[fastneutron]

I recently installed a S600 grill look on my C43. I noticed that the original front grill had plastic covers that aligns the air intake dams. Since the aftermarket grill I recently installed didn't have these plastic covers, I'm curious if it affects the performance. They are definitely OEM. I asked my mechanic and he said that I don't really need them and they're just their to prevent large objects from entering the air intakes. To me, it seems like the plastic deflectors help direct the air from the fans to the air intake. Any ideas of why there are plastic deflectors on the air intakes? I thought it would be better without them to get better intake, but I may be wrong. Any information would be helpful. Check your original front grill and you'll know what I'm talking about.

 

[scorchie]

Your new grill should have had them on the right side, just like the C43 grill. Also, the...

Your new grill should have had them on the right side, just like the C43 grill. Also, the one on the left side of the C43 grill is just a piece of plastic clipped onto the grill. You can remove this plastic and clip it onto your new grill.

The covers are not to prevent large items from flying into the intake (the air filters would stop them before they did any damage). Well, I guess it could be to keep them from getting plugged. But the main reason is to stop a large amount of water from getting sucked in. Small amounts would vaporize quickly in the vacuum, large amounts would not vaporize and would cause hydraulic lock in the piston if it got past the filter. It also might soak the filter and cause it to work ineffectively.

A lot of people will say they are unimportant, or they remove them purposely in hopes that they will increase airflow. Since AMG engineers figured it was important to put there, I figured it was important enough to move to the new grill.

-s-