I wanted to share my experience with a recent install of the Carbon Imports Rear Diffuser v 2. Here is a link to the item.
https://www.carbonimports.ca/collect...user-version-2
At $309, it is half the price of the other name brand diffusers out there, so I was excited to try it.
It arrived within a couple of weeks in a giant Styrofoam shipping container from China. My Post Office actually called me and advised that it would not fit in there mail truck, so I had to come pick it up. As you can see from the picture below, it was massive compared to the cargo capacity of my car. With my rear seats folded down, and the top portion of this shipping container removed, I was able to stuff the box in the trunk and get it home. Yes, I could have simply taken the diffuser home and left the box behind, but not knowing whether I would be returning it or not, I wanted to keep the shipping container.
When I unpacked it, I was pleased to see that they had included a set of screws, and some double-sided tape. And my first impression of the product itself was that it looked really good. The edges were clean, the back was smooth, and the finished side was high-gloss with no visible imperfections.
My first attempt at installing this was to replace the original without removing the bumper. Using a set of plastic body panel removal tools, it was not difficult to remove the stock diffuser. However, trying to install the rigid carbon fiber diffuser was impossible. After several hours of attempting this by myself, and discovering that the screw holes on the carbon fiber diffuser do not line up with the stock mount points on the car, I gave up in disgust and reinstalled the stock Diffuser. The picture below is my attempt at comparing the difference in the stock and carbon fiber diffuser mounting holes. It is not exact because I am trying to line up to curved parts, but the perspective is pretty close and you'll see a photo below what the actual difference is.
After giving up, I sent a note to the seller, Carbon Imports, and within A day and a half, I had a response. The response explained that many purchasers have experience the same things, but others have not. The seller recommended that I remove the bumper and perform the install, drilling any new holes that are necessary. Well I was not excited about that approach;the idea of shipping this product back to China was going to be painful, and the idea of buying one of the other options on the market at twice the price, it was not very exciting either.
So, this past Sunday afternoon, I went through the process of removing the bumper to install this new diffuser. Thankfully, I found this thread in the link below which explained most of the steps. If you have a B8 .5, read down into the meat of the thread and don't simply follow the instructions from the original post. There are some differences in the .5 iteration of the S5 and you'll need to read those in advance.
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...Bumper-Valence
After some trials and tribulations with the install, and a minor panic attack in removing the bumper, I was finally able to get this thing installed. I did end up using several additional screws to securely mount the diffuser to the bumper, and you will see those in a couple of the pics. You will also see the misalignment of the original holes.
In the end, it looks good and I'm pleased with it. If you go with this Diffuser, expect to do the bumper removal and have to drill new holes. Having a helper would also be good.
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Originally Posted by CascadeReigns
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