Chrome-delete

[AllyCat]

New S3 sportback owner here - hopefully someone can advise on chrome deletion. I've had a search on the forum and got most answers but just have a couple of questions....

Window Trim - Wrapping seems the way to go so I've enquired for quotes - all good
Grille - I will buy a black grille - all good
Wing Mirrors - As weird as it sounds I might leave them silver, or get them wrapped with the window trim.
Fog light grilles - there is a chrome piece in the middle here - does this just pop off? Or does it need to come out same time as the grille? If it just pops off I'll probably wrap it myself. Or maybe people sell the chrome strips but in black (I haven't found any but you guys may know something I don't)
Rear diffuser - Not a clue - does it pop off easily? Or would wrapping on the car be the only way to go?


Thanks, I'll post a pic of the results.

 

[stubbly46]

I have a facelift saloon and I had my window trim wrapped with 3M 2080 gloss black. I paid to have it done but wish I did it myself, I’ve since done parts of my wife’s car and if you take your time it’s quite easy and will save you a lot of money. There are different widths & roll lengths available on eBay at a reasonable price.
I bought black mirror caps from aliexpress and they cost less than £15 for a pair and were excellent quality. I also bought a used replacement grille and a new rear diffuser and was a good move. The diffuser was from a dealer on here and saved money over a used and it was perfect, the chrome trim on the original is expensive in the black and I couldn’t find the front outer grille replacement trim and ended up spraying them with an aerosol. I had the dark chrome gloss paint mixed at Halfords and it came out great.
Good luck

 

[AllyCat]

Thanks for the reply. I've been quoted £340 +VAT which is more than expected. Did you use knifeless tape to do it and then tuck it under the rubber seal? I'm sure I could do it, but not sure how well it would hold up. Have yours held up ok?

How did you get the front side chrome strips off - do you need to take the bumper off? I think I might spray these myself as they're only tiny.

I didn't know you could buy the diffuser strips on their own - do you have a link? Not sure how easy it'll be to take off the chrome strip though. If it's easy I may well paint this myself too.

Cheers

 

[stubbly46]

It’s all looking good still, I’m ****** off having paid £150 to have it done though. The saloon trims are different in the way they are attached above and below the window on the door and not the continuous strip you have on the sportback. For the small window on the C pillar you can buy squares of wrap so you don’t have to stretch it around tight bends but again that’ll be different to yours. You’ll need to take the bumper off to change your grille and you’ll see how to remove the outer grilles, the chrome strips are clipped on to those and you can tease them apart without damage, the same with the rear diffuser.

Bumper & Components - Rear for 2017 Audi S3 | Genuine Audi Parts

www.genuineaudiparts.com

 

[stubbly46]

If you’re interested, the paint code for the Dark Chrome paint is LRN4 for the High Gloss and LRU6 for the Dark Chrome Matt.
I think I used the High Gloss but ended up putting extra clear laquer on as I wasn’t happy with the finish.

 

[AllyCat]

@stubbly46 Thanks, I got some paint mixed up and sprayed my rear trim. Fitted it with a new diffuser from Audi so that's the back-end done. Also got the window trims wrapped so just front grilles to go now

 

[stubbly46]

@stubbly46 Thanks, I got some paint mixed up and sprayed my rear trim. Fitted it with a new diffuser from Audi so that's the back-end done. Also got the window trims wrapped so just front grilles to go now
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Well done you’ve done a great job there, I personally think the Black Edition rear diffuser looks so much better against the grey paint and also with the gloss black window trim.
Have you managed to find a grille yet and do you prefer the standard Black Edition one or an RS3 copy. Keep up your good work

 

[AllyCat]

Have you managed to find a grille yet and do you prefer the standard Black Edition one or an RS3 copy. Keep up your good work

I prefer the honeycomb grille but would like to keep it oem for an S3 so I've already managed to get a near perfect condition black grille from fleebay. Only trouble is.... it doesn't have parking sensors, and my car does (just can't find one with parking sensor holes).

So next job is to retrofit parking sensors. To do DIY this would involved the hole punch tool, 2x brackets glued to the inner grille and colour-coding the sensors, but I've found a company near me who retrofit Audi parking so I think I'll just get them to do the lot. Shouldn't cost too much and will be quick and perfect.

This only leaves the chrome trim on the fog light grilles to do which I've posted another thread about. I could spray them, but concerned about stone chips at the front, or wrap them, but then I'd have to re-do in a couple of years..so not sure at the mo'

 

[stubbly46]

Like you I got a good used original grille but was lucky in finding one with the sensors previously fitted. I sprayed my sensors with a light coat of paint and went a couple of mm down the sides as advised by someone on here and they work perfectly.

 

[AllyCat]

Like you I got a good used original grille but was lucky in finding one with the sensors previously fitted. I sprayed my sensors with a light coat of paint and went a couple of mm down the sides as advised by someone on here and they work perfectly.

Yep I found the same thread with the spraying specs. Did you also clear coat your sensors I assume? I'm not sure what colour the black edition plastic is, I suspect it's the same dark chrome but with matte lacquer?

 

[stubbly46]

Yep I found the same thread with the spraying specs. Did you also clear coat your sensors I assume? I'm not sure what colour the black edition plastic is, I suspect it's the same dark chrome but with matte lacquer?

I used the Matt dark chrome on my sensors and it was a great match. I thought I had pics of the outer grille chrome trims but I can only find the grille with them removed and then replaced once painted. They have lasted well though, I did them February ‘21 and only had one chip which I touched up with a brush from some paint sprayed into the cap.
When I changed the grille I removed the outer grilles and separated the chrome part and put the black parts back in so I could get the bumper back on again and use the car and did the chrome parts a day or so later and they clipped back in easily.

 

[AllyCat]

I used the Matt dark chrome on my sensors and it was a great match. I thought I had pics of the outer grille chrome trims but I can only find the grille with them removed and then replaced once painted. They have lasted well though, I did them February ‘21 and only had one chip which I touched up with a brush from some paint sprayed into the cap.
When I changed the grille I removed the outer grilles and separated the chrome part and put the black parts back in so I could get the bumper back on again and use the car and did the chrome parts a day or so later and they clipped back in easily.

That looks like a decent match on the sensors, I'll do the same. Have a company doing the holes and glueing brackets on Friday.

My plan for the chrome fog grille trims is the same as yours. Did you spray yours also? How have they held up with stone chips on the thin rattle-can paint?

 

[stubbly46]

Yes I sprayed the trims and only had one chip which I touched up using a brush. Nobody would notice without a close up examination

 

[AllyCat]

Turned out decent in the end, looks eom so I'm happy

 

[stubbly46]

Looks like a first class job that you’ve done there, we’ll done mate