The trim strips were black from the factory but faded over a few years into a nasty gray. The "common" solution for this is to tape off the trim after scrubbing the trim real well, and then shooting them with black bumper paint... that lasts a few more years.

I made the mistake of removing all of that trim, cleaning it up, peeling off the old VHB tape and replacing it with new before repainting and reinstalling the parts on the car. This turns out great, but it is one mother of a job.

jorrell