I have already read the DIY 328 to m3 bumper upgrade thread, but it confused me. if anyone can help me out i would appreciate it. i have a 1996 328i and i want to install the m3 bumper on my car. WHAT ALL do i need for the upgrade? what can i reuse? please help i need to order these parts ASAP
There's a great GB going on for the e36 m3 bumpers its not oem material, but the quality is said to be really good. It's in the GB forms, basically its the m3 bumper and all the hardware (I think) to put it on, now you will have to reuse some of the parts from your bumper to put it on. The thread also has a diy links. I plan on picking one of these up in the next week or so, the price is the best that I've seen at $270.00 shipped to your door.
The only things extra I bought (not even necessary) were the M3 brake ducts, license plate delete strip, and a lower splash guard (one of mine was broken). You re-use all the hardware from your original bumper.
-Jeff
'12 135i (Space Grey): Stock
'98 323is (Schwartz II) (Sold ): UUC SSK w/ clutch stop, UUC UDPs, Cosmos short ram intake, Fan delete, M3 cats and exhaust, M50 manifold, CDV delete, H&R Sport + Bilstein sports
Smoke corners, clear sides and tails, rear lip spoiler, Umnitza depo euro ellipsoids w/ DDEs, Apexcone DDM HID 6000k, black grills, M3 front bumper, mirrors, and rear diffuser, CSL reps
'04 M3 (Estoril) (Sold ): SMG, Meisterschaft SUS exhaust, GC coilovers, Hotchkiss sway bars, Brembo BBK w/ Estoril calipers
Estoril side reflectors & headlight trim, Rep Strassentech front lip, Vorsteiner CSL trunklid and rear diffuser, ACS roof spoiler, automatic rear sunshade, HRE 545R
First, sorry this got soooooo long. ok, I just quickly looked at who is doing the GB and its EEEEeeee36. The bumper is made out of polyurethane, which (please correct me if i'm wrong) is good material for the bumpers. Now there are other GB for m3 bumpers in the GB form, but they all cost more and I think are made out of the same material. I also think that they come with the same pieces and nothing is molded into the bumper (like the molding and lip), so its like your current bumper. Oh, and heres the name of the thread if it helps... !!!! BB-AW M-Technic/M3/M5 Bumper Sale!! E36, E46, E39 !!!
I believe that the only main thing that the m3 bumpers don't come with are the brake ducts (and the fogs, but you just switch yours over). I've been told that m3 brake ducts are different from other 3 series, I'm not sure about this. The swap is quite easy, take probably an hour or so.
The swap took me 2 and a half hours from the time shut the car down till when I drove away. Once you remove the rubber molding strip on the front of your existing bumper, all the bolts but two are exposed. There are two more back in the wheelwell at the top edge of the bumper. Once those and the undertray are unhooked, the whole assembly should just slide off of the car.
It really is as easy as the DIY makes it to look.
What about paint? do they come pre-painted. Who do you guys have paint them?
nope, they are not pre-painted. this is mainly because of cost and that your cars paint has faded over time and it needs to be matched by a paint shop.
So they will color match my faded paint? Whats the average cost of this for a front bumber?
I know i used to work at ABRA auto and glass, but i can remember they said that silvers and greys were the hardest to match. I have a granitesilber 4dr, i just dont want to have it look tracky. Anybody with a silver or grey with a color matched m3 bumper?
The only hard thing matching colour is the fade of the original colour. If your cars colour is faded, then you need a good pro guy to make a colour that would match your faded one. I mean, bimmer is 10-15 years old, new colour would look way too new compared to 10-15 years old paint on your car. But pro guys can deal with this.
so i picked up my bumper from the dealer today, i have a couple questions though - the mesh grill is secured by just some round silver lock rings? also the bracket for the fog lights seems different then the one on my stock bumper, are the m3 brackets req'd for the install? i transferred the support beam that runs horizontal across the top inside of the bumper, and it seems like everythng else fits. there are two pieces that look like they are necessary for the m3 brake ducts, does anyone know if they are req'd? one last thing, the bumper i bought from the dealer part # 51 11 223 335 0229 449 doesnt seem to have the holes req'd for the lower spoiler, is that normal? what do you do to install the spoiler?
You should be able to make the stock fog brackets fit. Mine were a little off too, but luckily, I had some extra M3 brackets lying around from a set of fogs I bought. You could probably get the brackets cheap from pelicanparts.com
Yes, the mesh is only held on by the "spring washers".
I used the "self-tapping" screws to drill into the bumper to install the spoiler. I drilled them first before I got the bumper painted, so I wouldn't have to worry about cracking the paint if I tried to drill them in after.
-Jeff
'12 135i (Space Grey): Stock
'98 323is (Schwartz II) (Sold ): UUC SSK w/ clutch stop, UUC UDPs, Cosmos short ram intake, Fan delete, M3 cats and exhaust, M50 manifold, CDV delete, H&R Sport + Bilstein sports
Smoke corners, clear sides and tails, rear lip spoiler, Umnitza depo euro ellipsoids w/ DDEs, Apexcone DDM HID 6000k, black grills, M3 front bumper, mirrors, and rear diffuser, CSL reps
'04 M3 (Estoril) (Sold ): SMG, Meisterschaft SUS exhaust, GC coilovers, Hotchkiss sway bars, Brembo BBK w/ Estoril calipers
Estoril side reflectors & headlight trim, Rep Strassentech front lip, Vorsteiner CSL trunklid and rear diffuser, ACS roof spoiler, automatic rear sunshade, HRE 545R
damn, I hope if I drill the bumper after it is painted wont screw the paint up. I am heading to the paint shop in the morning to install the bumper, I made a deal with a friend that owns that paint shop to help with the removal/prep/install of the new m3 bumper and '97 grill/kidneys, he is only charging me $200.00 for the rest(paint + removal/install)!!!! the lower spoiler I thought should have bolted right up, I mean it is factory, why doesnt that happen?????
It's gotta be held in place somehow. That's what the self-tapping screws are for. They might not crack the paint. I'm not sure though. I didn't really think about it. I was just anxious to install the lip as soon as I got the bumper, I just lucked out that it was probably better that I had the holes already there when I put it back on after the paint.
-Jeff
'12 135i (Space Grey): Stock
'98 323is (Schwartz II) (Sold ): UUC SSK w/ clutch stop, UUC UDPs, Cosmos short ram intake, Fan delete, M3 cats and exhaust, M50 manifold, CDV delete, H&R Sport + Bilstein sports
Smoke corners, clear sides and tails, rear lip spoiler, Umnitza depo euro ellipsoids w/ DDEs, Apexcone DDM HID 6000k, black grills, M3 front bumper, mirrors, and rear diffuser, CSL reps
'04 M3 (Estoril) (Sold ): SMG, Meisterschaft SUS exhaust, GC coilovers, Hotchkiss sway bars, Brembo BBK w/ Estoril calipers
Estoril side reflectors & headlight trim, Rep Strassentech front lip, Vorsteiner CSL trunklid and rear diffuser, ACS roof spoiler, automatic rear sunshade, HRE 545R
well my bumper and lip are installed as well as the '97 model nose and kidneys. i have to say i am kinda suprised that the bumper had to be drilled to install the lip, all the parts are factory from the dealer?!
I'm guessing you didn't have any problem with the paint cracking?
-Jeff
'12 135i (Space Grey): Stock
'98 323is (Schwartz II) (Sold ): UUC SSK w/ clutch stop, UUC UDPs, Cosmos short ram intake, Fan delete, M3 cats and exhaust, M50 manifold, CDV delete, H&R Sport + Bilstein sports
Smoke corners, clear sides and tails, rear lip spoiler, Umnitza depo euro ellipsoids w/ DDEs, Apexcone DDM HID 6000k, black grills, M3 front bumper, mirrors, and rear diffuser, CSL reps
'04 M3 (Estoril) (Sold ): SMG, Meisterschaft SUS exhaust, GC coilovers, Hotchkiss sway bars, Brembo BBK w/ Estoril calipers
Estoril side reflectors & headlight trim, Rep Strassentech front lip, Vorsteiner CSL trunklid and rear diffuser, ACS roof spoiler, automatic rear sunshade, HRE 545R
no issue with paint cracking, i used a drill gun and used bolts with lock-nuts. for some reason on the drivers side the bumper sags just alittle at the point where it ends under the fender.
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