Radiotor Protection w/o Removing Bumper
 

Hello Fellow GT owners. I like many of you am slightly bothered by the fact that our cars are designed in such manner that the front bumper side vents do not provide any protection for the radiators. MB has created a plastic grille that is used on some 2019+ cars to provide some protection at the expense of some air flow reduction. This is very difficult to retrofit because it requires many labor hours $$$ to remove bumper cover. MB has not publicly considered any warranty or corrective bulletin for cars that did not come with this and has left the owners responsible for the cost.

A member here SDAutoSalon has demonstrated this install beautifully in https://mbworld.org/forums/amg-gt/72...ml#post7650905.

I have attempted to perform this task without removing bumper cover and I think this may be very useful to individuals who may not have the patience or skillset to remove and replace the bumper cover or do not feel that it is fair to have to pay the entire cost for this correction. I have done this on my RIGHT vent of my 2018 US GTR. My information applies to this car and MAY apply to other GT models but I have no way to verify.

I believe that I may have slightly compromised the integrity of the screens and the protection they provide but for only the cost of screens I think this is a great alternative. Keep in mind that these screens are thin plastic and they are not bullet proof, only modest protection at best.

I cut the screen for the right side vent in the manner shown in the picture. Notice I had to create two notches (on the left side of this picture) to clear some existing bumper part by the radiator. I will post my left side vent grille once I complete the cuts for it.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...40465458d.jpeg


I slid one piece through the opening while guiding the big corner clips into their slots. I installed the half by firmly pushing on the clips once the cover lined up perfectly with the radiator.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...fcf066d3c.jpeg


Last I installed the the second half in the same manner making sure the two pieces line up side by side and do not overlap

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...25c7a430a.jpeg

That's it!

If your dealer is willing to perform this, you are one of lucky few. If not and you want ALMOST the same protection, just buy the parts and D. I. Y...

Cheers!

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...30274620c.jpeg
Part number in case you need. Buy two of the same part.

I ordered these screens yesterday myself to see if I could figure a way to install them without removing the front bumper area. On my GTC, when viewing the single plastic decorative "chrome" bar that goes across the opening from inside the opening with a shop mirror, it appears the bar is attached to the opening area with some sort of clips, and then the chrome is attached to the bar. Does anyone know how to release the clips that attach the crossbar to the opening? If so, the entire opening will be available for possible install of the grills. In case the bar (or in some models BARS) are removable, the OP can attest to how easy/difficult it was to move that foam looking component close to the heat exchanger out of the way to actually clip the grills in place. Great alternative idea on how he did it and there has to be a way to install these plastic grills without front end removal. OP...great photos!

i didn’t tackle the idea of removing the bar fearing that I may break something. My car does not have the foam you mention. I thought there would be a lot more modification and cutting needed but the entire thing fitted without any resistance.

Thank you for responding and after another look I believe the foam product in question is only associated with the plastic air tunnel shroud for a tight fit of that! Regards.

Thank you for your informative post!

MB is not the only manufacturer that does this. Here is a picture of the grille on my Huracan after only 1,300 miles. It is ridicules & poor design.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...b4160d7431.jpg

i have a squishy hard rubbery thing kind of like the door insulation stuff but it did not get in the way at all.

I really don't think that these things are worth doing it as they have with the material MB has made them from. For all that work to put on a cheap plastic grill to sit right on top of the radiator is a total fail. MB freaked out and frantically came up with a design to appease people. Having these things wont make a bit of difference and will not do much of anything.

you really need something like this: Sits away from radiator not on top, not made of crap plastic...
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...fc7d012794.jpg

ive been looking for that exact material. Can you share link or where it’s sold?

^ X2!!

I think this could be it, giving credit where it is due, from Porsche Forum:


"In USA at Lowe's it's called Frost King plastic gutter mesh
In Canada at Home Depot and it's called D-Leaf-It plastic gutter guard


This is the site for the conversation and thread. I am following it and will do something similar. For all the work and money to put those pieces of plastic crap on the radiator won't do a damnnn thing.

https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...protector.html

I totally agree that MB slipped up on this one. The fact is that it will not matter if your grill is made of plastic or metal, if a real small rock or other projectile penetrates that area and misses the grill itself you may have heat exchanger damage. If you put in a mesh product of any kind that is small enough in theory to prevent anything at all from penetrating the air opening you will severely restrict the air flow to the heat exchanger. If you will take a close look at the photos posted by the OP it appears that MB did at least take the time to align the horizontal rows of plastic with the heat exchanger horizontal support lines in order to lessen restriction of airflow. I guess the vertical strips is the part of the MB grills that has more of an effect on airflow. Also from the photos it appears there are little supports that keep the mesh slightly off the metal fins. Home Depot sells a metal product very similar to the diamond pattern screen you referenced called Metal Lock In Gutter Guard Black 897864002321 @ 3.08/pc when I purchased it a couple of months ago to review for a possible solution. If you will check out Youtube video you can see a GTS front end conversion to GTC. It clearly shows my suspicion that the bezels/crossbar in the openings are removable...for possible installation of the MB grill or one you may want to fabricate on your own for a professional non-duct tape look. Schematics are also shown in this video. We need to figure out how to remove the bezels from outside. Good luck.

Here is the Home Depot piece at three bucks. Looks perfect to me

Does anyone know how to bend the mesh as pictured?

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...b1127f664.jpeg

So I ordered all of the parts from Customgrills mentioned in the link on RL. The mesh is gloss painted aluminium with a flow rate of 65% as I didn’t want to pay money to have the bumper cover removed and then install a plastic mesh. Yep it’s way more money than what you can purchase at Homedepot, etc. but I believe it will be worth it. I’ve had zero heating problems on track with the GT R running it hard in high 90dF ambient temps, so I’m hopeful that cooling won’t be an issue.

I bought a large amount of the ‘professional’ mesh, so depending on how much is left after the install, I’m happy to share it with you guys.

Btw I’m hoping to have it installed at a high line body shop that we’ve had to use in the past; luckily not with the GT R! lol

Bish

Bish

While your body shop is in the vent area why not ask them to make a template for the long center intake vent as well.

Also, I was looking at the new 2020 GTR Convertable intake vents and they are the same as the MB ones I installed on my GTR .

Jerry,

I was thinking that very same thing, but if the main radiator and A/C condenser is behind that area I am a little worried about lowering air flow by 35%. I’m taking the cover off the car this weekend and I’ll take a really good look at that specific area. If I decide to look into doing this, I’ll buy more product from Customgrills, but a mesh with larger holes/higher flow rate for that one area.

Bish

Bish can you take a quick shot of mesh in hand?

Heres a pic for reference. I must say that metal is easy to bend as well.

Being delivered today and I’m at work currently. Will do so tomorrow..

Bish

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...d09aaf11c.jpeg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...41462643f.jpeg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...341cf62e5.jpeg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...1764fd19f.jpeg
So here are a couple of pictures of the Custom Car Grills product. It came incredibly well packaged and it is a high quality, lightweight black gloss painted aluminium product. I ordered a piece that is 12” by 48”.

Thanks looks good. Maybe just a tad smaller openings.

Here’s the other side https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...8e190f19b.jpeg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...56b5fbc4d.jpeg

Well turns out that MB actually used my solution as the remedy for this problem. Have a look.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...b37bb92b5.jpeg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...6138b2721.jpeg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...78d17e267.jpeg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...66a1bc2c4.jpeg

Ask for royalties dude!!! Funny we spoke about this like last week...

As an update to this thread.
I ha a screen put on my left hand radiator a few weeks ago by the dealer, from the looks of the invoice (that was no charge to me) they took the bumper cover off.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...5ccc7fc2c1.jpg