removing grill

[QALL80]

anybody remove their kidney grill for painting?
I'm stupid and nervous, do you have any pics to show how it's done?

[Jersey]

http://www.e46fanatics.com/howto/howtodetail.php?howto_id=13

[QALL80]

sorry man, that link didn't help. i want to paint the vertical slats silver.
you got anything else?

[Jersey]

i think once you take off the trim....from the inside you can clip out some clips and the grill will come out

[Canuck328i]

Here's a PDF of the ETK instruction sheet. Hope it helps.

Rad Grill Removal (http://www.sunsetspeedway.ca/mk/radgrill.pdf)

Mark

[QALL80]

ok, my hands are shak'n
pray for me

[laziemofo]

hehe i blacked out my grill!!! i think it looks great... haha but i attempted to take it out and broke a few clips so i just punched out the grill and got new ones to paint

[QALL80]

where did you get the new grills?
how much?

thanks!

[Chopper]

I remember reading a DIY a couple years back where the guy just bought some aluminum tubing or some sort and it fit right over the black slats for a perfect chrome look. Check around. Saves painting and removal of your grill too. :)

[QALL80]

Canuck, thanks for the tread man, excellent DIY.
Do you have one for removing the headlight insert?

Thanks!

[QALL80]

Canuck, thanks for the info.

Do you have one for removing the headlight insert too?

Thanks again!

[BlueSky]

u can get a black aftermarket kidney grill for around $70CAD...

or u can swap the chrome slats with black...

[QALL80]

where do you get the chrome slats?
how much?

[BlueSky]

if u have black... u can swap with people with chrome...
many people would like to "black out" their grill...

[glenspeed]

There's tabs from the inside of the grill that you release all around the grill. I think there are 6 of them. Pry them very carefully a little at a time until you can get about 2 of them at the same time and the rest of the grill will come off easily. The outside grill just comes off the hood from there.

If you are painting the grills, make sure you sand well. put on light coats and let dry throughly in between coats. I put about 5 coats of flat black on mine and I think it looks awesome :blaaaa:
I guess you could do the opposite with chrome paint?

You will still inevitably get stone chips, so then you have to start the process again. I am wondering if they make a dull clear coat that you can apply on top to offer more protection.

[Canuck328i]

Canuck, thanks for the tread man, excellent DIY.
Do you have one for removing the headlight insert?

Thanks!

This is all I could find:

Remove Signal Lamp (http://www.sunsetspeedway.ca/mk/remove_signal_lamp.pdf)

Remove left headlight (http://www.sunsetspeedway.ca/mk/remove_l_headlight.pdf)

Remove left headlight cover (http://www.sunsetspeedway.ca/mk/remove_l_hl_cover.pdf)

Good luck!

Mark

[AlpWhitE46]

sorry to bring back an old thread...

i was just about to take out the grills out of the e46 ... and man do those clips seem to not want to move (they seem like they want to break)

any pointers?

[e46_marc]

pluck them out carefully i broke a clip when yanking them out when putting in my matte black ones lol

[AlpWhitE46]

yeah i read what glenspeed wrote , its just the point i can't get the first 2 off!


did you use a flat head?

[empirem3]

It is VERY likely that you will break the tabs on the original grill just because the plastic has "dried" up and is very delicate. Use your fingers to push the bottom two out and then push out the top two.

[glenspeed]

use a small flathead and pry just enough to get the tab off the retaining clip. from what I know, it might be a good idea to insert a piece of business card in once you have a tab pried open and continue from there. the card will keep the tab unlocked so you can continue to the next one. don't pry more than you need to and eventually if you use the business card to keep the tabs open you will get the thing to loosen and come off.

[AlpWhitE46]

Thanks ill give it another shot today