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5th & 6th Generation (2002-2006 & 2007-2011) Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 2002-2006 & 2007-2011 Topics of discussion range from fuel economy, safety, modifications, performance all involving America's favorite family car, the Toyota Camry.

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Old 03-07-2008, 07:20 PM   #1 (permalink)
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Gen6 My Camry LE Steel Mesh Nightmare

So I received a grille combo set from a friend as a gift. I was so surprised that grilles cost so much. I thought it was a cheap under 100 dollar mod.

So the entire time I thought I had an E&G grille because it looked the same but there was no brand. I knew something was fishy because other members of this forum said their grille came with a brand sticker or something.

Little did I know, I had tons of fitments problems and are in the process of returning the top grille for refund. I just wrote this thread to warn every body to be cautious when buying the cheaper grille on ebay by a company "grille4you". After I get my refund, I'm going to buy the E&G grille myself lols.

Step 1) Removing factory grille: omgosh expect back pain when trying to remove the factory grille as well as hurting your arm if you have a large wrist. for prying the clips, i was being careful and trying not to hurt the oem grille but I realize it was getting no where and you have to use force with a screw driver.



so I was trying to install the bottom grille but I was confused on how to bolt it onto my car. first time using a lock nut. beware with grille4you's bottom grille, there's four locking nuts, left right middle-top middle-bottom. all attaches to the bumper fine except the middle-top, it doesn't even touch the bumper to attach.

the entire top of the bottom grille has a big gap.

is this even the correct way to install these nuts? grille4you instructions were HORRIBLE w/o pictures! I ended up using the E&G instructions for help the entire way.

I actually think only installing the bottom and keeping the oem factory silver looks better then replacing the top grille? anybody think so? it just replaces the cheap black plastic grille originally.

Then I was trying to install the top grille but I realize there were two big humongous protruding metal pieces that wouldn't even fit into the oem slits where the tabs used to go in.

I checked the E&G grille and it seemed like they didn't have any problems like this. Then I thought it was because they might of accidentally sent me the SE grille. FYI SE grills don't fit with LE.

*not installed, just placed to see how it looks like.

basically had to call the company which is located in Pomona,ca. they had their techs look at my picture and said it was perfectly fine but i still think it was a defect. luckily they are really professional and are allowing me a full refund for the upper grille, I decided to keep the lower grille because it was installed and it was such a pain to get to the bottom. WARNING: Don't try to save money and get the cheaper brand. GET THE E&G!

It was an interesting learning experience. Something I realize is, one mod makes you want to keep modding haha. and the more I mod, the more i'm not scared to touch the engine and change stuff.

Cons of this experience.

The metal grille was scratching my bumper
So E&G here I come lols.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
then my hid relay harness installation


hope I installed those right lols


ended up buying relay cable off ebay. but I guess the socket he made was a piece of crap and the connectors didn't reach the oem harness. it wasn't turning on for the longest time. so i just took one of my old hid harness and made it into an extended cable lol. relay harness-short extension-oem harness

that's it!

Last edited by skyxliner; 03-07-2008 at 07:48 PM.
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Old 03-07-2008, 07:28 PM   #2 (permalink)
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FYI SE grills don't fit with LE

????????
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Old 03-07-2008, 07:33 PM   #3 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by njerald View Post
FYI SE grills don't fit with LE

????????


i was thinking the same exact thing.. Ill be sure to tell benca and PrincessPeach
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Old 03-07-2008, 07:36 PM   #4 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by white07cam View Post
i was thinking the same exact thing.. Ill be sure to tell benca and PrincessPeach
well i'm not 100% sure, but if you look at ebay auctions for steel meshes, some say only for SE and some say for all trims BUT SE.

I emailed a seller on ebay regarding this (He was selling e&G Grille)
Quote:
Thansk for the inquiry. The reason there are different grilles is because the lower grille opening on the SE models is adifferent size from all the other trim levels.
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Old 03-07-2008, 08:20 PM   #5 (permalink)
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Gen5

That really sucks that you had such a bad experience. I've never heard anything bad about the E&G grille, so you should be set once you get it.

All you Gen 6's with stainless grilles are just copying me.
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Old 03-07-2008, 10:13 PM   #6 (permalink)
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Sorry to hear about your troubles... hopefully the E&G grille will serve you better.

FYI... All grilles are interchangeable. There are many LEs who changed to SEs... XLEs who changed to Hybrids... and I myself went from SE to an LE grille
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Old 03-07-2008, 10:56 PM   #7 (permalink)
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Originally Posted by Netforcer View Post
Sorry to hear about your troubles... hopefully the E&G grille will serve you better.

FYI... All grilles are interchangeable. There are many LEs who changed to SEs... XLEs who changed to Hybrids... and I myself went from SE to an LE grille
like i said, im' not 100% sure about that. but when i said SE grills don't fit on LE's or vice versa. i only meant the steal mesh grilles from E&G.

what i really wanted was oem toyota SE silver grille, anyone want to sell? =P
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Old 03-07-2008, 10:58 PM   #8 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skyxliner View Post
like i said, im' not 100% sure about that. but when i said SE grills don't fit on LE's or vice versa. i only meant the steal mesh grilles from E&G.

what i really wanted was oem toyota SE silver grille, anyone want to sell? =P
I'll let you know in a few weeks
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Old 03-07-2008, 11:11 PM   #9 (permalink)
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If youer going to change one, change them both, that lone mesh bottom grille looks way out of place
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Old 03-08-2008, 05:27 AM   #10 (permalink)
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< - - - I did a SE grill into a LE.

Perfect fit. Kinda like a wedding between my car and the grill.

damn that analogy turned to crap...
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Old 03-08-2008, 10:31 AM   #11 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Netforcer View Post
Sorry to hear about your troubles... hopefully the E&G grille will serve you better.

FYI... All grilles are interchangeable. There are many LEs who changed to SEs... XLEs who changed to Hybrids... and I myself went from SE to an LE grille
Just want to clarify things a little here.
All OEM upper grilles are interchangeable.
Aftermarket grille like E&G, only the upper grille will fit all models (CE,LE,SE,XLE,Hybrid)
The lower grille are the same for CE,LE,XLE and Hybrid.
The SE has a different setup for lower grille due to the bodykit/front lip.
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Old 03-08-2008, 10:36 AM   #12 (permalink)
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The metal grille was scratching my bumper
So E&G here I come lols.
----------------------------
Skyxline,
My E&G grille instruction clearly reminded me to put cover the grille taps with black tape so I won't scratch my paint. Did your instruction stated such?
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Old 03-08-2008, 02:45 PM   #13 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lammydi View Post
The metal grille was scratching my bumper
So E&G here I come lols.
----------------------------
Skyxline,
My E&G grille instruction clearly reminded me to put cover the grille taps with black tape so I won't scratch my paint. Did your instruction stated such?

haha yeah your right, it was my laziness that caused the scratch. I was following the E&G instructions anyways, the Grille4you was crap instructions. it was almost like, 1. remove bumper 2. install grille rofls

like i said endless amount of time, i was only talking about metal grille meshes being specific for SE, thanks for lammidi for clarifying that
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Old 03-09-2008, 01:44 PM   #14 (permalink)
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i feel you man, i was once trying to install my billet grille, and its even worse than yours.
I had to cut all the clip slits on the bumper in order for the top grille to fit.. i dont even want to go to the lower grille.
Took me 4 hrs haha
Now you can just go for Se top grille for better fitment
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Old 03-09-2008, 02:59 PM   #15 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lammydi View Post
Just want to clarify things a little here.
All OEM upper grilles are interchangeable.
Aftermarket grille like E&G, only the upper grille will fit all models (CE,LE,SE,XLE,Hybrid)
The lower grille are the same for CE,LE,XLE and Hybrid.
The SE has a different setup for lower grille due to the bodykit/front lip.
Thanks for the clear up Lammydi ... hahaha
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