Comparing RS Grills on the Market

[footbllpro30]

Hello all. I have been in the market recently for an Audi RS5 style grill. I don't want to pay the premium that comes with buying the OEM part but want something that is very comparable to the OEM style grill. I had seen lots of threads with all the different grills but wanted to combine it for an informational thread so that people can make an easy decision when they go to buy their RS grill.

As I looked at all the various vendors on and off ebay which sell the RS replica grills I noticed something about the grill pattern density. I wanted to make this thread to compare all the different grills and get people to give some feedback on their RS replica grills. Since I do not own any of these grills I cant comment on fitment. Please feel free to leave feedback about the fitment of these grills.


So for starts lets look at the OEM RS5 Grill.

Audi OEM RS5 Grill - Disregard the color, this was just the best picture I could find of an OEM Grill. If you look at the number of mesh squares across the bottom you can count about 10. This fuller density of squares looks much better IMO.




UPS Motorsport RS5 Grill Replica - If you look at the pattern density here we only count about 8 across the bottom. This less dense pattern looks much less appealing IMO and does not look OEM.




Ebay Seller - MRCARCAR RS5 Grill Replica - This one also has only the count of 8 across the bottom. Again less dense and does not look OEM.




Ebay Seller - Smart Motoring RS5 Grill Replica - This is very close to the OEM pattern. It has a density of 10 across the bottom and looks to be very close to OEM. This one is also more expensive.




Ebay Seller - Racing_Raven RS5 Grill Replica - This is also very close to the OEM pattern. It has a density of 10 across the bottom and looks to be very close to OEM. This one is also set at an extremely competitive price. IMO if you want a replica grill that looks very close to OEM this is the one to go for. And yes the license plate holder is removable on this one. This grill however has fixed license plate holes on it (See pictures on other posts below). I had to dremel them out which was some additional work. The rings are also not included with this grill. The parking sensors are glued in but can be cut out with an exacto knife.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AUDI-2012-20...5dcca7&vxp=mtr





Ebay Seller - Performance Auto Part RS5 Grill Replica - This has a density of 10 close to OEM pattern. This one is more expensive.




Ebay Seller - JDM Sportline RS5 Grill Replica - This has a density of 10 close to OEM pattern. This one is more expensive.




Ebay Seller - Speed Motoring RS5 Grill Replica - This has a density of 8 and is not close to OEM.




Ebay Seller - Car-Tuning RS5 Grill Replica - This has a density of 8 and is not close to OEM.



ECS Tuning - RS5 Grill Replica - This has a density of 8 and is not close to OEM. However it does include the audi rings which is nice. Slightly more expensive as well.





Anyways there is a comparison of some of the grills I have come across so far on the market. To me it seems like if you want a close to OEM replica grill for a good price then the Racing_raven ebay seller above is the best way to go. Does anyone have this grill on their car and can they comment on fitment? Please feel free to add to this thread if you find more OEM (10 Mesh) style grills for a good price on the market.

[Lexura]

This deserves a sticky..

[Amm4]

love this post, thanks for the research!

[HIGH-5]

Great research! Very helpful

[diirk]

After slaughtering a large number of butterflies this weekend and cleaning the grill, I think I'm grateful for fewer spaces and larger openings.

[mozman68]

After slaughtering a large number of butterflies this weekend and cleaning the grill, I think I'm grateful for fewer spaces and larger openings.

hah...yes....

Great post...but I'm happy with my MrCarCar grill.....I would be a little more concerned if I actually HAD an RS5. A few fewer openings isn't noticeable IMHO.

[Scumbucket]

I originally bought a mrcarcar grill, then switched to an oem. One thing I noticed was the black pedestal that the chrome rings attach to, are extended more than the OEM rs grill and maybe because the aftermarket grills are more open they feel more flimsy.

[ians]

I originally bought a mrcarcar grill, then switched to an oem. One thing I noticed was the black pedestal that the chrome rings attach to, are extended more than the OEM rs grill and maybe because the aftermarket grills are more open they feel more flimsy.

Me too, originally bought ebay replicate but the plastic feel so flimsy so I switched to oem also (never install the ebay one). Here is the compare pic(top is ebay, bottom is oem):

[footbllpro30]

I originally bought a mrcarcar grill, then switched to an oem. One thing I noticed was the black pedestal that the chrome rings attach to, are extended more than the OEM rs grill and maybe because the aftermarket grills are more open they feel more flimsy.

Ah I never noticed that about the aftermarket grills into your mentioned it! Good call. Most of the less dense grills seem to have the Audi logo sticking way out. The good news is that the recommended racing_raven grill is very close to OEM on this as well with the rings not being extended. Looks very close to OEM.

[diirk]

I'll see about getting a profile show of my grill. Not sure how far it sticks out compared to others. It was mentioned by a friend that the finish was very glossy, which I liked.
I have to say that it didn't seem flimsy to me at all.

[Defkon]

I wish this post was around before I bought mine. Also agree this should be sticky.
I purchased the Mr.Carcar grille from ebay. I think it looks cheaply made imo. The rings stick out so far on the grille, it's like my car has an erection. It may be less noticeable in black. Either way I'll be replacing it soon.


Here's a pic of my OEM vs the Mr.Carcar grille

[Jhearty99]

I just bought the black mrcarcar grille. Looks good on everyones i have seen, but holding out judgement until i receive it.

[mozman68]

I'm not sure what car that pic is for (2 posts above), but that doesn't look like the MrCarCar grill I received. I'll take a top view pic of mine when I get home....I thought it was great.

[Nastybutler]

The first 5 grills you show, including the OEM one, are for the Facelift grill. The last 4 are Pre FL. That might make a difference.

On a side note, if any S5 facelift owners have switched to an RS grill and want to sell their S5 grill, let me know. I'm interested in buying one, or trading for my RS replica grill.

[diirk]

USP Motorsports AgressiV Accessories Grill.

[Scumbucket]

The first 5 grills you show, including the OEM one, are for the Facelift grill. The last 4 are Pre FL. That might make a difference.

That's a good point. I think the mrcarcar FL grill was not as well built as the PreFL model. I noticed that the s5 emblem that came in a separate bag did not fit correctly and the license plate backing was just screwed into the grill instead of having a bracket

To tell the truth, I thought all the aftermarket grills were made in the same factory in china. Just different distributors.

if any S5 facelift owners have switched to an RS grill and want to sell their S5 grill, let me know

I have a black optics FL grill

[Narder]

I'm picking up my deep sea metallic blue A5 next week and I'm stoked. However, I'm looking for an all chrome RS5 grill for it and can't seem to find one anywhere (preferably without euro plate) and with rings included. Anyone have any recommendations?

[jw95275]

Looking for a good chrome version too. Seems quality of non OEM versions may be suspect. May end up just going OEM.

[paul.karroum]

I think it could also be that the Mr.carcar chrome ones may not look as good because the details are more obvious (not talking about scratched just extrusion of the rings). On the all black one the size seems to be less noticeable. I know on my other car the non-OEM chrome grills were much easier to spot then the all black ones.


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[Doublea4]

Great job and agree with others, this post needs a sticky!

[yzykg]

Does anyone has the Racing_Raven one installed?

[Scumbucket]

I would also recommend if you're going to all the trouble, to get some Eastwood radiator paint and paint the condensor black as well

[footbllpro30]

So I went ahead and purchased the racing_raven grill off of ebay. It was very well packaged and came fairly quickly. I think I wanted about 7-10 days for it to get here from China. The grill seems to be very good construction, it is not flimsy at all and looks great. It came with a removable license plate holder and an RS5 badge (which will be replaced soon with S5 badge). As noted above this grill has the higher hole density and looks very close to OEM. For those wondering, the audi rims do not stick out nearly as much as the other grills on the market...again another thing that is very close to OEM.

The one thing I noticed is that it has fixed mounting holes for the license plate which I do not want there. I will be cutting these out with an exacto knife or possibly a dremel (we will see how it turns out). I will post photos after doing so.

I haven't installed it on my car just yet (hope to do so later today) but here are some pictures of it off. Please let me know if you want to see anything in specfic.

[thenewbruno]

I bought from eBay seller stonecarbon2009 a silver grille - arrived to Canada from China in 4 bloody days which was amazing, fitment is perfect - as far as looks up close goes it's great....can't say enough good things.

Here's my car with the grille on board:

[footbllpro30]

Any idea what these are for on the grill? These are the areas I am thinking of cutting out with a dremel. I dont want to cut them out if they are for something! I think the other 2 that are not arrowed are for parking sensors?

[Nastybutler]

@footbllpro30, PM sent re: your old grill. And as far as those other areas, I have no idea why they're there unless it's for the license plate bracket, as my RS replica doesn't have those, just the two for the parking sensors.

[footbllpro30]

Went ahead and took a dremel to those extra pieces today. I still recommend this grill highly but it does require some extra work to get it to be perfectly OEM. Here is a picture after dremel, file, sanding, and touch up paint:

[Amm4]

So I went ahead and purchased the racing_raven grill off of ebay. It was very well packaged and came fairly quickly. I think I wanted about 7-10 days for it to get here from China. The grill seems to be very good construction, it is not flimsy at all and looks great. It came with a removable license plate holder and an RS5 badge (which will be replaced soon with S5 badge). As noted above this grill has the higher hole density and looks very close to OEM. For those wondering, the audi rims do not stick out nearly as much as the other grills on the market...again another thing that is very close to OEM.

The one thing I noticed is that it has fixed mounting holes for the license plate which I do not want there. I will be cutting these out with an exacto knife or possibly a dremel (we will see how it turns out). I will post photos after doing so.

I haven't installed it on my car just yet (hope to do so later today) but here are some pictures of it off. Please let me know if you want to see anything in specfic.

Thanks for the pics, I wonder if the license holding mounts are visible once you put in on the car. definitely post some pics on how it turns out after you cut them.

[footbllpro30]

Sorry link above is fixed now. You should be able to see it now after being dremeled.

[Sweep]

Awesome! Thanks for biting the bullet footbllpro30. My main concern is how much the rings stick out as well so your report is promising. Looking forward to seeing it installed

[diirk]

Maybe update the thread with each brand of grill. Number of holes and thickness/width of the ring base.

[Jhearty99]

I would have went with the Racing_raven grille but my car is pre facelift and they dont have a grille without the license plate cross section. I bought the Mrcarcar grille almost 2 weeks ago, of course they were out of stock and making new ones.

[Mihklo]

At the risk of sounding foolish im gonna ask thr question anyways. I'm new the the audi world. But just purchased a 2010 A5 3.2 a week ago. I want to replace the stock grill. How do I know if I need a pre facelift one or a facelift one? I tried searching but the results were scattered. Thanks in advance

[Jhearty99]

At the risk of sounding foolish im gonna ask thr question anyways. I'm new the the audi world. But just purchased a 2010 A5 3.2 a week ago. I want to replace the stock grill. How do I know if I need a pre facelift one or a facelift one? I tried searching but the results were scattered. Thanks in advance

You need pre facelift, facelift occurred in 2012

[Mihklo]

Thank you!!!!

Now just gotta decide which to order.

[paul.karroum]

At the risk of sounding foolish im gonna ask thr question anyways. I'm new the the audi world. But just purchased a 2010 A5 3.2 a week ago. I want to replace the stock grill. How do I know if I need a pre facelift one or a facelift one? I tried searching but the results were scattered. Thanks in advance

Lol I had asked the exact same question when I first got onto the forum. I thought FL stood for Florida for a while hahaha.


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[erix920]

I ordered and installed the USP one and it looks excellent. The slots where the Audi Rings snap into snapped the clips as I pressed it in. I had to adhere it to the backing so be damn careful when you do it!

My car is black so I spray painted the bar behind the grill black and removed the foam and insert that came with the new grill (hides the bar if you leave it).

Other than that, there was 0 fitment issues. I didn't cut/drill/relocate a single thing.

My friends who aren't enthusiast have asked if I got a new car. That's how much this grill changes the appearance! I'll post a pic when I wash it this weekend. I can't say I'm the least bit disappointed, especially for $300 instead of $1k for an genuine RS5 grill!

[Hatchman]

Thanks for the info! Wish I had this info back when I got my Smart Motoring grill.

Pretty happy with it though, good fit and finish and looks like OEM to me.

[footbllpro30]

So I got around to putting the racing_raven replica grill on the car last night. After using a dremel on the grill to remove the fillings that were there for the license plate (see above for photos), I then used an exacto knife to cut out the parking sensors that were glued in. Cutting the glue was not bad at all and they came out pretty clean.

I had a 2010 Audi S4 before this and had replaced the RS grill on there and it was very easy (about 2-3 hours to do the job). The real challenge came when I took my OEM grill off my facelifted S5! The facelift model has this reinforcement plastic molded onto the bumper for the grill. When I tested putting the RS grill in front of it, it just looked way too ugly. Here is what it looks like stock:



And here is with the RS Grill in front of the stock bumper:



I thought the plastic molding behind the RS grill looked ugly and took away from the awesomeness of the RS grill so I had to some something about it! This is the part that took much longer than expected! I went ahead and used a dremel to cut out the plastic behind. The audi rings in the plastic molding reinforcement were perfectly in line with the RS grill so I wanted to keep them for structural integrity since the RS grill isnt the strongest grill around. The center of the plastic molding reinforcement also holds the homelink sensor which I didn't want to have to remount. For this reason I only cut out about 80% of the plastic and kept the rings and one crossbar for strength. After cutting I sanded it down to be smooth and prepped it for a gloss black paint to match the RS grill so it would blend in. I also painted the crash bar with black plastidip so it would blend.

Here is a picture of what I cut out:



Here is during paint:



Here is the final images of everything bolted back up!







I am really happy with how it turned out. The whole process took me about 8-10 hours to do which was way longer than I expected. Because I kept some of the reinforcement plastic behind, the grill is very strong and secure. After the gloss black you can barely notice there is anything behind the grill. It also allowed me not to have to change the location of homelink. The grill is a great fit! I had my car parked next to an RS5 today and the racing_raven grill looks like an exact replica now. I couldn't find any real differences.

I was able to do the whole install without taking the wheels off or even raising the car (and my car is lowered). Just turning the wheels was enough to get behind the wheel liner and get the bolts behind there.

Please let me know your thoughts and let me know if you want me to take any additional photos.

[Jhearty99]

Looks awesome. Nice work, cant wait for mine to come. I bought some black vinyl for the crash bar