O.K, I have thought about painting of plating my grill trim black since I bought my A4 over a year ago. <p>Recently someone else on the board with a dark blue A4 painted their grill trim and rings and posted a few pix. Although it looked very nice, I kinda like the chrome rings. <p>Thanks to a fellow board addict (you know who you are :-) ) who was kind enough to sell me a slightly damaged stock grill to experiment on, I finally took the plunge. I removed the trim ring (which seems to be made of a very heavily plated plastic), sanded it with #400 sandpaper, cleaned it with rubbing alcohol, primed it and painted it with automotive spray paint. It has only been a couple of weeks, but the grill has been taken a few bug hits and has been washed with a coin-op preasure washer with no ill effects.<p>Hope this helps any of you guys who are thinking about similar mods.<p>Robert Jordan<br>1.8t/M/Bose/CD/Srf/5-spoke/armrest/splashguards/polished tips/painted grill trim<br>

LLtek will paint their sports grill to match the color of your car, for an additional amount.<p>I had mine painted laser red, it looks pretty sharp!!!!!

Looks great Robert! You know what they say...one man's garbage is another man's...well...something like that.<p>-Ash 98.5 Silver 1.8TQMS

I've been considering doing this for a while, I just haven't been fearless enough to take the plunge. I have spoken to a few owners who painted their grills as well as a body shop who was not too eager to mess with it. A number of them recommended using an "etching" paint or an adhesive and to forgo the sanding.<p>I like the stock grill except for the trim ring. I think I still want to give this a try. Who did the actual painting for you and what paint did the use?<p>Thanks

I considered buying 'etching primer' and paint from Eastwood auto restoration, but it was expensive and I douby anything would etch chrome plating. So I just used auto spray paint that you can buy at Wal-Mart.<p>Robert Jordan<p>P.S. I have been invited to write a FAQ w/ photos and will do so soon.

It sounds like the Chrome surrond comes off of the grill. Once you remove the grill, do you just pull the chrome trapazoid off?<p>Thanks<p>Christian J. Long

Yup, the chrome comes off and that is the only part I painted. A small screwdriver and a lot of courage is all you will need. you will have to bend the trim a bit to remove it and it is a little scary, but I was able to remove/replace it without any problems. <p>Robert Jordan<p>P.S. I have been invited to make a FAQ for this procedure and hope to have something to Jason by 12-22-98.