Plastic bumper conversion: talk me off the cliff

[the imitator]

But then your spare tire will fall out of the trunk

Is that why I keep finding my spare in the driveway when I return?

[bradnic]

Your car looks fine man. Don't sweat it.

Plastic bumpers are so vanilla

^ this. tuck the DBs. polish them or paint them body color if you want. The early model IS front valance is unique to that car and specifically designed for DBs.

Those IS valances won't fit with euro bumpers. One of the bumper swap experts here tried a few years ago (scabzzzz I think. I don't think it looked terrific to be honest, and the license plate holder blocks the vents a bit. Thread here)



plastic conversion on a pre-facelift / small tail light coupe requires a lot of hand work in the rear (front bolts right up). it's been done, but in the end you end up with the same plastic bumpers everyone else has. I haven't seen your IS lip with plastics, but I did find some pics here




Lots of bumper swap info and pics here

If you're completely set on getting rid of the DBs then go plastics and either keep the IS valance or consider adding an aftermarket front spolier and rear apron. there's a good before and after of a hartge setup in that bumper swap thread, this post (parts are really hard to find)




I've done a vert plastic bumper conversion (admittedly easier - no need to shorter the rear bumper side sections). PM me if you have any questions on this stuff. Was pretty obsessed about it for a while there.




If you were to rank all these options in terms of difficulty, keeping DBs is least work, euros are the easiest conversion. anything involving rear plastic bumpers on an early model E30 coupe is hard.

[kloucks]

Thanks for the great options, I had never thought that I could potentially keep my front valence through this whole ordeal. Although I think if i were to do anything I'd probably just go all plastic or all DB.

bradnic- did you swap over the rear valence as well? One of my biggest hangups is the empty space behind my rear tires and below the bumper. It looks like even if I do swap over the rear valence i still might have a big space back there...

Third option: Anyone seen a well done rear diffuser on an e30? i've seen a few but they look kinda hacked.

[TimeMachinE30]

Rear diffuser? A member here has a build thread about racecar and built a crazy nice diffuser.

I have DBs now on my vert. Only reason I am wanting plastic is to fit my AC Schnitzer kit. The fact the verts swap easily to plastics is a big plus.