Has anyone removed the “air knives?”
 

When my order comes in, I have a great dream of removing the “air knives” permanently. I opted to nix the fender and rear trunk badging, and so this final step would round out that aesthetic...IMO.

Has anyone removed the air knives, either to run their car without them or to install an aftermarket carbon/black/whatever alternative? I am very curious to know what it looks like under the “knife,” if there are any penetrations in the fender, etc.

Thanks

P.S. If you have no idea what I mean by air knife (I just finally learned the name for this part 5 minutes ago), it’s the “swoosh” pieces on the front fenders:
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...edfb87e7a.jpeg

They're held on via two or three plastic bushings that are drilled in the fender. So it would require some body work to fill in the holes.

Correction, there are 4 bushings:

https://mbworld.org/forums/w213-amg/...r-s-vents.html

Yuck...thanks for the link to the thread. I will just have to learn to ignore it.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...46ab7778d.jpeg

Relevant pic attached.

They are kind of a pain when washing / drying the car. I've learned to be really careful so as not to have the rear point snag a towel.

One of mine had a broken rear bushing that I noticed shortly after getting the car back to San Diego. Thankfully it was replaced under warranty as they're kind of spendy.

Open the hood into the service position. Look between fender and engine bay, there is a gap and you can see pins of that "air knife" going through the fender. Push them out. Done.

Yeah, I'm super careful around mine as well since someone priced a replacement and it's close to $1k.

BS, each fender trim of carbon fiber is $300. I've purchased one to replace broken one.

Well, someone's parts depart said they'd only order them as a pair and that it was a little over $800. *shrug* Nice to know that's not completely true.

Unfortunately the letters on my E53 are stuck glued on (not too well), as I now seem to be driving an URBO:D

You can put letters into "Burito" LOL

so, an excellent way to save uh, gas?
sorry, too easy.

What?! Those rivets are obnoxious!! Sorry for your pain :(

I'm sure there are some OEM discounts somewhere! I had one of mine replaced under warranty since my car arrived with one pin broken. My repair receipt indicated the part was $495, or something close to this as I recall. What a rip either way!

Anyone have the part number for these, want to switch mine to the carbon ones. Cant seem to find them for sale anywhere.

I have no idea if they are legit, and how they ultimately fit...but my original picture there was from this alibaba listing:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33012666524.html


$100 for a pair of carbon fiber (look?) might be worth a shot?

Thanks, they have a weird shape to them. Look much different than oem ones.

You are right. And now that I look at them more, it seems like they are made to stick onto non-63s cars.

ya, they dont have the pins that go into the fenders. I want to get them in either carbon or black but cant find them online.

Bump, If anyone has the part numbers please let me know.

A 213 880 47 01 left one.