iyaayas12

Hello fellow e60 members! This will be my first attempt at a DIY so please bear with me here. So I have been looking for several diffrent mods for my car and one that has caught my eye is a Kidney Grille. However, I was really unsure if I wanted to go that route as I wasn't sure if the front of my car would be too "blacked out" seeing as though my car is black to begin with. I can look at black e60's all day long with kidney grill's but until you see it in person you really just don't know how it's going to look. So I started to think, should I spend the money and get a set and if I don't like the look sell them to someone on here? And then it hit me. Plasti-dip! I could paint my OEM grill's with Plasti-dip and if I didnt like it I could simply peel it off and bam back to stock. No harm no fowl. So all in all I can achieve the Kidney style look for all of about $6!!! I'll take it!!! You can get this stuff at your local Home Depot for like I said about $6

Step 1: Remove grille from front bumper

Step 2: Separate grill. There are tabs that hold the grill piece from the outter shroud. Be careful because these clips will break.

Step 3: Prep surface with rubbing alcohol. NO NEED TO SCUFF SURFACE! Just make sure that it's clean from any foreign debris. I wen't over mine twice.

Step 4: Setup your painting area. I did mine with cardboard on the ground as shown.

Step 5: Get your can of Plasti-Dip and shake for 1 min.

Step 6: Spray your grille with a light even coat. This will be your foundation so make it smooth as possible.

Step 7: Let dry for at least 30 mins

Step 8: Repeat for a total of 3-4 coats. You can do more if you want thats up to you.

Step 9: Let dry for up to 4hr's

Step 10: Assemble grille to shroud

Step 11: Assemble on front bumper and admire your work!

As with anything that you will ever spray, make sure that you are working in a well ventilated environment and use some form of mask or respirator and safety glasses just in case. Make your coats even and allow time for it to dry before applying your next coat. Don't rush it, take your time and it will turn out great. If you install it on you're car and you don't really care for it or you mess up then simply peel it off. The best part is it cost you $6 and if you don't like it you can go back to what you had. It's a win win in my book. Enjoy!

pradden

Nice DIY, looks great!

camshaft

Great DIY> How did you get those things out without breaking them? Another way to do this is just buy some aftermarket black grills off of Ebay. Got these for about $30 shipped. But I really messed up the stock ones trying to get them out. Here are some pics:

iyaayas12

I got mine out very carefully. ha-ha. I just took my time honestly as I figured it had that potential to break. Looks good on you're car!!

camshaft

I'll be interested to hear how this plastic dip holds up. Looks great.

salaki

I did this type of DIY w/ plastic dip on my other car.
The plastic dip lasted for 2 years so far w/ 1-2 rock chips on the grill.

Much better than black plastic paint that I used before.

epilithic

plastic dip holds up great. I sprayed my chrome trim, kidney grills , and rims. and it holds up just fine. i have gone through the car wash about 12 times and it hasn't rubbed off. The only scuffs or chips i get are from me when i take my wheels off, i tend to hit the rim with the tire iron a lot.