How vital is the plasitc under the engine?

[T.Dot E30]

probably only 'i' cars then

[318driver]

There was one on my 325ic when it had big bumeprs, and i put the newer one on when i did the swap.

[ryan_george]

Both my 86 325e and 87 325i have them. I can't really see any reason to take it off, unless it's broken and hanging down.

[george graves]

At 100+ MPH a little bit of plastic can do a lot .....

[bmwannabe]

i dont know i was still on the ground @ 125

[BS87]

At 100+ MPH a little bit of plastic can do a lot .....

I was joking. Ofcourse smooth airflow under the car helps, especially at speed. But ofcourse now there's the chance people will make hideous ABS plastic creations for "Mad d0wnforc3 y0!". That's what i was joking at.

[arnoldgtr]

I've see the undertrays on just about every E30 except the early 318i. Even on the 318i, there are fender liners on each side with brake ducts. I would keep the undertray just for the fender liners. It keeps mud and dirt from getting up behind the bumper and in the front part of the engine compartment.

[benDASHDASH]

I've see the undertrays on just about every E30 except the early 318i. Even on the 318i, there are fender liners on each side with brake ducts. I would keep the undertray just for the fender liners. It keeps mud and dirt from getting up behind the bumper and in the front part of the engine compartment.

Yeah, I was just looking beneath the fender today and I must say, it looks quite funny without the plastic piece. I'll probably put mine back on.. sometime. Thanks for the info.

[Beej '86 325es]

Mine is somehow crooked or something. It's digging into my tie rod boot.

[AndrewBird]

Mine has been off, for the longest while, too lazy to put it back on and dont feel the need.

aerodynamics?? lol like a little piece of plastic is gonna help an e30 out much. the design of the car doesn't help

Yeah, 1 piece of plastic isn't going to help the whole "Brick with 4 wheels" thing.

The stock panel may not help, but I promise you it doesnt hurt.

It will absolutely reduce the lift effect at speed. Smoother the air flow under the car the better.

It's like that car commercial (forgot what auto maker) where they have the car in an air tunnel and flip it over to show how smooth the air flows over the belly pan.

[Julien]

does it perhaps make the radiator fan more effective? the shround on the radiator only makes somewhat of a seal on the top, but nothing on the bottom... the fan can easily suck air from under that car instead of right through the radiator... no??




Julien

[JPbmw]

my eta had it but i took the front part of it when i put the front Es spoiler

[BahnE30]

don't have it, never had it

probably helps cooling out abit as it would force more air through the fan but probably not even to even notice it

[hella 325]

I dont have one, never had a prob. But, I made a dimomd plate peice that works in a similar fashion for my GFs dads race car,its nice, but its mainly from keeping the grass out from under the car when he does some agricultural driving.