Plastic dressing front bumper inserts

[lukemk5gti]

I'm going to get all the honeycomb bits sprayed up gloss black sometime. There's a risk it'll look a bit OTT but I reckon it'll work. Seen a few members have done the same and it looks good to me. No ferreting about with trim gel and all that nonsense then.

I'd be interested in seeing how this will work out.

Assuming front grill top and bottom and fog inserts?

Post photos and info when you do!

I started a thread about it not long back pal, got some useful replies:

http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=106346.msg1031022.msg#1031022

Also a couple @MC71 posted up in a similar thread - pretty sure he'd only sprayed the fog grilles at this point but it gives you an idea:





And one more off the SRS website:

Not bad, might do it myself when I do the full summer detail!

Plastidip or normal gloss spray paint do you think?

[AJP]

Not sure yet, I'm going to speak to my bodyshop guy and see what he recommends. Something resistant to peeling hopefully!

[Oldy]

I'm With you AJP and Luke in wanting a permanent finish.  I have read through many of the posts on here about temporary fixes, which although Ok, all seem to fade off too quickly, let alone the job being a PITA.

I, like you AJP, would worry that if painted, it may peel

My grill is grey too (which looks terrible on my black GTI) but looking at the prices of grills on ebay and google, there are many at not much money.  That seems a good alternative to me. 

Has anyone bought one of these in the link below and if so, are they OK?

www.xenonz.co.uk/store/p84/GOLF_MK5_GTI_GRILL_SET.html

[AJP]

I'm With you AJP and Luke in wanting a permanent finish.  I have read through many of the posts on here about temporary fixes, which although Ok, all seem to fade off too quickly, let alone the job being a PITA.

I, like you AJP, would worry that if painted, it may peel

My grill is grey too (which looks terrible on my black GTI) but looking at the prices of grills on ebay and google, there are many at not much money.  That seems a good alternative to me. 

Has anyone bought one of these in the link below and if so, are they OK?

www.xenonz.co.uk/store/p84/GOLF_MK5_GTI_GRILL_SET.html

That brand comes up a lot on here and seems to get good feedback in general. I assume that's the kit that contains the smooth number plate section?

[Oldy]

Yes seems so to me, although it also includes a number plate holder to fix if you want.

[AJP]

Not a bad price really. So are you thinking of buying a set of these to get painted up, or just for the fact they're new and should look better than faded original grilles?

[Oldy]

Yes, buying to replace the existing. They are gloss black so don't need painting.  I don't know what a paintshop would charge to paint the original grill, but I bet it would be close to, if not more, than the total cost of this set.  That plus no peeling issues is a bit seductive!

[AJP]

Looking at the link, I'm not sure the honeycomb sections are gloss. But the number plate bit is, as you'd expect.

Either way, it should be an improvement!

[Oldy]

I agree its not entirely clear, but it does describe the main grill as gloss black.  I have emailed asking the specific question, and also whether it is true to the original size.  It may look better than the grey but will be very let down if there are gaps because the sizing isn't correct.

I will post the reply I get!

[MC71]

In the end I painted all the lower sections on the old girl, both fog grills and lower honeycomb section...looked good but I did have some peeling after a year or so.

I sanded (as best I could) and primed then undercoated and painted all sections. A pro bodyshop should be able todo this for less than a few hundred quid and give you an awesome finish.

PlastiDip is an option of course.