hey guys,
I have a 1987 325i convertible
I learned today halfway through a bumper swap that my front frame rails are about an inch closer together than they should be! Fuckin fantastic! Other than this of course, the front was straightforward and pretty fun.
Anyway, that's not what this is about. Everyone on the internet says plastic bumpers bolt up in the rear of convertibles it's super easy etc. It wasn't quite like that for me. The rear shocks went on without the need to notch the upper of the frame rails of the car, but there were no holes with which to mount the sliders. I tried one of the holes used by the diving board fairing but it was clearly in the wrong place. I used my friend's late model as a reference and made some measurements and drilled a hole in the side of my car to place the slider elsewhere. The drilled hole ended up being about an inch closer to the front of the car and half an inch lower than the original hole for the diving board. This is the result
I'm wondering how other people out there mounted their rear bumpers and if they did so in the same manner as I, how did you take care of the gap you can see in my picture? I'm wondering what I have to modify to bring them closer together. Do I have to forego the sliders and use bolts underneath the black bumper trim? The fitment is good if one of the sides is on the car while the other hangs, but if both are attached, the top of the bumper is pushed outwards. Anything obvious I'm missing? I'm pretty tired after trying to resolve the front end.
I have a 1987 325i convertible
I learned today halfway through a bumper swap that my front frame rails are about an inch closer together than they should be! Fuckin fantastic! Other than this of course, the front was straightforward and pretty fun.
Anyway, that's not what this is about. Everyone on the internet says plastic bumpers bolt up in the rear of convertibles it's super easy etc. It wasn't quite like that for me. The rear shocks went on without the need to notch the upper of the frame rails of the car, but there were no holes with which to mount the sliders. I tried one of the holes used by the diving board fairing but it was clearly in the wrong place. I used my friend's late model as a reference and made some measurements and drilled a hole in the side of my car to place the slider elsewhere. The drilled hole ended up being about an inch closer to the front of the car and half an inch lower than the original hole for the diving board. This is the result
I'm wondering how other people out there mounted their rear bumpers and if they did so in the same manner as I, how did you take care of the gap you can see in my picture? I'm wondering what I have to modify to bring them closer together. Do I have to forego the sliders and use bolts underneath the black bumper trim? The fitment is good if one of the sides is on the car while the other hangs, but if both are attached, the top of the bumper is pushed outwards. Anything obvious I'm missing? I'm pretty tired after trying to resolve the front end.
