What's up guys? I've had my xB2 for about 6 months now, and in my quest for parts I've not been able to find much in the way of exterior styling. I'm truly dissappointed by this because when I had my 1st gen a few years ago, exterior parts were not at all hard to come by, so I've decided to put together a few grille designs that have popped into my head. I'm currently in the designing phase for the first one, and I'll probably start putting together a prototype as of January 1st when the stresses of the holidays have diminished and I can actually stay focused on this project.

My intent is to create a grille that looks good, can be painted and possibly otherwise personalized, has an OEM fitment, and can be produced relatively quickly. Function will not really play a part in this one, it's more about form.

Below I've included my initial quick sketch of the idea, along with a simple model I've started with, and a quick photoshop to see what it would look like on the car. It will be a 2 piece design with the main portion of the grille be constructed of hand laid fiberglass, and the mounting bracket being made of molded plastic. Depending on how much time I actually have to put into these, and honestly how good they actually look in production, and whether they're fiberglass or carbon, I'm probably going to put a $100 to $300 price tag on them. Flame all you want, it's expensive I know, but I've seen people pay upwards of that for genuine kenstyle fiberglass grilles. I've also got 2 other designs in mind, and an FFF that I'm probably going to prototype while this grille is in creation.

 

looks like rumion / JDM style stuff, do it up

Advice: If that tab is meant for an emblem, shop it on there, if not, kill it with fire.

way to be your own mind btw

 

I'm leaving that tab as an accent, and a place for others to put their own emblems on. I'm going to have a whole other grille that's similar with no tab on it. I'm really after some JDM flair, because it sucks that us 2nd gen own got shafted with the xB/Rumion split. The real inspiration for this grille is going to be the Kenstyle Urban grille, and the Spirits grille for the 1st generation xB's. Thanks for the support!

 

No tab in the middle:

 

I really like the one with no tab... it would look very clean on my BSP...

 

My goal is to have the prototype complete and the molds made ready to produce parts by Jan. 10th, so keep checkin' back.

 

What kind of material would be used for the actual grille and any plans for a similar lower grille to match...

 

Actual grille will be hand laid fiberglass or carbon fiber with a plastic mounting bracket across the top, and a perforated steel mesh. there are plans for a matching lower grille.

 

nice..cant wait to see the prototype...watching

 

Thanks, I can't wait to put it together.

 

wow.. very nice man.. i would love a new look for a top grill..

 

You and me both...

 

The no tab grille looks nice but it looks like it would reduce airflow to the radiator (and it's already pushing it) right?

I agree with the aftermarket not catching up with this vehicle yet. It sucks but its only been out a 1 1/2 years and the sales are no where near what they were with the first gen. Could be the reason why its so slow.

 

As far as reducing airflow to the radiator goes, it might it might not. I'm probably going to put in some sort of air diversion vent across the bottom to push air towards the radiator, while also allowing better circulation of air inside the engine bay. I've got quite a few projects coming up that will have the 'funtion over form' principle involved, and while I don't want to give them all away, one is a complete lip kit.

 

As of right now the top grille does very little for air flow to the radiator... only the very top portion gets a tiny bit from the top. The bottom grille is where all the cooling comes from...

 

Is the grille going to incorporate the factory diversion panel under the hood or are you going to make a new one of those to go with it?

 

i'd prefer w/o that mid piece looks much cleaner kinda like the rumion.
i'll be watching

 

Noted, thanks for the info I'll keep that in mind when I go to prototyping these.

I honestly haven't decided yet, I'm kind of torn on what to do here because I want to make cf air diversion panel later, but I don't want a grille to get in the way of that. More than likely the grille will just work with oem air diversion panel, but I'll be able to better answer that question when I start putting these together on the car.

Yeah, that's the look I'm going to start with since it obviously has the most demand.

 

 

Threw the lineart together for the grille so that I could get a basic design down, and know where to start when I get started on the initial prototype. The xB in the drawing is also equipped with some vent caps that I'm going to be putting together at the same time Leave comments good or bad.