December 14, 1999
By: Robert Leidy

BMW made several changes to the Z3 with the 2000 model year. One of those changes replaced the black slats in the kidney grills with chrome trimmed slats. (Correction: The model year 2000 2.3 Z3 did not receive the chrome slats). In the picture below the left kidney grill is the black one (stock on pre 2000 Z3s) and the right one is the chrome trimmed kidney grill.

The new chrome trimmed kidney grills are available from any BMW parts department. BMW part numbers 51-13-8-412-949 and 51-13-8-412-950. The parts list for $25.75 a piece and can be installed in minutes. The new kidney grills are identicle to the old ones except the leading edge of the plastic slats are chrome.

This may seen crude, but to remove the stock kidney grills raise the hood and strike the back side of the kidney grill with your hand. The kidney grill is held in place with some plastic tabs. The grill will simply pop out after a few hard strikes, and this should not damage the original kidney grill. It's a good idea to have your other hand on the other side of the kidney grill to catch it, otherwise it might go flying across your garage (trust me on this).

Once the old kidney grill has been removed, the new one is simply pushed into place from the front. You may want to clean up the area behind the grill while you have the chance. I had some wax paste build-up and some other crud back there.