painting or plasti-dip the front grill to BO look ?

[waxxonMTL]

Fact is.. i'm extremely unhappy with the quality of the ECS grill so I don't really wish to buy any other mesh grill.. I plan on going back to OEM and sell the ecs for whatever it will be worth.

I have acces to a bodyshop for ''cost price''. So at this point, I'm wondering which method is the best way to achieve a Black-Optic look on the b8.5 oem grill ?

[mavz]

Fact is.. i'm extremely unhappy with the quality of the ECS grill so I don't really wish to buy any other mesh grill.. I plan on going back to OEM and sell the ecs for whatever it will be worth.

I have acces to a bodyshop for ''cost price''. So at this point, I'm wondering which method is the best way to achieve a Black-Optic look on the b8.5 oem grill ?

On my previous car, I plasti-dipped the wheels and they lasted 2 years being driven year-round with 0 issues. I stopped using them after that but when it came time to peel them off (pita btw), they still looked good.

[Hofahome]

I plasti-dipped my own grill twice. First time I did not take the grill out. Did 4 coats. It lasted about six months until I was washing the car one day and it started to peel off. The second time I removed the grill which takes a ton of time. 6 coats. It has lasted about a year and through the recent winter without issues. Overall very happy with the matte look. I think that as long as you do good prep you don't need to remove the grill.

[Johnnycash]

plasti-dip looks like plasti-dip.

paint it if you want it to look like its not been spray painted in your driveway.

[mavz]

plasti-dip looks like plasti-dip.

paint it if you want it to look like its not been spray painted in your driveway.

why would it look like it's been spray painted in the driveway? if you do a good job, it looks fine unless you're expecting it to look exactly like paint.

[Johnnycash]

idk man the plastidipped stuff ive seen on cars looks pretty bushleague imo. its all subjective but if you paint it and do it right the first time you dont have to redo it every 6 months or whatever...

plasti-dipping small parts logos emblems seems to be ok but the whole grill and 6 coats and all the prep. LOL just get it painted and call it a day

[Hofahome]

idk man the plastidipped stuff ive seen on cars looks pretty bushleague imo. its all subjective but if you paint it and do it right the first time you dont have to redo it every 6 months or whatever...

plasti-dipping small parts logos emblems seems to be ok but the whole grill and 6 coats and all the prep. LOL just get it painted and call it a day

I really don't see how painting it is easier than plastidip. you still have to clean and prep the grill with tape. You don't have to remove the grill; I just was trying it. Plasti-dip doesn't chip and I have found that it holds up better than paint during the colorado winters/sand on the roads. Maybe the people you have seen use plastidip are retarded.

[mavz]

idk man the plastidipped stuff ive seen on cars looks pretty bushleague imo. its all subjective but if you paint it and do it right the first time you dont have to redo it every 6 months or whatever...

plasti-dipping small parts logos emblems seems to be ok but the whole grill and 6 coats and all the prep. LOL just get it painted and call it a day

Okay I totally agree... most dip jobs I see on the road are horrendous. But do it right/get it done right... the results are pretty good.

[msilva2405]

im on the fence with either plasti-dip or getting them vinyl wrapped.

[SportVier]

Agree those "RS4 style" Chinese grills look pretty cheap in the flesh. I just bit the bullet and went with an OEM BO grill and dipped the rings.

[SteveYem]

IMO the reason an OEM black optics grille looks so much better than a black plastidipped OEM grille is that the trim on the OEM BO is gloss black. It gives the lines of the grille some definition. When you dip the whole thing it just sort of looks a flat black void on the front of the car.

[AudiTFSI3o3]

plasti-dip looks like plasti-dip.

paint it if you want it to look like its not been spray painted in your driveway.

PD + AF

[Alex JB]

I've got some mat vinyl and am planning a wrap of just the outer border, if I like the look I will have it wrapped properly.
Seen a painted grille on a B7 that looked great, but chipped within months.


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[StealthBlackA4]

I dipped my RS grille on my car, because it was matte silver when I received it. About 6 months later, it still looks great. No peeling or anything. I did put about 25 layers on it, though...haha.

You can obviously tell it's not painted, as it has plastidip texture. But, if you're patient enough, you can dip it and get it to come out fairly smooth. It will never be perfect, it's plastidip.

[Pared]

plasti-dip looks like plasti-dip.

paint it if you want it to look like its not been spray painted in your driveway.

Ha. You've never seen a job done well, obviously.

[BlownOne]

PD + AF

+1. That's what I did to my peelers so they aren't flat and have a gloss when clean

[BlownOne]

I dipped my RS grille on my car, because it was matte silver when I received it. About 6 months later, it still looks great. No peeling or anything. I did put about 25 layers on it, though...haha.

You can obviously tell it's not painted, as it has plastidip texture. But, if you're patient enough, you can dip it and get it to come out fairly smooth. It will never be perfect, it's plastidip.

If you heat the can of dip up with the heater in your car, it will spray smooth.

[Johnnycash]

I really don't see how painting it is easier than plastidip. you still have to clean and prep the grill with tape. You don't have to remove the grill; I just was trying it. Plasti-dip doesn't chip and I have found that it holds up better than paint during the colorado winters/sand on the roads. Maybe the people you have seen use plastidip are retarded.

i was referring to the fact that he said he has access to a bodyshop and or a professional that can do the work at a discounted rate, if he pays someone to do it for him there is no prep involved at all other than dropping the car off and paying someone to do the work...

[waxxonMTL]

Agree those "RS4 style" Chinese grills look pretty cheap in the flesh. I just bit the bullet and went with an OEM BO grill and dipped the rings.

new or used.. whats the market for used BO grill ?

[SportVier]

new or used.. whats the market for used BO grill ?

I bought new. Net outlay after selling my original grill was ~$150. Totally worth it.

[Hofahome]

i was referring to the fact that he said he has access to a bodyshop and or a professional that can do the work at a discounted rate, if he pays someone to do it for him there is no prep involved at all other than dropping the car off and paying someone to do the work...

Ahh ok

[mavz]

new or used.. whats the market for used BO grill ?

I paid about 350 used but in excellent condition with no holes drilled.

[waxxonMTL]

I bought new. Net outlay after selling my original grill was ~$150. Totally worth it.

I agree.. think i will do that instead lol

I see a few A4 Sline Blacked out.. is it the way to go or should I seek for the S4 BO only ?

[Habber]

Fact is.. i'm extremely unhappy with the quality of the ECS grill so I don't really wish to buy any other mesh grill.. I plan on going back to OEM and sell the ecs for whatever it will be worth.

I have acces to a bodyshop for ''cost price''. So at this point, I'm wondering which method is the best way to achieve a Black-Optic look on the b8.5 oem grill ?

Funny as I'm also thinking the same. I have an RS4 grille that I put on 6 months ago but I'm going to put back the original one and was also thinking about dipping it but don't want to go through the procedure every 6 months. Funny since I'm also in Montreal.

[Johnnycash]

I agree.. think i will do that instead lol

I see a few A4 Sline Blacked out.. is it the way to go or should I seek for the S4 BO only ?

yeah dont put an a4 grill on the s4, if you get lucky you can find one used in the classifieds, or just buy one new and offset the cost by selling your old grill.

[Peter.dupuis]

on my b7 i plastidipped the grill almost 3 years ago and it still going strong i just have to make sure I'm not too rough when washing it. just ordered a mesh grill for my b8.5 from eBay and it looks way more legit than i thought it would, installing this week hopefully it comes out nice

[waxxonMTL]

Funny as I'm also thinking the same. I have an RS4 grille that I put on 6 months ago but I'm going to put back the original one and was also thinking about dipping it but don't want to go through the procedure every 6 months. Funny since I'm also in Montreal.

loll :) a friend of mine had a bad luck too. this winter ..

[RudyH]

IMO, grab an used A4 grill from the forum. Plasti dip the trim and then install. Saves a lot of time.

I did this for the B8 and it looks great because you aren't covering as much chrome. I have had it for a year and it started peeling in one spot so likely when it gets a bit warmer will just coat that section.

You *might* be able to use vinyl if you take your time. I have been on the fence but I might do this as even if something sharp hits the vinyl I still have the plastidip underneath. Just not sure if it will adhere nicely

http://reviews.canadiantire.ca/9045/...ws/reviews.htm

[StevenStarke]

I PD'd my poem grille, just waiting on time to install the RS4 one though