88 Plastic Bumpers ?

[White Nightmare]

Hey guys, Sorry if this has been discussed before. I tried searching but came up empty. I have been looking at e30's lately and just realized that 88's have diving board bumpers but also had the late tail lights. My question is, was 88 the first year of the facelift but with 1 year only bumpers ? Would 89+ bumpers bolt right on to a 88 ? Thank you very much.

-Chris

[erik325i]

You are correct.

'88 is the first year of the "facelift" e30. It got the lower rear fender arches, new taillights, lower rear valence, new front valence with lip spoiler, ellipsoid headlights...
The only thing it didn't get was the plastic bumpers.
You can bolt on a set of plastic bumpers relatively easy though.

-Erik

[golde30]

this works for coupe and 4door, but the convertables are different.

[nomsg]

Direct bolt on, did mine this summer with help from this write-up...

http://www.bmwe30.net/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=articles&report=view&ID=00120&Section=01

A ratcheting wrench would be gold with those hard to reach bolts. Good luck.

TN.

[Van Westervelt]

Swapped my 88 to plastics over night. Would take all of an hour with bumpers painted ready to go on.

[SoCal Life]

Mine are swapped as well. Took me about 2 hours. Got stuck on a rusty bolt and didn't have a write up so I didn't know about the last retaining bolts on the rear shock. Haha, I couldn't figure out why the fucking rear shocks wouldn't come out.

All in all 3 out 10 just cause you gotta lay on the ground and get a little dirty.

[White Nightmare]

Thank you guys very much. Now I have one more year to look for than I thought I did. Take care guys.

-Chris

[Jand3rson]

Am I the only one that noticed that this guy's avatar is a Nazi emblem, and that his username is 'White Nightmare"?

[Van Westervelt]

I didnt know that was a Nazi emblem, skull and bones to me. Whats it for? Never seen it before. Crazy name too. Hmm

[Jand3rson]

I didnt know that was a Nazi emblem, skull and bones to me. Whats it for? Never seen it before. Crazy name too. Hmm

It was a symbol of the Nazi Gestapo:

[Van Westervelt]

Huh, thats somewhat amuzing/scary. Hopefully he will tell us whats up.

[White Nightmare]

Hey guys, Yes the symbol is nazi related. Mostly tied with the SS. I am and always have been very fascinated with WW2. I am by no means racist or anything like that. I am just here to learn and hopefully pass on some knowledge my self. Take care guys.

-Chris

[Dave]

this works for coupe and 4door, but the convertables are different.

That is true, because on convertibles, no matter the year, the plastic bumpers are a direct bolt on swap.

[Stu]

That is true, because on convertibles, no matter the year, the plastic bumpers are a direct bolt on swap.

Dave, you sure? I thought '87's had high arches and old style mounting points. Didn't cabbys have diving boards up until MY '90 or so?

[Dave]

Yes I am sure. I did the bumper swap on my 87 cabby - it was a direct swap.

Cabbys had the lower arches from Day one.