A question for all you Americans

[echothreezero]

Hi,

What is the score with replacing those terrible US fenders with euro ones?? Can you guys do it, or do you have to stick with the US ones? Also, does anyone have some pics of a F/L e30 in the states? I want to see if they improved on the fender design when they went to FL.

It's a pity because they really ruin the look of the vehicle. Would be good if you can replace them.

 

[Big Daddy]

Not sure what you are referring to. What is an F/L e30? As far as I know the fenders are the same.

 

[C3 Motorsport]

echo, I'm assuming by FL you mean face-lift (later e30 body style). The fenders are still the same part number...so I don't see why there would be any change. The major body change was the tail lights, front valance and rear wheel arches (quarter panels).

 

[epj3]

I think in europe fender means the bumper? Becuase the fenders as us americans know them are the same on all e30's (as far as I know...?)

 

[Chesty Bonds]

I think he's referring to those shocking, elongated bumper-bars that you guys were forced to have. I've seen E30's with the massive ones from the US.

 

[echothreezero]

OK, by fender I was trying to use us terminology. In NZ we all them bumpers. In Europe and NZ, pre fl (facelift) e30's had small (and very good looking) chrome bumpers. Due to impact requirements in the US you got what are known as diving board bumpers due to their large size and ugliness.

When the FL model came in in '88 the chrome bumpers were replaced with plastic ones (often colour-coded) and they look much more modern. FL cars also got a revised engine bay, some minor ECU improvements, minor exhaust improvements, a revised front skirt/valance/splitter/spolier (whatever you call it) a revised rear skirt (to hide the spare wheel well), new tail lights, revised wheel arches, and one or two other tiny bits depending on the exact model.

I will post below what pre fl and fl models in NZ look like.

 

[echothreezero]

Here is a nz/euro pre-facelift car from the front. Notice the chrome bumper (smaller than a US one) and the front spoiler/splitter. Also notice the sealed beam headlights (fl cars got ellipsoids).

 

[echothreezero]

Now looking at the rear you can see the pre-fl tail lights (on both cars) and that the rear skirt on the red car doesn't cover the rear wheel well. For those interested these are NZ cars with euro-look plates and the black car is a M325i known in the US as a 325is (not to be confused with an m3). It has smoked tails and a m-tech 2 body kit. The red car is a 325i that has had a severe weight reduction and some engine mods but appears stock from the outside.

 

[echothreezero]

And last pre-fl pic from the side - see how much smaller and more tasteful and sexy the chrome bumpers are compared to the US ones.

 

[echothreezero]

Now onto FL cars. Here is a pic of my car which is a facelift model. This is the rear. Note the fl lights (smoked in this case) and the plastic colour-coded bumper

 

[echothreezero]

And a NZ black 318i FL note the different front splitter and driving lights and the different headlights (ellipsoids) and of course the black plastic bumper

 

[echothreezero]

Side view - hard to see the lower areches on thisw car due to the bigger rims and it has of course been lowered, but it does show quite nicely how the plastic bumpers make the car look more modern and in my opinion H.O.T!

 

[echothreezero]

And finally another rear view which shows the lower fl rear skirt that covers the wheel well - standard fl tails, and a de-badged boot lid (so you can't tell its just a 318, but in my opinion looks cleaner anyway)

 

[echothreezero]

So, back to the original question - do the us fl cars have the plastic bumpers? If yes are they bigger, or are they the same? If no - I presume then that us FL cars have the big chrome numbers. And are you allowed to swap them for the much nicer euro ones?

Cheers

 

[Tom]

Yes they do have the plastic bumpers on the later models. I believe starting in 1989 they went from the chrome to plastic bumpers.

 

[epj3]

Yup tom is right - and BTW, in the US "fender" is the thing over the wheel. We call the bumpers bumpers too

 

[jrt67ss350]

And the US model plastic bumpers after the facelift are in fact the same plastic bumpers that are on non-US models.

Man, I wish I had the euro chrome bumpers on my '87 - they do look so much better and cleaner.

 

[echothreezero]

OK, thanks for clearing that up - I thought if you had the plastic ones they would comply with impact regs, so it is just the chrome ones. Maybe someone should look at importing the smaller ones if there is a perceived market, and they are allowed (prob not is my guess though).

The smaller chrome ones really do make a big difference to the look of the car, as does the colour coding of the plastic ones as opposed to the ones with the black plastic strip.

Cool - I learnt something. Oh, and BMW started making the plastic bumper version in '87 making it available in '88 - they may not have arrived in the US till '89, but it was introduced on the '88 model.

 

[fporro]

not to be a stickler but ...

- Red car has an M Technic 1 rear spoiler with Euro bumpers.
- Black car next to red has : M Technic 1 kit with same bumpers as the red car, the rear spoiler looks like an M Tech 2.

biggest differences between them is that M Technic 2 bumpers are basically FL bumpers with a smoother finish and were issue on FL cars. fronts are a straight bolt on to any e30, rear is a different story, they fit my USA 5/87 325iC (pre FL) without any modifications, but, (FL) USA bumpers were too long on my car.

M Technic 1 have exposed Euro bumpers that were usually but not always color matched. Same bumpers that are on the red car and were discontinued after (FL).

here's my USA version, pre FL, May 1987 325iC with M technic 1 front, Kamei side skirts and M technic 2 rear...

 

[echothreezero]

No probs fporro - I never mentioned what type of rear spoiler the red car has, so you weren't correcting me there, and the whole point of the pics were to show off the euro bumpers on both vehicles.

The rear spoiler is mtech 2 as I said, but you are right about the rest of the skirts being mtech 1 - mtech 2 had different shaped front fog lights, and the rear skirt didn't have the lines I believe.

i don't believe that facelift bumpers are a bolt on to any e30 - they were extensively modified for impact protection, and the whole make-up is different.

The skirts are ok to change though I think, but not the bumpers.

At least that has been my experience.