Have you ever heard the saying “Buy once, cry once”?
I try and follow that line of thinking but didn’t when it came to replacing the damaged front grille. Initially the mod to the classic grille looked great but it wasn’t long before it started to look shabby. The final nail in the coffin for that grille was snapping more retaining clips when installing the LED light bar. I’m either clumsy, stupid, unlucky or all three, but I’ve had no luck with plastic grilles.
My wonderful wife was a bit miffed but I pulled the trigger and ordered the grille I wanted all along.
The APIO Iron Grille from JimnyStyle weighs approx 4kg and of course is made from steel. You can get either black or a silver finish. I bought the black version (no product placements or sponsorship).
The main advantage over the plastic grilles is the mounting clips are metal and instead of using the plastic panel fasteners, you bolt the grille on at the top. The few slots for the plastic clips on the rest of the panel simply push in like the original grille.
Fitting is a breeze, the hardest part is removing the old grille without breaking it ????. The finish is a super smooth matt black and the space across the middle is perfect for mounting the vintage Suzuki emblem.
It will take more of a beating than the plastic grilles naturally and that certainly is the case. It’s only been 1 month fitted on the Jimny but you can see it’s holding up very well. You can hopefully see that on the pictures taken 30 days after install.
I think it really suits the front end design style having a more flatter face and the design pattern on it flows well with the LED light bar.
Do I recommend it? YES
Is it value for money? It’s a fairly high price but YES.
If I were to try get this imported myself you can add at least 20% to the cost with import fees and shipping. Add in the hassle with ordering stuff from Japan too.
It’s way more robust and I can easily remove it for any future mods. To me I wish I’d just gone ahead and bought it instead of spending the £100 fixing the Suzuki Grille upgrade (£220) we smashed. Live and learn.
Loved it. Wish there was a steel grille more in line with the “Retro Grille” from Jimny style, design wise. Must find a more robust grille on which to slap an Autobot crest.
???? yeah it’s the only steel one I’ve come across so far.
Looks great, on my list once my Jimny arrives.
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I really like most of your mods, Geordie. And also your way of writing. ????
Not only does the grill look awesome, it’s made of non-plastic material. I’m still from the old school where heavy and metal was considered high quality. Would love to get the grill too, but with the current shipping and tax prices, because of the Brexit, I’m hesitant.
Hi Pat, yeah it’s one of the items I wish I’d bought sooner.
I’m not certain but I thought brexit made Jimny Style products a bit cheaper for EU. Maybe I’m wrong but their latest info is here: https://jimnystyle.com/pages/brexit