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I'm looking to purchase a carbon fiber diffuser for an 05 SL65. I want one that has the biggest fins. There are a few different vendors on eBay but it is difficult to determine quality/fitment from photos.
Anyone care to comment on one that they may of purchased or point me in the right direction?
I've seen that a lot of owners that like the diffuser offered by EuroTek (big thread here on the forum). However, I personally don't like how the fins are rounded and narrow looking on their model.
This picture is from forum member EuphoriaDSM. The diffuser is from the eBay seller CarbonFounder. I think this is the most aggressive and best looking one.
While I'd agree it's not nearly as aesthetically pleasing as the real deal SL63 bumper, we're talking about $300 vs $3,000 (OEM bumper, extra hardware, paint, carbon cover) for a mod that is nothing more than visual. If it actually helped with aerodynamics, I may be more inclined to do the full boat. However, I think this dresses up the back end a little bit and makes it a little more interesting.
I have ordered a front lip spolier from Gary@Suvneer.com here on the forum, superfast handling, thanks! Looking to add a rear but can't really find any good ones.
with the 2003-08 SL55/SL65 AMG, there is a rear grill mesh inside the rear bumper.
Looking at the pictures of the advertised rear diffusers, it appears that a new carbon fiber diffuser will cover the lower portion of the bumper cover below the grill.
Can anyone confirm? I would hope that cutting the original rear diffuser is not required.
I went with the one I have because it was a cheap alternative to a rear sl63 conversion. Why spend that much money for a rear look when not going wide body was my reasoning. If mine looks cheesy then for sure the eurotek ones look worse.
I just received my diffuser from the same vendor "Carbon Founder". How in the hell did you install this? There was no mounting instructions or hardware included. If you can share the materials that you used and general instructions, I'd greatly appreciate it!
Originally Posted by euphoriaDSM
I went with the one I have because it was a cheap alternative to a rear sl63 conversion. Why spend that much money for a rear look when not going wide body was my reasoning. If mine looks cheesy then for sure the eurotek ones look worse.
I think I saw some brief install instructions somewhere previously, I'll see if I can find them again. Think you had to remove a small section of the existing bumper, which looked easy enough; the new diffuser is then bonded into place, leave it for a couple of hours and you're done.
Thanks! That'd be great if you could find the basic install info. I'd document my experience with some pictures that would help others out in future. Will probably try install this weekend.
Hey, I did huge search trying to find the old DIY I'd read ... but failed!
What I did find was this short summary from somebody installing the Eurotek diffuser, I suspect it would be very similar. You basically have to get the mesh part of the bumper out and getting access to the bolts/clips that hold that means adjusting the muffler/exhaust. Should be easy on a ramp. The new diffuser can then be secured with the usual 3M tape and a few self tapping screws/bolts.
Jack up the vehicle and drop the bottom shield to expose the back of the bumper area. You will also have to drop the exhaust tips or the entire mufflers as well; fairly simple. I had to remove the ring clamp just before the differential which makes the connection between the front and rear exhaust pipes and disconnect the cross bracket holding left and right exhaust pipes together. Then rotate and slide the mufflers, and all pipe connected, forward to drop them from the hangers. Now you can move on to the rear mesh panel which is held on by spring clips which have to be removed; there were 10 on the SL65. Maybe there is a special tool which will make this easier or maybe someone has a better or more efficent may to remove them. I used a mini 90 degree awl, courtesy of Harbor Freight, to hook behind the "teeth" (not the back of the clip) on the clips and release their "bite" on the mesh framework. When these are removed the mesh pops off easily. At this point, follow the EuroTek instructions and you should be good to go. Now that I have done this once I could probably do the complete install in a little more than an hour.
Thanks! That'd be great if you could find the basic install info. I'd document my experience with some pictures that would help others out in future. Will probably try install this weekend.
How does it look compared to the eurotek?
And does the sl63 diffuser with the ground effects kit really not do anything aero worthy?
My build thread briefly gives some detail on how I installed mine. I took the rear bumper off then used self tapping screws from behind the bumper to bolt it into place. I kept all the bolts in the area where the factory screen diffuser goes that way if I sold the car and the buyer didn't want that one I could revert back with no noticeable holes.
I'm sad to say that the fitment and QC on the "CarbonFounder" big fin diffuser is terrible. The actual design is the best that I've seen and if it were to fit correctly, it would look great. However, the driver's side above the exhaust tips is angled/bent down, there is a bubble/bump in the plastic/carbon above the 3rd fin from the left, and the entire diffuser sticks out past the rear bumper about 1/2" instead of being flush with it.
Taking the stock mesh and grey plastic trim piece off was a easy and I was planning to use a roll of 3M VHB tape that I had already bought to adhere it to the bumper instead of removing the entire bumper. I'm currently trying to get the seller to return the item. The seller is clueless though as he/she is saying that it is made specifically for an SL55 and that's why it doesn't fit but doesn't understand that the SL65 rear bumper is identical.
If you use self tapping screws it will pull any areas that have a gap closed and flush. As I stated in my thread fitment was not perfect but once I used the screws it made everything seamless.
If you use self tapping screws it will pull any areas that have a gap closed and flush. As I stated in my thread fitment was not perfect but once I used the screws it made everything seamless.
Presumably you need to take the bumper off then to screw in from the back?
Quick update for this... Ended up taking the rear bumper off (huge PITA). Fits much better using thick sheet metal screws from the back. However, there's still a gap between the bumper and diffuser over the exhaust tips on each side. The plastic/carbon is too thick to pull it upwards as there's no give in it to make it conform to the bumper.
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