[tokic_o]

Hi all,

New here just picked up a 2018 M2. Wondering where folks in the GTA recommend to go pickup gloss black front grills and side grills? And maybe even body colour front reflectors?

Dealer quotes $495+tax for the pair of front grills lol seeing if folks here have shop recommendations.

TIA

[toyman]

I got mine at Racingbees.

[gphung]

You can get the M235i M Perf black grilles and swap the surrounds with your OEM chrome M2 grilles. That way you retain the original M2 slats with the "M2" logo, and end up with the black surrounds/border. It's a cheaper alternative than getting the actual M2 M Perf black grilles. I'm pretty sure there's a DIY on how to swap the border/surrounds on the grilles somewhere on here. It was quite easy to do when I did this a couple years ago.

As for where to get them, here's an example OEM M235i black grille on eBay: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/153581841866...sAAOSwnbZYJLP2 ($200 USD + $13 USD shipping to Toronto). I got mine off eBay as well but from sunmotorsbmwparts, the once go-to BMW dealership for selling M Perf parts at a much cheaper price point than its competitors. However, that ship has sailed unfortunately.

edit:
Of course as mentioned above, if you don't care for OEM, there are other options as well. If you don't mind a more involved DIY, you can consider separating the chrome surround, wrapping it, and reinstalling it.

[tokic_o]

Originally Posted by toyman

I got mine at Racingbees.

Does theirs have the slot for the M2 badge? On their website the picture of the double slat black grill doesn't look like they have the area where the M2 badge goes?

[toyman]

Originally Posted by tokic_o

Does theirs have the slot for the M2 badge? On their website the picture of the double slat black grill doesn't look like they have the area where the M2 badge goes?

I went with the debadged look. No spot for an M2 badge.

[tux2005]

I had a 228i before I got my 2017 M2, I bought the black grills from iND and then before trading in the 228i I removed swapped back to stock, when my M2 came of the boat after Euro Delivery I then removed the grills from the M2, removed the chrome surround and the black surrounds from my previous set and swapped them over to the M2's inner slats. You could look to buy just the surrounds from a 3rd party, like iND or you can buy the complete set of black grills for an F22/F23 (should be any 2014-2018 MY I think for the same shape as on the 2018 M2) and swap just the surround. It is usually cheaper to buy the non-M set, they will come with single vertical slats and won't have the M2 logo but you just swap that part of the grill over.

It is actually much easier to do that part of the swapping process than removing the grills from the car (unless you remove the entire front bumper cover). Getting behind the bumper cover and releasing the tabs holding the kidney grills in is a bit difficult if you don't have very thin arms. Once the grills are out the little clips holding the surrounds and the inner slats are very easy to remove. By transferring over you keep the same double slats & M2 badge as stock and it is just the chrome replaced with gloss black.

[Ggeezer]

You can pick them up from the dealer. After FX conversion, taxes and shipping, it was cheaper to buy locally than ind for me.

I went with the black grilles for the 2 series and just swapped out the vertical slats from the OE grilles

[Djphonics]

I ordered a set off of Amazon which fit well. They were really inexpensive, I believe it was under $50.

Double slat grill as well, although you could swap out the grill as others mentioned. I ordered a grill for a 230i

[tokic_o]

Thanks everyone! I ordered the OEM gloss black one for regular 2 series from local dealer and gonna do the outer replacement.

Is it a b*tch to get the front grills off without taking the full bumper off? I remember on my e92 and f36 my hands were all scratched up trying fit under the bumper to get the grills off

[gphung]

Originally Posted by tokic_o

Thanks everyone! I ordered the OEM gloss black one for regular 2 series from local dealer and gonna do the outer replacement.

Is it a b*tch to get the front grills off without taking the full bumper off? I remember on my e92 and f36 my hands were all scratched up trying fit under the bumper to get the grills off

Similar thing here. You can remove some of the bolts up top securing the bumper down so you can pull the bumper towards you a bit for more clearance. Undoing the clips to get the first grille out is a pain. Watch a few videos on YouTube before trying it out. I believe I referenced the IND video.

[tux2005]

All 3 times that I've done it (twice on the F22, once on the F87) I have needed a 2nd person to help hold the bumper cover while I struggled to get the clips off. Once you've got the first one out it is easy but getting the first grill was a pain.

[Djphonics]

I used a long flat head screwdriver to get at the tabs. Be careful not to apply too much torque though. You don't want them to snap