When replacing or painting the grill on your E class, I recently discovered a trick on replacing the aluminum strips. The stock strips are |-> in cross section, and slide directly onto the grill. The replacement strips from MB are :> shaped, and are held on with plastic clips that always seem loose. I have been told you can't get the original type strips without buying an entire grill and chrome surround.

I liked how my E class grill turned out, and am doing it to my 98 C class. When the replacement grill and strips arrived for the C, I saw that they are very similar to the old E strips, except flat on front instead of pointed. |-] shaped, as it were. I tried them on my old E grill, and they fit in the original slots without clips. The only issue is the bottom strip is about 1/4" too long and needs trimming. But they fit a lot better than the plastic clip arrangement, and look a bit more modern and bold with the flat surface.

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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