Does the entire bumper cover need to be removed to remove the chrome inserts from the front bumper on 2010+ models? (See #4 on attached illustration.)

As I stated in another post, I'm not sure I like the 2010 front bumper except for black pack models because the left and right chrome inserts seem out of place and better suited for cars made by Jaguar's former parent company.

I know the bumper cover needs to be removed to change the upper and lower grills, so logic would say "yes" to my question, but I hate to break a bumper clip just to replace these chrome abominations with painted or black pack ones. It'd be Christmas if they simply release from clips by yanking on them forward without removing the bumper cover...

 

Ahh, the magic of plastidip. You don't need to remove anything...

 

I know that there have been other threads on the PlastiDip, but I never looked at it until now...Given the very small size that will be painted (just the chrome trim ring on the grill insert) and the intricacy of that area, it looks like I might spend more time peeling than painting. Am I wrong?

Also, it sounds/looks like Plastidip can be removed at any time? Does it come off with car washes?

An interesting alternative might be piano black or glass black 3M vinyl wrap if I can cut it small enough. A little heat and it might be done.

 

You don't need to be intricate or even careful. You take 4 pieces of tape, make a square around your vent, leaving lots of area around the vent that you don't want black in the square of tape. Dip that square on thick, 3-4 coats should do it. Once dry remove the tape (without any cutting) and peel the excess dip off the parts you don't want black. No need for any cutting, every joint in body parts creates an automatic cut. Just peel carefully. Plastidip can be removed at any time but it's really solid. Resists rock chips better then paint. Won't come off with car wash and even resists extreme cold (-40). I was doubtful also until I tried it. When you see how easy it is, you'll want to dip everything.

 

When I dip You dip We dip.

Thanks djgold...or is it DJ Gold? Spinning that Freaky Nasty one more time...

 

For those interested: The workshop manual suggests removing the entire bumper to remove the grill inserts. The chrome/black pack ring is held on by 4 clips that are similar to the hood vent clips for the supercharged models. Theoretically, if you can slip something through the plastic mesh, you can release these clips without removing the bumper. Theoretically.

 

Similar to the grill inserts, I was thinking about plastidipping my front top grill but am hesitant because i don't want to spray whats behind the grill (radiator). My only option would be to remove the bumper right?

 

Or carefully find a way to fish a thin plastic paint tarp behind the grill (and also find a way to keep it in position). You'll find a video online where Dipyourcar.com does this for an Audi R8 grill as well as for wheels. Problem is that the holes in our grills are a little small to get a plastic tarp through.

You definitely don't want plastidip on your radiator.

 

I did it with plastidip and I didn't put anything behind the grills. I have NO dip whatsoever on my radiator. Easy job guys, you're just making it complicated...

 

Thread resurrection! I have obtained a spare set of upper and lower center grilles for my car, which I will be doing in black. Thinking about Plasti Dip. Any of you who've done this with your plastic grilles, did you use their primer first? Did you use the gloss coat after?