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I've had my '18 AMG CLA45 for about 4 months now, and my single biggest complaint is the problem of pebbles and other road debris getting flung into the rocker panel and lower fender region, chipping away at the paint. M-B has OEM splash guards shown on their Accessories page (for $155 per pair), but they don't fit the AMG body due to the wider rocker panels, which protrude out further.
Being an ancient mechanical design engineer, I decided to make my own. I first prototyped the shape I wanted out of cardboard, then scanned it and imported it into my CAD software, PTC Creo. I then traced the outline and the mounting holes and created a solid model, and nested 32 copies into a 24" x 36" area, which was the exact size of the sheet of 1/8" black PVC material I got at Home Depot.
Next, I visited a buddy who has a $100,000 water-jet cutting machine, and he mounted the PVC panel and cut out the 32 parts for me. I was pleasantly surprised at how good they came out, with nice smooth edges; they remained perfectly flat during the cut, but they're flexible enough to easily conform to the inner wheel arch shape.
They're pretty easy to install, using the same (2) rivets that hold the fender liner in place. You just pop out the rivets using the edge of a pocket knife, slide the splash guard under the fender liner, and replace the rivets. There's a thin strip of 3M VHB acrylic tape (really strong stuff) running along the inside upper edge of the PVC guard. You work loose a small length of the release liner to tack it, then pull the rest of the release liner free and press the adhesive against the inner wheel arch metal. I've got instructions for the less mechanically inclined; here is the DropBox link:
I currently have 14 pairs available (I'm using one, and I gave another pair to a dealership to look at), and I'm asking $35 per pair, which nets me about a $10 profit for my trouble. If by some miracle I can sell all 14 pairs, I will make more as needed. I'll accept only PayPal, and will ship anywhere if you pay the freight. The entire parcel with bubble envelope weighs just 2 ounces, so it shouldn't be too expensive.
If you're interested, either message me or send an email to Acciardi at charter dot net, which is also my Paypal address. Any questions, please reply to this post.
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
