Ordered the OEM Edition black chrome front grilles and side gills from Ilia and Nate at IND earlier his week. They came as promised in just a few days, packed securely with loving care.
It took me only about 45min for the entire project. Thanks to BimmerM for his great DIY guide (easy method) for changing the side gills: http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=531297
The "packing tape handle" method is brilliant and keeps you from dinging up the car with screwdrivers or other tools. It just takes a little bit of faith that you won't break something as you're pulling, but firm and gentle pressure does the trick. And thanks for the heads-up on not letting the wiring fall back behind the fender!
By the way, I know there has been discussion on whether this DIY applies to the E90 since it has a slightly different side gill design. The center strip with the turn signal indicator is the same whether E92/3 or E90, though, the only difference being that you don't need the leading-edge plastic cup part from the E92. Simply don't use that part if you're installing on a sedan. Since the E90 has the removable plastic honeycomb strips above and below the center turn signal strip that you're replacing, I just put wide painter's tape over the honeycomb sections, extending to the fender so that the honeycomb sections wouldn't pull out when I was removing the center sections. Worked like a charm.
As for the front grilles, also using BimmerM's DIY, I found it easiest to use my fingers to press the tabs in and wriggle the grilles out. It definitely helps to look at the tab arrangement on your replacements first to get an idea of where you need to apply pressure.
The black chrome matches the window trim and side mirror trim perfectly. Now I can't wait for spring to put my black GTS wheels back on!
It took me only about 45min for the entire project. Thanks to BimmerM for his great DIY guide (easy method) for changing the side gills: http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=531297
The "packing tape handle" method is brilliant and keeps you from dinging up the car with screwdrivers or other tools. It just takes a little bit of faith that you won't break something as you're pulling, but firm and gentle pressure does the trick. And thanks for the heads-up on not letting the wiring fall back behind the fender!
By the way, I know there has been discussion on whether this DIY applies to the E90 since it has a slightly different side gill design. The center strip with the turn signal indicator is the same whether E92/3 or E90, though, the only difference being that you don't need the leading-edge plastic cup part from the E92. Simply don't use that part if you're installing on a sedan. Since the E90 has the removable plastic honeycomb strips above and below the center turn signal strip that you're replacing, I just put wide painter's tape over the honeycomb sections, extending to the fender so that the honeycomb sections wouldn't pull out when I was removing the center sections. Worked like a charm.
As for the front grilles, also using BimmerM's DIY, I found it easiest to use my fingers to press the tabs in and wriggle the grilles out. It definitely helps to look at the tab arrangement on your replacements first to get an idea of where you need to apply pressure.
The black chrome matches the window trim and side mirror trim perfectly. Now I can't wait for spring to put my black GTS wheels back on!
