Front grill, blower cowling and windshield wiper painting project

Subject: Front grill, blower cowling and windshield wiper painting project
Author: davidc (moderator) : member since December, 2003 : 10552 posts
Posted on: 2004-06-06 21:24:00

The plastic grills on my '86 735i were in good shape, aside from being faded gray, so I decided to clean and spray paint them black, along with the metal cowling over the blower and the windshield wiper arms. New grills for the cowling cost $22 each per side, while the three grill pieces for the front end cost a combined whopping $300 to replace.

Items needed:

13mm socket
6mm socket
philips screwdriver
cutting pliers
masking tape
Rustoleum satin black spray paint
1000-grit sandpaper
two 3/16" plastic vacuum T's
four small hose clamps

In this photo, you can see the faded gray plastic grills and wiper arms over the rusty metal blower cowling. This was an eyesore every time the hood was opened.

The front grills before painting. It's hard to tell due to the lighting, but the grills are quite faded and gray instead of black.

The front end with the left, right and center grills removed for painting.

I also removed and painted the headlight bucket assemblies, which were starting to get a little rusty.

The front grills after painting. All three pieces were removed, cleaned, the chrome taped off, then spray painted and allowed to dry for a day before reinstallation. They look new again.

To remove the metal cowling, unscrew the five screws at the top of the firewall and the four screws on top nearest the windshield. Flip the unit over and unplug the single electrical connector to the driver's side washer jet and the vacuum hoses (two for the driver's-side actuator, one for the passenger-side actuator). Finally, cut the two windshield washer feed hoses. I suggest cutting the two hoses at different locations to make reassembly easier (otherwise mark the two hoses so that they don't get reconnected incorrectly). When we're done, we'll use 3/16" vacuum tees and small hose clamps to reconnect the hoses.

The rusty-looking blower cowling waiting to be revitalized.

1000-grit sandpaper was used to remove rust and smooth the surface of the metal cowling in preparation for painting.

The cowling being spray painted. All of the white plastic screw holes, the rubber spray nozzles and the vent gear assemblies were taped off with masking tape. The screws were removed from the plastic vent covers so that they could be lifted up slightly so that we could paint under their edges.

A closeup of the freshly painted cowling.

The grills that go over the cowling were also painted. The top grill has been cleaned and spray painted. The lower grill shows what it looked like before, all faded and gray. Painting the grills makes a pretty dramatic difference in the appearance.

A view of the painted cowling grills and the windshield wiper arms. Only the main part of the wiper arms were painted -- not the blade or the blade holder.

The refinished cowling installed back into the car. It looks a LOT better than before.

And with the cowling grills installed.

And, finally, with the wiper arms installed.

A closeup of the driver's side portion of the cowling, grill and wiper arm. BIG, BIG improvement. These items were major distractions when looking at the car, especially with the hood open. Now they look new again, allowing the eye to be drawn to whatever else needs fixing or replacing (like rusty screws).

David Cecil
'02 X5 3.0, 15k miles
'97 740iL, 120k miles
'86 735i, 94k miles
'77 320i, 140k miles
'92 325is (rear-ended on I285, gone but not forgotten)

www.e38.org has links for everything about your BMW 7-series automobile

The 7 Series E23 Forum | Message Thread:

Front grill, blower cowling and windshield wiper painting project (pic) - davidc 2004-06-06 21:24:00 (5304 views)
- Looks good David. I will be doing the same thing. - cfisher 2004-06-07 13:38:48 (464 views)

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