Bumpers, bumpers, bumpers!

[slicvicpr87]

ok i have a 86 325ewith the diving boards, its my first car so i dont know that much bout bodywork or working on cars ingeneral........i reaaallyyy like the later model front air dam ....can i get it to fit and push my diving boards in???...dammit i knew i shouldve goten a honda..JK lol

[Marvin_Hecht]

slicvicpr87,

Yes--on both. You can swap your front valence for another year's model.
For example if you look at a 1988 it has the same valence as 89-92 BUT
it still has diving boards--1988. So you can put the same on your car.

The bumper solution can be a tuck, or you could put euro bumpers, or
you could plastics on--the front plastic bumpers go on pretty easily
with cutting of the tow-hooks but the rear plastics are a big pain.

Search all sorts of threads "plastic" "bumpers' etc...you'll see.

[CGDoig]

Did they make a different bumper trim for the 88 year? I put the late valance on my car but theres nowhere to attach the trim, i actually just lost a peice because it was being held on by one screw.

[e30_melbourne]

i've had mixed answers to this question in the past, so ill try again to confirm

i have an '87 cab. obviously pre facelift.
now,
i understand in fitting the rear plastic bumper to a pre facelift car the rear bumper needs modification around the wheel arches etc.., but i read somewhere that this is not required for the pre '88 cabriolet. is this true? If it is, does this mean fitting plastic bumpers to an '87 cab is easier then the hardtop? has anyone here done this before?
thanks very much in advance.

[fporro]

i've had mixed answers to this question in the past, so ill try again to confirm

i have an '87 cab. obviously pre facelift.
now,
i understand in fitting the rear plastic bumper to a pre facelift car the rear bumper needs modification around the wheel arches etc.., but i read somewhere that this is not required for the pre '88 cabriolet. is this true? If it is, does this mean fitting plastic bumpers to an '87 cab is easier then the hardtop? has anyone here done this before?
thanks very much in advance.

Cabrios, be it pre or post 88 do not need major modifications, it's a bolt on scenario.

what you'll need to find it's a rear apron from Racing Dynamics or some other tuner to cover spare tire/muffler area

in about a week or so Im going to try coupe and baur rear euro bumpers on my 2/87 cabrio, will post follow-up.

here's the red 2/87 with plastic bumpers upgrade and RD rear apron as well as my 5/87 cabrio with M Tech 2 set-up...

[shiraz]

Ok. I read all of this and now I am effectively confused, so I have some questions.

My car is an 87 325is with the collosal buck tooth looking bumpers. I would really like tiny ones and I would LOVE to make it all body colour like this car shown in the first post of this thread...



I think I understand that to have it all body colour like that (done by putting on some kind of covers?) you have to have the plastic bumpers. And I think I also understand that unless I want to spend lots of money and I find someone who is REALLY GOOD at this stuff, I can't put the plastic bumpers on my car.

Am I right?

[KenC]

You're correct. Unless you wipe your ass with Benjies, you're SOL with the 87 chassis + M-Tech II kit franken30.

[shiraz]

Crap.

But...I can put the early years euro bumpers on my car, right? At least those are smaller...or what about this tucking business, is it just a quick fix or will it actually look nice and still be functional if someone ass rams my car?

[KenC]

You can do the euro bumpers. They're kinda spendy. I sold a set for around $400 a little while back.
When you tuck them, you just drill the shocks and push them in a little bit. They're only 5mph bumpers so in a wreck faster than that they're worthless.

[shiraz]

You can do the euro bumpers. They're kinda spendy. I sold a set for around $400 a little while back.
When you tuck them, you just drill the shocks and push them in a little bit. They're only 5mph bumpers so in a wreck faster than that they're worthless.

I don't know about that, I got rear-ended once...I was stopped waiting to turn left onto a side street and some Jeep ploughed straight into the back of my car going at least 30km/h...not a mark on the car. Everything was exactly as it was before. It was weird that it was perfectly fine, but I'm not complaining. I had the shocks checked out and everything, they were fine.

Anyways so these euro bumpers...can I keep my old 87 iS front valance? I looove it and I don't want to have to put a different one on.

And how about a rear valance...do I have more options with a euro bumper on the back rather than what I already have? I just want something simple to take up all that air space between the car and the ground...I don't mind the Racing Dynamics one. I haven't seen many, if there's a smaller one, let me know. I like the ones that came stock on later years of the e30s but I think it was only on the i's...I don't know

[NC325iC]

youd have to lose thea is valence, BUT you can get some cooler valences for euro bumpers, if you can take a look a Ryan Stewart's car hes got euro bumpers and an Alpina valence

edit: if you can find some 88 89 convertible bumper shocks are shorter than the shocks for early ones but still use the same bumpers, if you look at pics of my car thats what itd look like.

[87-325ic]

Ill add to this i guess about verts to clear that up.
Any year Verts can swap plastic bumpers on there car to replace the metal bumpers. However the rear valance on coupes is part of the uni body.

for real? so you are saying that me having a pre 88 convertible, i can easily put on the plastic bumpers without Heavy modification...
please clear this up...

[Jand3rson]

I don't know about that, I got rear-ended once...I was stopped waiting to turn left onto a side street and some Jeep ploughed straight into the back of my car going at least 30km/h...not a mark on the car. Everything was exactly as it was before. It was weird that it was perfectly fine, but I'm not complaining. I had the shocks checked out and everything, they were fine.

Trust me. Anything past 5 mph, it's not going to make a bit of difference if they're tucked or not. I know from experience.

[fporro]

for real? so you are saying that me having a pre 88 convertible, i can easily put on the plastic bumpers without Heavy modification...
please clear this up...

yes, both my cabrios are pre 9/87, onee it's mtech 1 & 2 and the other it's a plastic bumper job,both bolted right on.

[87-325ic]

so, me having an 5/87 Cabrio.. i can go to a junkyard, find a plastic bumpered car, and remove its bumpers and shocks,

and bolt them right onto my car, without much hassle.. if any?
:D

tell me why this works so easily, what is special about the cabrio body/ bumpers..?

or is there a catch, such as i need cabrio plastic bumpers?


Thanks,

also, how much would i be spending on something like this, about..