So I decided to paint my grills...
 

... and it doesn't look bad IMO. I went to a local body shop to get an estimate for the job. They guestimated about 6.5 hrs. of removal/re-install and 1.5 hrs. of paint work (roughly $400 to do all three grills and wiper blade area plastic). I decided to do the work myself and it turned out pretty decent.

I used Wurth plastic trim paint and just masked things off as good as possible to prevent paint overspray:

Here's the before chalky grey'ish grill...
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6043/...13a7a018ce.jpghttp://farm7.static.flickr.com/6119/...cf424ba202.jpg

Here's the prep work...
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6230/...d31cd2ddcb.jpghttp://farm7.static.flickr.com/6213/...c4e3290721.jpg
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6100/...82de880b06.jpg

Here's the aftermath...
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6232/...9d6b401031.jpghttp://farm7.static.flickr.com/6110/...021ef38af7.jpg
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6092/...6ac230c7af.jpg

To any layperson out there attempting to do this yourself, I recommend you taking your time when masking things off. I used painters tape and painters tarp along with plenty of moving tarps to protect the body just in case paint fumes started to drift. I'm now just gonna get the body shop to paint my interior console silver along with the Nav dash trim.

Nicely done, subtle but clean, I like the plastic bag you shoved between the grill and the rads. Pulling the front bumper and removing the grills for paint is also fairly easy and guarentees no overspray but good work regardless.

You painted black grills on a black car their expected color, which is black...that's fine, and looks great...it only looks wierd IMO with non-black car body color match like silver or white or what have you...I've seen it done many times and some folks seem to like it, I guess it can grow on someone :)

Looks very nice.

For anyone else who might want to try this, I'd highly recommend removing the bumper (takes 10 minutes), popping out the grills, and painting them away from the car. It would actually save a lot of time in masking.

Plus, you could clean out the radiators and put some mesh behind the grills before you pop them back in!

Jon

Nice job! Have you thought about painting the front spoiler lip?

I did but I thought it would not mesh well with the other lower body trim pieces as they are also the same off-grey black'ish looking color. If I paint the front spoiler lip, I'd have to paint them all.

I will probably take the time to remove my front bumper as soon as I find the (pictured) link for removal. I do need to get the radiator area cleaned.

When I read the title of the thread I thought to myself

"I hope this is a black car"

:eek::D:eek:

Did you do the wiper area?
If so, do you have pictures?

I've been meaning to get that area done on mine

Call me impatient but I had to get it done before I went to sleep. I put painters tarp under the hood covering the fenders, then closed the hood and covered the hood's top along with the driver window and the rest of the car. You can tell by the pics that the plastic wiper cover has faded and appears chalky, weathered.
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6099/...1da32264bf.jpghttp://farm7.static.flickr.com/6098/...edf0037254.jpg

After spraying 2 coats...
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6031/...d192f2044b.jpg

Plastic tarp removed...
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6051/...3d6b65dcc7.jpghttp://farm7.static.flickr.com/6093/...feff3af6f1.jpg

This Wurth satin trim paint appears to be the exact color as the factory trim. I lifted the hood and I cannot tell where the over spray is compared to the rest of the plastic that covers the battery compartment and other reservoirs. I've got a LandRover LR3 that has a couple of trim pieces that can use this re-coating. This is an excellent way to rejuvenate your cars look. Just take care and take your time.

I did this to my car several years ago and it still looks great. The black plastic was looking a little faded, so I sprayed it satin black. Looks perfectly detailed after every wash!

Looking good! +1

I second that.

And here is a less drastic option and it works.

http://www.mothers.com/02_products/06108.html

Nice job. A great DIY mod.

Wow gaffle....top notch buddy!

remove all of them and paint them, its not hard and doesnt take that long, results are well worth it

and if all your trying to do is make the black look black again try blackwow first, it works very well