Mansory Carbon Fiber Body kit set for Mercedes G-class Cabrio W463 soft kit

MANSORY Soft Kit for the open-top Geländewagen — the W463 Cabrio bolt-on programme

The G-Class Cabrio is the rarer half of the W463 story. Mercedes-Benz built the soft-top variant from the chassis launch in 1989 until the line closed in the summer of 2013, and unlike the closed Coupe — which carried on, redrawn as the W463A, into 2018 and beyond — the Cabrio body was not renewed for the new platform. Every W463 Cabrio on the road today is therefore between twelve and thirty-six years old, and the donor is finite: production capped at roughly fifteen thousand units across the model's life, with G500 and G55 AMG Cabrio comprising the bulk of the late-period book. This Soft Kit is the entry-tier carbon dressing that respects the donor's collectability — bolt-on panels, no fender cuts, no work that compromises the canvas-top frame's geometry or the four-bow soft-top mechanism.

For the closed-roof equivalent see the G-Class W463 Coupe Soft Kit. Owners after a fuller commission on the open chassis run the conversation through the Cabrio Speranza page. The widebody alternative on the closed Coupe is the G-Gronos W463; the same widebody language adapted to the post-2018 chassis lives on the G-Gronos W463A page.

The W463 Cabrio donor — chassis, drivetrain, soft-top architecture

The W463 Cabrio shares its ladder frame, drivetrain and front-bumper geometry with the closed Coupe of the same vintage, so the front-end carbon work is largely common with the Coupe Soft Kit catalogue. From the B-pillar back the cars diverge. The Cabrio runs a shorter rear quarter, no fixed C-pillar above the belt-line, and a four-bow electrically-folding canvas top that drops into a stowage well behind the rear bench — the well, in turn, requires a different cant-rail-to-quarter-panel transition than the Coupe carries. Specifications worth noting against the kit:

• Wheelbase: 2,400 mm — same as the short-wheelbase Coupe (the long-wheelbase 2,850 mm chassis was Coupe-only).
• Length: 4,212 mm; width: 1,760 mm; height: roughly 1,930 mm soft-top up.
• Kerb weight: 2,520 kg G500 Cabrio; 2,580 kg G55 AMG Compressor.
• Drivetrain: permanent four-wheel-drive with three locking differentials (front, centre, rear) — the rear locker is the giveaway switch on the dashboard, OEM and untouched by the kit.
• Transmission: 5G-TRONIC five-speed automatic on early G500; 7G-TRONIC seven-speed automatic from the 2007 model year onward, fitted to G55 AMG Compressor Cabrio across its run.
• Ground clearance and approach/departure angles: OEM 21 cm clearance, 36° approach, 27° departure — preserved by the bolt-on geometry; no front lip drops below the OEM bumper line.

Powertrain — M113 and M113K, the two engines this Soft Kit covers

Two engine variants account for almost every late-production W463 Cabrio in the order book. M113 E50 in the G500 Cabrio is a 4,966 cc naturally-aspirated three-valve V8, 296 hp at 5,500 rpm and 460 Nm at 2,800 rpm, NEDC fuel consumption around 16.5 L/100 km combined. The M113K in the G55 AMG Compressor Cabrio (the trim that defined the model's late period) is the same 5.4-litre block with an Eaton-Lysholm-style supercharger and a water-to-air intercooler, rated 500 hp at 6,100 rpm and 700 Nm from 2,650 rpm — sufficient to push 2,580 kg of body-on-frame Cabrio to 100 km/h in approximately 5.5 seconds, factory data. The Soft Kit is body-and-wheels only on this product page; engine-side work for either M113 variant is quoted separately. M113K cars typically take an exhaust-only commission rather than a calibration module — the supercharged V8 is at the limit of its OEM sealing without long-block work.

What ships in the Cabrio Soft Kit

Hand-laid 2×2 twill carbon on visible aerodynamic pieces, polyurethane-RIM composite on the bumper add-ons. Lacquered visible-weave finish as the catalogue default; body-colour paint match on the bumpers and A-pillar trim is a no-cost option specified at order. Nothing is cut. Nothing is bonded. Every panel removes back to OEM in a single afternoon, which matters on a chassis where collector value is now a meaningful share of the donor's residual.

• Front bumper add-on with integrated lower lip — common SKU with the Coupe Soft Kit for early bumper geometry; AMG-bumper variant for G55 Cabrio specified separately at order.
• Lightweight carbon bonnet with sculpted heat-extraction louvres above the M113 / M113K plenum.
• Headlight surround pieces in lacquered carbon.
• A-pillar trim — overlay panels following the windscreen-frame line; do not interfere with soft-top latch points.
• Cant-rail trim around the soft-top stowage well — the Cabrio-specific carbon piece, dimensioned to the four-bow folding mechanism. Replaces a flat OEM steel cover with a carbon-finish piece that follows the soft-top stowage line.
• Mirror covers — slip-on over the OEM mirror housing.
• Side door trim strakes — bolt-on lower-door pieces; do not change the donor's track width.
• Rear bumper add-on with lower lip and the spare-wheel tyre cover surround.
• Spare-wheel cover trim — optional carbon overlay on the OEM cover; the original Mercedes star centre piece transfers across.

Wheel programme — 22" forged on the OEM PCD

Factory G500 and G55 Cabrio shipped on 18" wheels (G500) or 19" AMG five-spoke rims (G55 Compressor). The Mansory programme is dimensioned around 22-inch staggered wheels on the OEM 5×130 PCD with 84.1 mm centre bore — same hub geometry the Cabrio carries from factory across G500 and G55 AMG. Standard tyre fitment: 295/40 R22 across both axles. Forged options run the M.7 multi-spoke, the FD.16 dual-spoke concave or the YN.5 double-Y in lacquered carbon, satin black, or paint-to-sample matched to the donor body. Cast wheels in the lower price band fit the same hub geometry. Tyre selection at this diameter favours the all-terrain compounds that suit the G's commuter use; full forged catalogue at hodoor.world/collection/forgedwheels. A second forging tier at 23" is available where owners want a deeper concave; clearance is per-VIN against the front brake caliper.

Install — reversible bolt-on

Two days at a competent body shop covers the install. Add a separate paint-prep window for whichever panels the owner specifies in body-colour rather than visible weave — three to five days for a standard match. The cant-rail trim takes longer because its bond cure runs overnight; the rest of the kit threads onto OEM mounting points with hand tools. Off-road geometry, soft-top operation, the rear-tyre-on-tailgate spare-wheel mount and the OEM running-board placement are unchanged. A donor returns to factory presentation in an afternoon if the build ever needs to revert.

Where the Cabrio Soft Kit lands

The Cabrio's geographic distribution is more compact than the Coupe's — open-top G ownership is a hot-climate phenomenon driven by visibility-of-occupant culture. Order patterns out of the workshop:

• The Gulf states are the dominant Cabrio book — Dubai and Abu Dhabi corridors most of all, with parallel Riyadh and Doha demand. Country guides for the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar document customs lanes for late-build Cabrio donors specifically.
• Monaco and the wider French Riviera coastal corridor make up the strongest European share — owners run the Cabrio as a summer-season car and book the install over winter. See the Monaco style guide and the Swiss Alpine corridor.
• The Channel-Islands collector book is small but visible — Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man together account for a steady-volume share of late-G55 Cabrio commissions, often paired with collector-grade restoration on the donor's underbody before the body kit goes on.
• Bermuda and Aruba ship a long-tail of one-or-two-cars-per-year specifications; Bermuda and Aruba guides cover the freight terms.
• Hong Kong and Macau supply a small but recurring Asian-financial Cabrio share, particularly G55 Compressor cars in collector spec. Hong Kong, Macau.

Commission & lead time

The Cabrio Soft Kit ships as a full set or as à-la-carte panels; the cant-rail trim and the spare-wheel cover overlay are the only pieces that will not substitute from the Coupe SKU. Production lead from the workshop runs four to six weeks for a fresh build; in-stock SKUs leave faster. We pair wheel orders with the kit on a single freight booking when timing allows. Email [email protected] with the donor's VIN, the variant (G500 Cabrio, G55 AMG Compressor Cabrio, build year) and any colour-match notes — paint-to-sample is a routine spec on a chassis that often left the factory in commission colours. WhatsApp +44 7488 818747 for fastest landed-quote response into Gulf, Riviera or Asia-Pacific destinations.

FAQ

Will the Coupe Soft Kit fit my Cabrio?
The front bumper add-on, bonnet, headlight surrounds, A-pillar trim, mirror covers, side door strakes and rear bumper add-on substitute across — those panels are common to the W463 bumper and bonnet geometry whether the donor is closed or open. The cant-rail trim is Cabrio-specific and will not be on the Coupe SKU. The reverse case (Cabrio cant-rail piece on a Coupe) does not apply because the Coupe carries no soft-top stowage well.

Does the kit fit the rare long-wheelbase G500 Cabrio?
Mercedes did not build a long-wheelbase Cabrio in series production. The 2,850 mm wheelbase chassis was Coupe-only across the W463's entire run. Any Cabrio donor in the catalogue is the 2,400 mm short-wheelbase platform; the kit is dimensioned to that geometry only.

What about the four-bow soft-top mechanism — does the cant-rail trim foul it?
No. The cant-rail piece is set inboard of the soft-top latching plates and dressed to clear the swept arc of the four bows. The OEM electric soft-top motor and its sequence are unaffected; the top opens and closes in OEM time without modification to the routing.

G55 AMG Compressor — does the M113K supercharger plumbing impose any kit constraint?
The supercharger plumbing sits behind the bonnet's centre line and below the louvre cut on the Mansory carbon bonnet — adequate clearance, OEM cooling-air paths preserved. The intercooler reservoir is unchanged. Mansory's carbon bonnet on G55 Compressor cars carries the same SKU as on M113-block G500 cars.

Can I commission the carbon work in body-colour rather than visible weave?
Yes — paint-to-sample finish is the most common Cabrio specification, particularly on G55 Compressor donors that ship from factory in custom AMG paint codes. Specify the OEM paint code at order; the bumpers, bonnet and A-pillar pieces ship paint-cured rather than lacquered weave.