Changing the grill

[Garco]

Hello all,
I've just been given a nice shiny A3 as a company car (Its a 2008 model - not the brand new one) and I want to change the grill to the black version. Can anyone tell me how the chrome trim comes off (so I can simply respray) or where I can get a complete grill from - I've not gone down the dealer route yet as I don't want to re-mortgage the house

 

[frenchy2475]

You can buy just the trim in black from dealers 8P4 807 715 VMZ £55.48 INC VAT not the cheapest of things.

 

[Garco]

Fantastic, any pointers on how I get the chrome one off? Do I have to remove the bumper?

 

[frenchy2475]

You will need to get the grille out totally to fit the trim but not sure if you have to take the bumper off though.

 

[tom-craig@hotmail.co.uk]

piece of cake mate ,took me and my son 15 mins to change the grill over and no you dont have to remove the bumper,good flat edged screw driver and something over it so you dont damage anything ie paint there is a fair bit of pulling mind but once you get one or two of the clips free you will be able to see how it comes off

 

[Sohrob]

is this the grill or the actual surround your refering to? I thought the black optic surround from Audi was around £200.

 

[Lee_R]

Its one of those parts cons!

The optics surround does not have a part number on it, its not available seperately if you ask. They will sell you a complete grille for £200 though!

However the knowledgable folk on here have found the part number and it is indeed available to order for £50ish

Half an hours effort swapping and you have saved £150 Even more if you fancy painting it. It is a proper chrome finish though so take your time removing it to get a decent primer because a quick spray job may look good initially, as soon as a stone chip appears it will flake off.

However it is worth mentioning that if you do get a full optics grille, the old one (if 06 S line) can fetch £50 plus on Ebay!

 

[A3ben]

i wouldn't bother trying to paint the chrome surround its a pain, the paint just keeps on
coming off even if you rub it down loads. i got ****** off when i tried doing it

 

[tom-craig@hotmail.co.uk]

agree with last post you need to bake the paint and laquer to have any chance of it stayin on long term like this

 

[redbutcher]

I would think you would have to paint the whole grill black as in the picture above to get the proper optic grill look otherwise you'll have a grey grill with a black surround.

 

[A3ben]

Personally i would just buy a black surround and not bother trying to paint it.

If you do take it off though make sure you rub it down in a warm area because they are very brittle when off the grille

 

[tom-craig@hotmail.co.uk]

paid a tenner off fleabay 25 to paint had spoiler done at same time by a stonacre car paint man cheap but effective

 

[Mucko]

whats the difference with 06 s-line optic grill and an 07-08?
any pics?

 

[Garco]

Thanks for all the advice. So can I assume I can buy the black surround and prise the chrome one off without removing the complete grill or bumper?

 

[Lee_R]

No you need to remove the complete grille. Once thats off you need to remove the surround.

 

[Lee_R]

whats the difference with 06 s-line optic grill and an 07-08?
any pics?

Nothing, they are the same! They didnt change until late 2008 when the whole front end was facelifted.

 

[dramirez]

Does anyone have the part number for the black grill surround for a '09 s-line?

Thanks in advance!

 

[GeoffT]

I have been thinking about fitting a black optics grille for a while, but am put off by having to remove the front bumper. I know some people have down it by just forcing the grille off, but that sounds a bit dodgy to me.

I was wondering about simply covering the existing chrome surround with proper automotive satin black vinyl sheet. The sort of thing that they use to cover cars/vans with logos etc. Seems it would be a lot easier and cheaper than the alternatives and would be easily reverted to standard if required. Does anyone have any experience of this type of product and how well it goes onto curved surfaces?

 

[10blazin]

yes you can get the chrome off without the grill you can also take the grill of with some prising without taking the bumper off but be warned as in other threads it says pop the plastic screws out well mine were steel screws i got it off after some messing under the chrome there's 2 little holes where the screws are coming threw to the front i just drilled into the 2 holes out and drill the screw out from the front its under the chrome so you don't have to worry about it ...... to get the chrome of start from the top as its under the bonnet use 2 screw drivers get one in the insert the other and turn you will see it slowly pop out as you worked you way round once you done the top do the screw drivers on the inside of the grill be steady as you don't want marks or snapped chrome as you may want to keep it for future ...... hope this helped

Thanks for all the advice. So can I assume I can buy the black surround and prise the chrome one off without removing the complete grill or bumper?

 

[jmohide]

I was wondering about simply covering the existing chrome surround with proper automotive satin black vinyl sheet. The sort of thing that they use to cover cars/vans with logos etc. Seems it would be a lot easier and cheaper than the alternatives and would be easily reverted to standard if required. Does anyone have any experience of this type of product and how well it goes onto curved surfaces?

This is possible, I remember reading a post by Boydie who did this and he said it worked well, have a search for it and you should be able to find the post.

 

[krazyboi]

agree with last post you need to bake the paint and laquer to have any chance of it stayin on long term like this

can you post what material/brand you used?

As for the chrome/grill replacement, I suggest removing the front bumper to do it. I've seen some remove the grill w/o removing the front bumper, and ended up w/ a cracked/dented chrome trim and grill. If you don't plan on selling or reusing the OEM grill/trim, by all means, I'm sure you don't care if you break it. But if you do plan on reusing it, take the time to remove the bumper. It probably takes 15-20 minutes to do and just requires removing a few torx screws from the wheel well, bottom bumper, and two bolts within the wheel well.

 

[Garco]

Picked up the gloss black surround from the dealer today - I want to keep the grey part of the grill. Tried to remove it without taking the bumper off and failed big time
I couldn't get the inner clips out and don't want to damage the grill.
Will try the bumper off method at the weekend and post some pics when done