Grille black or "silver" plastic?? - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

LandYaghtLover · #16 11-20-2010, 12:02 PM

Great pics. I am ordering all new grille parts this winter. I really like the black look. And with the horizontal metal removed it looks more updated (in my opinion). I am not a fan of radically changing a car in any way, but something like this is easily undone with replacement.

How easily do the metal face-plate/metal blades come off of the grille face?

Heep · #17 11-20-2010, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LandYaghtLover

How easily do the metal face-plate/metal blades come off of the grille face?

Very easily, as long as your car uses a similar arrangement to the W124, which I suspect it does. There are tension clips and a screw or two holding the plastic insert to the metal shell, and then the horizontal and vertical bars just slide off the grille insert. It should all be pretty apparent when you have it off.

My before and after:

cypress · #18 11-20-2010, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by compu_85

Didn't know there was an OEM grille paint. How much was the rattle can?

-J

MB bodyshop uses it for touching up rocker panels/plastic trims.

He saw paint on my rocker panels were faded/worn...a bit of white showing. So he grabbed a can & touched it up for me & gave me the can after. Told me if I needed more, I can just go to MD dealer's parts & order.

P/N: 000 986 29 50
Paint code: 7129
C$30/can now (C$15/can 15 years ago)

It'll take a while now (due to 9/11) for shipping. My cans were shipped from Germany (don't know shipping method). But even within Canada to ship from east coast to west coast....they have to be via truck (1 week).

cypress · #19 11-20-2010, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ferdman

I purchased a new grill insert from a local MB dealer for our 1991 300CE a few years back because a mild deer hit had broken it. The new grill insert was dark gray and high quality, as is any part I've ever purchased from a MB dealer. MB has rigid specifications for all parts that vendors manufacture for them ... the same specification as the original part ... so no reason for a replacement part to be inferior to the original.

Well, my parts guy won't lie to me. He told me he had a couple of returns already due to the finish. There were left over plastic slivers on the edges...just were not clean edges.

compu_85 · #20 11-20-2010, 02:56 PM

The W126 grille comes apart very easily.

MBeige · #21 11-20-2010, 09:31 PM

The standard dark gray unpainted plastic grille inserts give it a "new" look while the blacked out grille inserts give it a personal touch.

I've tried the blacked out grille insert approach before and needless to say, went back to stock look. The dark gray is just as good if you want to paint a faded grille insert, instead of black.

My 190E has a very nice dark gray insert and it's new plastic so it's not faded. I agree the quality might be somewhat questionable but only if you really look closely. The edges can be trimmed carefully too.

New insert from the dealer, for the W123 anyway, was $45. The aftermarket is around $20.

Stock W123, unpainted, new:

Same W123, painted dark gray (w/ black headlight surrounds):

Stock W201, unpainted, new:

Stock W124, unpainted, new (notice the old hood pull was not replaced):

LandYaghtLover · #22 11-20-2010, 09:50 PM

Well I love the pained grille in a satin black or charcoal grey. Since my car is black, I will go black. The Euro lights, with black, really accent the look well. I will be getting Euros soon along with the grille. So I think I will copy the look!

But I need a new hood release pull. Mine is MIA! keep forgetting to look for one.

MBeige · #23 11-20-2010, 09:54 PM

If you're going to go with a black on black look, it might look out of place if the grille surround is chrome. To me it looks "undecided" - like in between being sporty (w/ black grille, avantgarde look) and classic (with unpainted chrome).

How about this?

LandYaghtLover · #24 11-20-2010, 09:58 PM

Nah... while it looks nice to me, its a total chrome black out. Even around the windows they did it. I dont want to go that far. My car is already full black. The plastic skirts are black too. I think I will keep all the chrome I have.

compu_85 · #25 11-20-2010, 10:08 PM

I'm going to spoil the painted chrome look for you forever.

Look at a 300C from the side. Now look at a euro W126 with a painted grille from the side.

Notice they look exactly the same?

I'll be keeping mine bright

Plus the Astral Silver paint "hides" the chrome to an extent.

MBeige, thanks for the excellent comparison photos. I didn't realize the W123's grille was lighter from the factory then the later cars. The gray color you painted your grille is actually the exact color I was trying to get on mine.

-J

MBeige · #26 11-20-2010, 10:39 PM

It took me a while to decide what type of grille color I like best. I've tried black actually but it clashes too much with the body paint color. Dark gray works best as it's standard on the newer models. The W123 factory look is actually not that dark as you've noticed.

Notice how the newer cars also have darker grilles

LandYaghtLover · #27 11-20-2010, 10:47 PM

MBeige, thank you for the pics. Very helpful and much appreciated.

Another question since we are talking of grilles. The metal horizontal strips of metal that slide on, do they have to be at specific locations? Or could I add one or two additional lines onto the grille face? Just thinking something different.

MBeige · #28 11-20-2010, 11:20 PM

The stock grille inserts have slots on them for the chrome strips.

W201 has two per side. W126, W124 and W123 have three per side.

You could add more, but it'll require some modification. Look up "S600 grille" online and you'll see tons of online stores selling these aftermarket units. Especially for the W201 crowd.

In the above photo you notice the W124 (beside the W126) with the updated hood, it has more than the stock amount of strips per side.

compu_85 · #29 11-21-2010, 01:50 AM

The W126 in the last photo has faded. I wonder how long it takes for them to reach that color?

I also think the dark gray looks better then black. With the grille being totally black you can't see the pattern.

-J

MBeige · #30 11-21-2010, 02:08 AM

I agree, the pattern gives it more detail in front. And dark gray shows the pattern better. Too black and it just washes out the details.

We can probably all agree that faded gray is not an option.

So it's either dark gray or black.

What I did, was I kept the dark gray grille insert I painted, in case I change my mind again

But I love details, so I kept the stock grille on. It has the look of originality in the daylight, and in night time.