Close - I had my body shop prep a new plastic insert, spray it with matte black (about half way between gloss and flat black), then put a couple layers of matte clear coat. Extra work, but it has been about 4 years since it was done, and still looks great - even though it has had enough front road trash to require replacing the aluminum grill strips once in that period.

Whole seperate story on the inserts: I used the later 300CE inserts instead of the 87 strips. Suginami tracked down the part number. The 87 replacement inserts don't work like the original ones, and require a dozen or so plastic clips to hold them in place (loosely). The later model CE strips fit like the originals in the same tracks without clips. The only difference is the late ones are flat faced strips and a little bolder looking, while the original strips form a sharp leading edge instead of a flat face, and are a little more subtle.

BTW, Suginami did a great job maintaining his car, and my tech was pretty picky in his PPI - this is just one of those things that happen, and a validation of the old saying of holding 20% of the purchase price in reserve for unforseen issues when buying used cars. We still love the car, and no regrets.

__________________
John

2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

Click to see 87 300E