Klinh

Sometime looking different then all of them on the road is better. I love mine.

mikata

I love your car man. What have you used to tint your turn signals with?

Klinh

Man...........don't make me say mine famous line.

JHouse

Say it! Say it!

Fai+H777

Show me ya man-bits?

JHouse

Gee, I hope that wasn't it. But it WAS funny.

mikata

LOL

mikata

Let me guess, "search"? Nevermind me asking.....

JHouse

Well guys, this may be a tiny off, but I had to come back and show you that I liked the new grille so much on the CLK that I put it on the "new" car too. And it looks great. The install was a lot bigger PITA, but no REAL problem.

Klinh

Nicessssssss.........it different. I like it !!! Why is the car sitting on the highest level setting? You need linkeages to drop her.

JHouse

I think it was at the normal setting. It was running at the time, if that makes any difference. But thanks.

Kevin9664

So from what I'm researching, there's only two types of grills out there aside from colors.

(A) This is what JHouse (the OP) and Klinh has.



And (B)...which is what Fai+H777, M-bENZ, and dragon_27 has.



It seems noticeable that the top of the second grill extends lower then the first one which would leave that 'gap' that people are talking about.

I've been interested in getting a single bar grill as well. It's a good thing I saw this thread to find out there are different types.

I'm personally not a fan of the Distronic grill look. I prefer the recessed mesh in the star BUT I really don't like the gap in the other one and the two little areas on each side of the star where the mesh is filled in. That just annoys me for some reason lol.

So I'm leaning towards the first one. Less to complain about. What do you think?

Klinh

I has both version installed. I went with the gapless due to look. The gapless grille is very light, thin and the feel quality is not as good as the other grille. The gapless grille required the modification/cutting of the OEM grille backet for a tight/snug fit. The gapless grille feel very fragile without the bracket install. If do it right, the gapless feel tighter/stronger then the OEM grille. My gapless grille barely move/flex when I push hard on it.

Kevin9664

JHouse, how was the install on your car? You agree with Klinh? Talk about this 'bracket' he's talking about. I'm thinking about buying one soon.

JHouse

Klinh is correct.

I bought and installed both grilles too, but for different cars. I will say that the 55tech grille does have thicker mesh, but I didn't really notice much difference, though I handled them both months apart. The gapless grille with the distronic plate shown above went on my CLK. As I have said above, it goes on in a snap (literally) but that center bracket doesn't fit on it, like it does on the factory grille. The center bracket is a horizontal tongue-like flap that comes off the radiator bracing and extends forward to attache to the top of the factory grille with two screws. I recall that bracket being plastic so I just let it rest on the back of the grille and forgot about it, because I didn't want to buy another one if I put the factory grille back on (though I sold it with the gapless grille and just gave them the factory grille and the new owner kept the single bar grille on it.)

It wouldn't take much to cut the factory bracket and screw it into the top of the gapless grille, and I'm sure it would be a lot more stable that way, but it would be more for peace of mind that any real advantage (though I have done a lot of things merely for peace of mind).

Here is what I said about it in the original post:

"The good news is that it is a 3 minute, pop-in, no screws installation. You do have to remove the two screws on the upper brace of the factory grill and then gently pry the pins out of the tabs on each end of the grill right at the headlights (as that is all that really holds it in). Then gently push back and up on either side and it kind of pops out. Use a little finesse as opposed to brute force. What you are removing are some tabs on the bottom of the grill that stick in slots in the bumper. Then just do the reverse on the new install. The new grill sits slightly rearward of the factory grill, so you might need to clean up the bumper where the grill was sitting (and hope that it is painted reasonably well). That upper brace can be removed (again by popping pins out of tabs in the factory grill) and installed behind the new grill for support, but it doesn't attached to the new grill, but I left it there just to push against the back for support (and so I wouldn't lose it in case I want to stick the stock grill back on)."

Kevin9664

Cool. Sounds good. Just ordered my gapless distronic grill. I'll post a pic when I get it and let you know how it goes.

waveterrorist

can the gapless grille take the non-solid amg center for the massively valuable extra air flow?

JHouse

If I remember right the shiny distronic disk is integral to the gapless version of the grill, so you can't pop it off. And it's on the front of it, so cutting it out and smoothing it would take some real skill, and then you'd have to put the star back on by gluing the perimeter ring because it attaches by a center post in the middle of the star. And then you'd probably want to find some black mesh to put behind it. Sounds like some skill is involved.

iluvclk

where did you get that?did you orders online?

JHouse

https://mbworld.org/forums/clk-class...grill-clk.html

Kevin9664

A little late late but here's a pic. I like how the installation takes like 5 minutes with no tools. I have the old one in the trunk and can changed it whenever. I'm liking this new one though. The grill is a little less durable than OEM but holds its own well.