knew something was up with that other brand):


To hold the trim in place I used slide clamps with a bicycle tube in between them and the fender to protect the finish. This allowed me to fine-tune the fitment of the trim so the body creases matched:


Once the trim section was where I wanted it to be I would drill a small pilot hole followed by a bit the same size as the diameter of the screws (not including threads). I put tape around the holes before drilling to protect the finish in case I slipped. I would place the first screw in the hole closest to the area where the body lines were located. Then I would work from the center alternating outward.

The rear fenders gave me trouble because the sheet metal was double thick. The screws would bend and break in the holes. I put one screw in a vise grip and attempted to thread the holes but all it did was strip out the screw. I discovered that they don't make a tap in this size and thread, or even a self-tapping screw for that matter unless I went up a size. I wasn't excited about making the pre-drilled holes in the trim bigger and making the holes in the body larger.

I found that the screws used to hold in the VIN plates are the same thread pitch and are a hardened metal with sharp threads. They worked excellent in cutting threads in the body. After using those VIN plate screws to cut threads the stainless fender trim screws went in without trouble:


Here's the Taiwanese right side front trim. Same fitting problem:


This side has a gap, too:

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1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Highly Optioned, 350,000+ Miles