First I'm looking for a good place to get a stock grille, upper/lower slats and trim. I've been checking ebay but they all seem to be chrome, my intent is to have the grille painted, so I don't really want chrome to start with. Classic seems to be the only place I've seen mentioned as far a buying stock grilles goes. Suggestions?

I'm also looking for a scoop, also to be painted. I see someone selling a carbon fiber one. I assume painting the CF is not a problem(other than one's personal aesthetic objections), but don't really know for sure?

Also is the beltline metal? and has anyone removed it? is it easy? anyone know if anyone has had one powercoated? do you think the heat from the powdercoating would mess with the fit upon reinstalling? if it could be done what to do think about about powdercoating cost vs. black 3m tape?

Any advice, suggestions would be appreciated.

 

I have grill slats and trim uper and lower from my last MCS, the are CR

 

oh I was excited for a minute, if the chrome was the smooth piece as on the '05 and '06's I'd be all over it.

 

ya, I kno what you mean, I really like that smooth chrome piece. I have looked at them at the dealer many times.

 

You can order a primed stock grille or scoop from any dealer. Classic is mentioned often because they are a NAM vendor and they sell at discount off MSRP. There are now a few other dealers that sell parts mail-order/online at similar discount prices.

You'll be interested in reading through this thread: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=48483
I purchased a complete black grille assembly (including chrome surround) from Classic for about $46 (see my post #46 in the thread). I also had a quote from Classic for $34 for primed grille slats (does not include the surround). Those are for the grille in the bonnet. The grille at the top of the bumper would be an additional purchase.

The part numbers can be found here:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...79&hg=51&fg=20
(the diagram shows ridges in the chrome surround but actually they would be smooth for the current part)

 

Important things first, WAHOO!! She's in port waiting for a ship!!

Oh I've read through that thread many times, lol. I can't quite tell but is the black that comes on the oem grille mat or gloss? looks like gloss in the pics of your car, but can't tell for sure. Also can the chrome trim be seperated from the rest of the bonnet piece? If so I think this is probably the route I'll go. I was also considering doing something with the piece in the background behind the slats, can I seperate all the pieces from that?

 

The OEM black grille has a glossy finish. I think the slats are actually made of black plastic rather than painted black. Since I only had to swap out the entire assembled grille, I might not have the most accurate information about taking it apart, but I'll give you my impressions. Perhaps another member who actually took apart their grille for painting could give you more details.

I just had a look at my original chrome grille that I took off the car. I think the grille was assembled by simply snapping together the 3 parts (slats, surround, and back). It doesn't look like it was designed to be taken apart, but it should be possble by releasing all the tabs and hooks (there are many) that hold the parts together. I think that if you wanted to paint and customise pieces, it would save you a lot of aggravation to purchase the 3 separate grille parts, do your work, then snap the parts together. Since my entire assembled grille was only $46, purchasing the separate parts should be fairly reasonable cost. Just e-mail Classic with the part numbers for their prices.