Custom Blackout Audi Trunk Emblem – My Gunmetal Trunk Rings

In order to match my gunmetal wheels and S4 rear valence, I decided to custom paint my rear trunk emblem/rings to match. Below I’ll walk you through the step by step directions to do this, and you can choose to paint them whatever color you choose – many people do them in black, but I’ve seen everything from neon green to white, and its really easy to replace and do over again if you tire of it.

Step 1) Order a new Trunk Emblem. I got mine from ECS Tuning here for $31, and it comes with an adhesive backing so its easy to apply.

Step 2) Sand them down a little bit then apply primer. I applied three coats of primer, the first and second coats were pretty thin and the third coat a little more wet.

3) Lightly sand any imperfections, clean off with nail polish remover or rubbing alcohol, then on to the actual paint. I used a glossy gunmetal spray can from Autozone meant for automotive applications, but really any spray paint you choose should work fine here – I try to make sure the primer, paint, and clear coat are the same brand so everything bonds together though.

Like the primer, I put on three coats, the first two being light and the third one being a little thicker. It should now look like this:

4) Apply clear coat. Same process as other steps, although an extra coat of clear coat never hurt anyone, so 3-4 coats here.

5) Installation – start by taping off where the rings were, going right along the edge of the rings so you have a guide to affix the new rings back on, you can see what I mean here:

6) Remove the emblem by heating it with a hair dryer or heat gun then using fishing line or floss to get between the emblem and the trunk and move back in forth in a sawing motion.  Watch this video for a good overview of the process:

7) Once the rings are off, clean the surface and get the rest of the residue off using Goo Gone, Nail Polish Remover, or similar products. Now that the surface is clean and you have tape to tell you where to put the rings, its a simple as removing the backing from the newly painted trunk emblem and sticking in on!

This is a pretty straightforward mod and really the only tricky part is getting all the adhesive residue from the old rings off, especially if they’ve been on a long time. Now you’re all set. One more final shot for reference and to see how they tie in nicely with the rear valence: