EnG 1999 Saab 9-5 SE Update - Cosmetic Input Needed
So, gents (and the precious few ladies that we have around here, Kaylan & Blix I’m talking to you), the 9-5 is shaping up nicely, even if it was a little more work that I orginally anticipated.
I’ve got two major projects left to tackle: installing the stereo that I purchased and replacing the brake fluid. I’ve yet to finish the correction of the “08″ code on the ACC, but that’s awaiting a part and what I have left isn’t difficult. I’ll probably let someone else do the brake fluid since I’ve not got the vacuum tools that make the job a cinch.
With most of the immediate needs taken care of, my thoughts are turning to the cosmetics of the car — certainly the black trim is a faded gray color and must be refinished. I will certainly get the windows tinted, too.
The question is this: which way to go with the refinish of the trim? If I paint it black, I’ve stayed true to the original design. If I go with a white refinish, I’ll be truer to the current 9-5 aesthetics.
With this as my inspiration, how do I proceed?
Click through for a few examples to consider.
I figure that there are four primary options:
1. Restore back to near original.
2. Original, but with white/near white trim at the beltline.
3. All white trim.
4. “The whole enchilada” — completely mimicking the photo of the newer 9-5 above.
At this point, I’m certain that I’m going to tint the windows — it makes practical and aesthetic sense to me. To show that, I’ve chosen a recent picture of another car similar to mine that already has the windows darkened. I’ve then processed this photo to show what I’m talking about.
Let’s get started, shall we?
1. The original. This is how my 9-5 looks now.
2. White belt-line trim.
3. All-white trim.
4. The whole enchilada — all of the elements found in the customized facelifted 9-5 above.
So which is best in your opinion? Comments are open.
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grrr. im tied between 3 and 4. but im gonna go ahead and opt for 4. And it would be even cooler if you paint the door knobs and do a black grill.
that would be amazing
also, are you keeping the current rims and painting them black, or getting new black ones?
wonderful photoshop skills Eggs
I would go for the original look. It is easier to maintain and it dose not affect the resale value. Once you change the original look your are taking a chance that nobody may share your taste in alterations.
Great car, mine is dark blue.
I’d go for option three, but up the budget for some different rims. These look awesome on 9-5s as well as 9-3s and you may be able to find some around somewhere. Are you allowed to tint headlamps there? I’ve seen it done here, but I don’t know if it’s legal. A light tint could work well, though.
The car in the top shot is lowered and with what I’d guess are 18-inch wheels. I guess it depends how far you want to go, but this could get costly
First, I’m NOT putting $1300 into wheels after spending only $5400 on the car! Perhaps a set of domestic-made wheels from tirerack.com or a reasonable set from Ronal would work. In fact, a set of these might look smart for less than half those fancy-schmancy Saab wheels! If I go with the Chinese-made stuff, it’s about one-third!
I may not want to lower mine for ride quality, and because then you’re talk some effort, which I really need to put into the ‘vert at the moment. Good thought, but I think that’s at a later stage. EnG
Eggs;
I’m voting for #1. I’ve had excellent results on my 9-5’s black trim pieces when I used a Turtle Wax product called “Ice–synthetic liquid polish”. It leaves no white residue behind which means you can clean and wax right over the trim pieces. I also bought 17″ rims and dropped the car an inch by buying lower springs and that really made the car look sharper. I wouldn’t mess with painting anything.
Jeff B, here in Australia, color coded the grey trims on his Viggen. Made it all Lightning Blue. Looks good. White may be a slightly different effect though.
Go with the whole enchilada. ¡Será hermoso!
¡Sí, pero él puede ser costoso! Huevos y maíz
eggs-#3, paint the grill white, and get the double 3 spokes swade mentioned.
swade i just got those wheels for my viggen. putting them on tomorrow….can’t wait!
Photos! - SW
What he said! EnG
Here you go Senor Huevos.
Jeffk: Great job. I left the strip a little gray to show the contour, but the all-white look of your convinces me that I’m onto something. I’m not sure about the grill paint. I like it the way that it is. Finally, the wheels are great, but too pricy for me.
yeah on second thought, i would leave the black trim on the top of the bumper — adds a little depth. but i like white front lower lip, side skirt, and door trim.
also, for what it’s worth — i know elkparts is a gracious sponsor, but for us stateside folk, taliaferro has those wheels a bit cheaper. definitely my favorite modern saab wheel.
good luck eggs.
Jeff: You may have misinterpreted my comment (it wasn’t very well worded), but I meant that I, with limited graphics time, left the strips a little gray just to show that the contour is still there on the pics. I fully intend to make them body color as you’ve shown on yours, which I like. So, I’m onto something with the idea of painting it white, as you’ve shown.
That is, I like yours, including the strips, just not the white grille.
I’ll look at the other wheel suppliers. The current wheels are staying for the time being anyway, so plenty of time to perhaps find a used set somewhere….
I’d go for #1 - keep it original. But I’d defintitely tint, and upgrade the rims, keeping them Saab though. What were the coolest available to new ‘99 models? The set Swade linked to would do nicely as well.
jeff - wow! I was asking for photos of the wheels on your car
Great job grafting them on to Eggs’ car!
The Elkparts link was just for illustration purposes. I know my way around the site quickly so it’s the easiest way to show what I mean. Elkparts and TS actually have no formal relationship, so I gain nothing if you buy from there except the warm fuzzy feeling of helping them out. They’ve been site supporters right from day 1. I’ve never charged for the ad but they help me out with good prices from time to time.
thanks swade, and yeah i knew which pics you were referring to. you’ll be getting those in about 18 hours.
elkparts has some NICE stuff. i would love to throw those sick hirsch 19ers on the wall — they’re art!
First of all you need a lowering spring kit and a set of 17″ or 18″ wheels….
One vote for option 3! I think it keeps that classic clean white look.
I’d go with all white trim, and that should include the door handles. They look out of place in black. Don’t bother painting the rims, when you’ve got the cash go for a set of black BBS CHs, or Super Advan Racing Ver 2s. Both those wheels suit Saabs beautifully IMO.
I agree with Mats that springs & shocks are as important as wheels/tyres. Once you get to wheels/tyres I’d stick with Saab originals or very good quality aftermarket. A lot of wheel companies/fitters will claim to fit but the headaches for a poor match will drive you insane and possibly ruin parts of your cars
drivetrain.
FWIW - I like the black trim as is. Together with dark windows its a good look.
Moe: Unfortunately, the door handles will stay black for the time being. That’s a project that will take a number of hours to complete, and that’s time that I simply don’t have right now.
They are metal, and painted much like the rest of the car. If you don’t go back and do it right, they will be a mess in very short order.
The plastic parts can be easily coated with plastic paint (aka vinyl dye) that is pretty permanent from the begining.
I’ve seen a few aeros, and it makes me think that perhaps painting the lower strip along the underside of the car white and leaving the belt strip black may be the way to go.
I’ll take Kraig’s suggestion first — it’s easiest, and I can always go back to painting if it doesn’t work out.
Thanks, all!!
You know, I have a set of 17″ Klingon rims that I could sell you for a reasonable price (I’ve upgraded my summer wheels on the 9-5 Aero, so I have some surplus).
You might also think about getting a 9-5 rear decor panel from Elkparts.
Personally I would not paint the trim.
Having driven a white Chevy Corsica for 8 yrs, and a white Chevy Cavalier for 10 yrs, I have a hard time thinking of white as a good color, but it is, at least on on Saabs it is. I vote #4 with #3 a close 2nd, but the white door handles down the road is a good idea. Your plan posted above sounds good though.
Keep the black trim, it looks sexy and european, not to mention that painted black trim, especially in a light color is going to be expensive to properly pull off.
I say keep the trim black, but go for white Aero-style bumpers and sideskirts, along with blacking-out your headlights. Throw on some blacked-out 17’s and you’re set.
im getting my viggen wheels black chromed on my 93 its a silver convert i got the whole top of the car blaced out
the ENTIRE enchilada, swade.
I’d keep the trim black. I’ve used a product called Back-to-Black on black plastic trim with great results. That and some occasional Armorall. The Back-to-Black does a great job of removing the oxidation/discoloration on the plastic, and Armorall will keep it looking black.
I’ve never done anything differently on my ‘93 9000 Aero and the black trim is still very black.
My dad bought a set of BBS wheels (17″) for his 9-5 when he bought it. He paid $700 for the wheels (which is a steel for BBSs). I sold the original wheels to someone on the east coast who wanted a set for their snow tires. (He had the same wheels as you.) Total cost of the BBSs was then reduced to about $400.
Cheers, and best of luck.
~Peter
I’m a fan of Back-to-Black — works so well on the C900. Didn’t do a thing for the gray 9-5 trim, unfortunately. EnG
Eggs,
Good to know about the Back-to-Black not working on the 9-5. Must be different material.
~P
I don’t think that the black headlamps would only work if you had the chrome trim on it, don’t no if thats possible, i’m not really bothered about the others the 3rd 1 i think is the best though
PG: The black trim on the 9-5 is discolored, not just cracked as the dark trim gets on the 900. It is now gray, not black. When the Back-to-Black is on it, it shines, but no difference in color. I am going to try the Ice-synthetic polish above and see. It’s supposed to work like cleaner wax. Worth a shot.
the make a better product than that its a stain we used it at the dealer ship for 03 93 door handels and trim you put it on with a foam brush or spay it the hardest part is cleaning it
for ever blacki just looked you can get it online it last and it looks glossy
I have to vote for number 3. My 1999 9-5 trim has overall kept its colors pretty good so I actually like the black trim. The gray is a bit off color, but armorall generally gets it looking great. If you do go with painting let us know the technique and how it goes. If I thought I could easily get my silver to have silver trim I would have to be at least somewhat tempted.
Tint made a world of difference on mine last summer, however the darker headlights are best left to the newer models IMHO.
Howie: Look here for the method that I would use. Worked wonders on the C900. EnG
I would go with option 1; I seem to have a special attraction to older Saabs that are restored to stock.
If you decide to keep the original black trim (my favourite) just use peanut oil after you thoroughly rubbed it with a simple white school eraser. I tried a lot of products which caused me a lot of grief. None come close to peanut oil for ease of application, cleaning and durability. Surprising but true.
What kind of tint for the windows are you going to use? I was considering a tint job, but was not sure on what to use.
I have black Montegi wheels (18″) on mine, tinted windows and I painted the front and rear trim only. Looks awesome.
I would stick with #1 but modify things slightly. Case in point:
I have a black ‘01 9-5 with tan interior I bought new and those standard 5 spoke wheels. I bead-blasted the wheels and powder coated them to minimum gloss black to match the body - $280 total; added LLumar 30% window tint - $175 total; coil over springs and 2″ lowering kit from Eibach - $350 total; removed all the badging from the fenders and trunk lid - $0; sanded the grill with 400 grit paper and 2-stage painted black to match the body - $15 total.
I have 177,000 miles on this baby, it’s my daily driver to the office, and I plan to drive it a few more years before turning it over completely to a track car.
Just my $0.02 for what it’s worth.