I was interested in sourcing a set of stainless steel kickplates which where an OEM option.
It appears that these are now only available with certain lettering (eg RS) and where pretty expensive.
It therefore appealed to me when a UK supplier was identified on Rennlist who was offering OEM alternatives including a new version with "Carrera 4S" lettering.
As I'm UK based I "volunteered" to be the guinea pig and try them out. The supplier is Type911.
They offer a few options but I wanted to try the new chrome inlay style with Carrera 4S lettering.......
"Stainless Steel Sill Trims
Laser cut polished stainless steel inserts in brushed stainless sills, great quality, self adhesive, fits 911, 964 & 993, choose from "911", "993", "Carrera", "Carrera S", "Carrera 4S", "turbo", "2S" or "4S" script. Price is for a pair"
The price including tax and shipping in the UK was c£128 (I think roughly 50% of the OEM price).
It took about 3 weeks for delivery but I think these are made to order at the moment as a new product.
They where delivered very well packaged to protect them.
First impressions are very good but on closer inspection there are a couple of issues. So the good and the bad.....
Good bits ....
- the stainless steel is very good quality with a good weight to them and they give the feeling of being very robust ie they will not easily bend / mishape.
- the appearance from a normal viewing distance is very good...
- they have full laser cut lettering with chrome inlay which is held in place by the provided taped fixing backing strip. These would easily lend themselves to various inlay options if required.
but the bad bits....
- on close inspection there is some room for improvement in the chrome inlay finish which is randomly raised in some areas and an inconsistent fit in terms of tolerance to the laser cut steel. This appears to be down to the actual type of inlay used reacting to the cutting process.
EDIT: just to clarify on the above pic that I expect the inset to sit flatter when fitted as it is only held in place by the sticky backing tape currently. The issue I am trying to highlight is the reaction of the insert chrome edge to the cutting process which is not perfect.
So I was left with a dilemma, do I reject them (I don't need to argue quality as these would simply fall under European distance selling rules giving me 7 days to return them for a refund) or keep them. I have decided to keep them on the following reasoning:
- the quality of the steel and laser cutting is very good and in line with what I would perceive to be OEM quality (I cannot comment in fit yet)
- I like the "3D" effect of the chrome inlay compared to normal (ie cheaper) etching.
- the appearance from normal viewing height is fine and its only my OCDness that has an issue with the fine detail finish.
- if the inlay finish / fit deteriorates with use them the quality of the basic laser cut steel will lend itself to some nice alternative finishes ie the inlay is simply held in place via the taped backing so can be easily changed with the steel acting as a natural template.
- price I perceive as reasonable for the laser cutting and quality of steel used. nb If they had been twice the price they would have been going back.
At the end of the day I like them
Fitting should be a relatively easy process requiring the simple removal of the existing kick plates which are glued in place (time will be mostly removing old glue) and sticking these down with the backing tape already in place.
These will also meet my requirement to be fully reversible to OEM if required.
I will point the supplier to this post as I believe in customer feedback.
ps here are some OEM pictures for comparison...and why I prefer the laser cut finish......
. Yep I spend 2 hours fitting the passenger side :roll: 
