MBH motorsports

I'm toying with the idea of making a carbon fiber hood. In the style of the SL65BS (hood scoops). Nothing set in stone yet. Needless to say it would be nice to start shaving some weight from these SL's

I guess right now is the time where I get you guys input on this. Is this something you guys would be interested in? Right now its just an idea that was tossed around over drinks this weekend.

CA_E55

I would love to see a SL65BS hood style for the pre-facelift models - the weight and additional cooling one has to expect would indeed be very welcome!

That is, if I still have the SL by the time this project is completed....

CHP_H8_ME

I don't know...I love CF, but what would the real weight savings be vs cost? Sounds real expensive

On a side note...Im still having a hard time even finding a CF front spoiler for an SL65 bumper that's on my '03 SL55...anyone?

Maverick1975

I have a MY09 SL63 and was just thinking about this last night! what a great coincidence.

I would be interested in the SL65BS hood if this is the model car you are considering doing it on.

Price wise, as a comparison, there is a manufacturer that has produced a vented carbon fibre hood for C63 and sells for US$1200 ex shipping and install. A few guys on C63 forum have purchased and made positive comments on quality and posted pics. Obviously a few more C63s ruinning round than SLs but this price is attractive. On a c63 i believe the weight saving is somehting like 20lbs plus (might have even been 20kgs..)

Please keep us informed

BeltFedBob

Yes, it would be nice to find a lip for my SL65 front bumper too!

andy_meng1024

I like the idea but like others have said, the cost plays an important role here.

I think AMGfan has one on his 65. Maybe try PM him to find out.

kamilclk430

I think I would be in on it as well

MB_Forever

That would look very cool on the SL.... And even if not necessarily carbon fiber, the BS hood itself would look awesome

Maverick1975

I did a bit of research over night on this and found two manufacturers of Black Series kits

1) Inden in Germany sells whole kit for EUR18000 - havent confirmed if you can just buy bonnet only though (www.indendesign.de) Bonnet is in carbon fibre apparently according to their email.

2) Sarona Design in the US which charges US$40,000. However they will not sell the bonnet individually, bummer

Hope MBH comes through!

maxabo

I agree there!
Been thinking along those lines also!

Not necessarily CF for me.
I would also be very interested in making some slits/vents/inlets in my stock hood.
That MUST be a good idea!
BUT, it has to be made with some style & finess! Not functional only!
But I fear that the openings must be forward pointing, if they are for letting air in. Am I right..?
Sadly, in my head the backwards pointing ones look better.

Any ideas on how to make this nice looking, anyone..?

sbenus

i'm definitely interested if its for the pre-facelift models and can be painted to match the car!

CA_E55

If you look at the SL65 BS hood vents, they are positioned exactly behind the radiator - as in evacuation the hot air out of the engine bay and presumably increasing airflow. In theory, this could reduce underhood temperature and heat soak of all the intake plumbing.

maxabo

OK, an outlet instead then. Could of course help some.
Good point there!
But I reckon it would be even more afficient to also have an inlet that forces air into the intake at speed as well.
Perhaps in combination with the BS-type outlets that you mensioned!

Of course, my "Rules Of Estetic" shut down all kind of Scoop-projects immediately!
But I'm wondering if some discrete inlets (like gills or so) would make a sufficient job..?

And on top of that, I think it could look awesome if it's made with some class..!

MBH motorsports

I'm going to do some photoshopping to see what design (If any) flows well with the SL. If I end up doing this, I would personally paint the hood then maybe leave a small section of the hood translucent, but color matched.

maxabo

Thanks for the interest!
Very eager to see the result/results!!!

And I will absolutely have the hood in the same colour as the car! In my case red.

But what do you mean by translucent..? Isn't that a "see-threw" transparent something..?
How can it at the same time be colour matched, in that case..?
Do you perhaps mean like sun glasses then..?? With a tone, so to speak..?

maxabo

Thanks for the interest!
Very eager to see the result/results.

And I will absolutely have the hood in the same colour as the car! In my case red.

But what do you mean by translucent..? Isn't that a "see-threw" transparent something..?
How can it at the same time be colour matched, in that case..?
Do you perhaps mean like sun glasses then..?? With a tone, so to speak..?

Sunir

I would be interested also...cost versus weight saving and any engine bay cooling benefit would be my purchasing criteria...bravo to hooley for out of box thinking!

NEMES1S

I am looking forward to the photoshop pics, my 600 has great lines, but I really would like to make it just a bit more aggressive.

maxabo

I've been giving this a bit of thought.
There are two different kinds of air intake;

1. For the engines breathing of course. I'm not sure if the hood is the right place for that anymore.
But if you can speed that up, you'll get some HP increase. At least in theory!
2. For cooling of the engine room.
There must be some high temperatures there, at least on 600's & 65's with 2 turbos going...
So if the hood, with some help of inlets and outlets, can optimize the flow of cooler air around the engine, it sure sounds like a BIG help..!

Can't wait to see some pictures!