Mesh Grille Replacements

[Shutterspeed]

I've been thinking of taking a stock set of E86 grilles and cutting them up to fashion of something similar to this photoshop I just finished.Not a fan of the large fin style on the stock grilles and find this mesh design to appeal to the car a little better.

Anyone seen or have anything like this?

[VossenCoupe]

Looks real nice i would buy this

[Shutterspeed]

Originally Posted by VossenCoupe

Looks real nice i would buy this

Maybe after I've perfected a set for myself i will look into make a few more sets for members.

[3GFX]

I like!

Surprised this isn't already on the market.

[tominizer]

Looks like gutter grate....... rain gutter grate.

[N55_Mike]

It actually is on the market.
http://www.carid.com/2007-bmw-z4-gri...QO8aAqRw8P8HAQ

Originally Posted by 3GFX

I like!

Surprised this isn't already on the market.

[Digs]

Nice! I was toying with this idea last year but chickened out but still think mesh would look good. I thought it would look best to use the OEM lower grille mesh and cut it up to fit the kidneys, this would also give the correct radius curve.
Not 100% sure if that lower grill is quite big enough to get 2 kidneys out of it though.

Also found this stuff:

[VossenCoupe]

Digs is right it's gotta match the lower grill

[Digs]

That lower grille piece is $76 US according to realoem.com.

I'll try and measure it up to see if it's tall enough to fill the kidneys...will be a close fit height-wise.

[Digs]

I measured it and, yep confirmed- the kidney grilles are too big to use the lower mesh (about an inch too tall).

However the eBay honeycomb mesh I posted earlier is an excellent match for the lower mesh - same size cells.

I'm still thinking how to attach the new mesh to the frame. I think a plastic welder would probably be best.

[Shutterspeed]

Originally Posted by Digs

I measured it and, yep confirmed- the kidney grilles are too big to use the lower mesh (about an inch too tall).

However the eBay honeycomb mesh I posted earlier is an excellent match for the lower mesh - same size cells.

I'm still thinking how to attach the new mesh to the frame. I think a plastic welder would probably be best.

yeah thats what i was tossing around. how to secure it inside the grille. plastic weld would probably work. i actually found someone on instagram that has a set of mesh kidney grilles installed on their Z4. I believe the username is @harry_brown

[kaybat]

another option($$ though)

http://www.racemeshgrilles.com

[Digs]

Just following up on this with my finished home job.

I bought the sheet of plastic mesh I posted earlier in this thread (post #7) from Custom Cargrills and then used a Dremel to cut out the OE vertical slats and then cut the mesh to fit inside the kidney frames. It took some time with careful trimming to get a nice fit and keep them symmetrical. I glued them in with a few spots of cyanoacrylate super glue. Pretty stoked how it turned out!

[Digs]

.

[Digs]

For some reason the attachment feature won't let me upload multiple photos in one post

[Digs]

.

[EMP07]

^ Looks great!

[3GFX]

*APPLAUSE*

Love it....looks great!!!!

[tecnicaeleven]

Give That Man A Beer!

[Steeler]

Looks very clean.

Whats the old "iron" in the background

[Digs]

Thanks guys
Looks good having slightly chunkier honeycomb cells for the kidneys than the lower mesh piece.

Oh yeah, ha, the old iron. A couple of dads vintage bikes he restored, The green and cream one is a 1929 Panther 600 with exposed valves and rockers with lots of Nickel plating, and a 1949 Ariel 'Red Hunter'. Both old British iron and restored faithfully to original specs.

[Steeler]

Nice, they would be fun on the back roads.