Has anyone painted their upper and lower grills black? Wanting to keep chrome ring intact though. I think that would tie the nose together.
I have seen several posts about customization but if anyone has done this can you please post pics and some description on process? Buddy of mine says with proper prep can be done for around $50.00. A lot less than the dealer is asking.

 

Looks like the upper grille just comes out from the frame: http://www.parts.com/schematics/4/4726015.gif

Looks like the bottom grille is the same, but a little harder to tell:
http://www.parts.com/schematics/4/4726010.gif

Looks nice in black though : Jaguar XJ / XJL 2011-2012 COMPLETE KIT -Chrome / Black Mesh, Lux - Dresden Auto

 

Got it done a week ago and just gig the door handle chrome done. Will post pics tomm - took some crappy ones from my phone

 

Depeche,
Thanks for jpg's. I did have the lower apart to install some daylight driving kit but got nervous about breaking plastic grill. The upper looked like complete bumper removal was required. Hoping to paint in place, seen a couple of utube videos for cadi that looked spraight forward. But, my girl is special

 

xjsupersport,
Can not wait to see pics. I like the Dresden that depeche noted, looks great single i have a stratus grey paint, tinted windows, tinted tail lights, custome rims and Arden Badges. Can not wait to get approved to show her to everyone... Proud papa

 

Hey fire, your car sounds wicked . Happy safe driving fire in the hole lol

 

 

Sorry all shots from my iphone - plus I'm terrible at taking pics. I've blacked out all the chrome on the car (except the pipes). I still need to powder coat the pipes and also the brake calipers. They cannot be treated and painted as they need to be baked at 500 deg instead of 350 like the other stuff I got on the car.

To do projects are:
Change the SS logo on fenders to color red to match the middle of the rim
Take down 15% tint and go limo
Powdercoat calipers black with letters Jaguar in White
Powdercoat pipes
Install daytime running light led strip
Maybe color the thin strip part on the wheels black?! Still unsure.
Claybar the car - it's over a year old now with 17K + miles

I didn't want to change my rims - wanted to stick with the SS rims. I hate the fact that you can order them in the superchaged. What is this Mercedes now? You can just get the AMG package without the engine.

 

xjsupersport, looks great. Nice job with the blackout. Did you leave door pillars piano black? I actually wrapped mine in 3m carbon fiber and i think it looks good. Awaiting the offical oke-dokie from forum to post photos. What do the rims look like?

 

XJSS;

Looks great! Nice Job.

One note I would make is that you seem to suggest you are going to an even darker 'limo' window tint.

I had a Mercedes 19-16 Valve, the fastest production sedan in the US at the time, 141 MPH, in the 80's that had a 40% tint.

With that on the rear window it was a 'bitch' to park at night because you can see very little when reversing if you are depending on just the back-up lights and I have excellent night vision.

You may want to think about keeping the 15% on the rear and the front side windows because you have the same issue about seeing traffic, pedestrians and other obstacles when turning or pulling out, with super dark side windows.

It looks good now and 15% lets people know you have mysterious looking 'Super Model' passengers in your Super Sport, not totally hidden.

I have also noticed that with dark side windows you can't tell what the driver is looking at and therefore what they are going to do when you see a car with dark windows pulling out into traffic and you surely want people to get out of the way or your new and expensive 'baby'.

Otherwise you have to be 100% on the defensive and not make James Dean's fatal mistake, " They must see us", and assume no one ever sees you.

Enjoy your new beauty.

jamjax

 

Great looking car! Love the blacked out trim. Can you explain what you are doing with the daytime running lights?

 

Shots are OK , my phone takes batter pics than yours lol

 

Looks awesome! I thought about powercoating my brake caliber's the same color as the car. Other than that I am pretty happy with it as it came other than tech stuff.

 

You know you could ask the dealer to activate the Canadian Daytime Running lights, then your headlights LED strip will be on whenever the car is in gear just like the 2012 XK and XF models.

 

Wow. Looks great. I have a white one as well and would never have thought to do any of that. Nice to see the creative things people are doing.

 

And I may have to come down to Houston. No quality work or competent work up here.

 

Looks great XJSUPERSPORT very nicely done.

If you don't want to change your rims may I suggest getting them redone in Black Chrome I've seen them on a few cars and looks really good IMO. There is a company that does this i have seen advertised in magazines that specializes in doing it for jaguars. I believe it's called black diamond.

One bonus of doing this is no more visible black brake dust

 

Unfortunately, that also keeps your headlights on all the time. The only way to turn on the LED's without the headlights is to put the light switch in park mode, but then the tailights come on too.

 

xjsupersport,

All of that blacking out looks great on your white car. I don't think it would look as good on my black one or other dark colors. It would also look real good on silver--needs a lot of contrast.

 

@ fire34609 I did them gloss black (well that's what they call it) - I went through the dealer who went through an outside company that mixed it to match the pillars. The dealer had to take of the door handles and the trim around the windows - that is a real pain.

@jamjax - thanks for the heads up on the tint - I completely agree with the safety aspect. It gets REALLY hot in Houston and the tint even though 3M does start fading after a year and so on. I just don't want people to know who's driving. The car is kind of douchey (no disrespect to anyone) - also I'm in my early 30's and get a lot of flack for such a nice ride - people just hate you know. I want to keep it low key. These changes are suttle enough and appreciated by those who know the car

@barryf43 I'm just going to get a led strip aftrmarket and install on the lower grill on the front. Have them wired to stay on all the time when the car is on. I know a bit too Audi - but I'm currently trying to look for a style that is not super bright or shaped like the Audi of the Merc. I would appreciate any suggestions.