Anyone done a euro-bumper conversion?

[ainadude]

Wondering if anyone has done this himself or knows some who has: converting an '84-'87 U.S.-market E30 to the early European bumpers? I've got most of the bits I think I'll need -- bumpers, mounts, M-Tech I front spoiler -- but I'm a bit hazy on some of the details, including what needs to be done with the front valance and if a rear valance is needed.

If you've done the job yourself, know someone who has who'd be willing to correspond with me on the project or even a good Web site devoted to the subject (yes, I've googled with little success), I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance and have a great weekend.

[netcsk86]

But I didn't change out my front valance and didn't put on a rear valance (although I'm currently looking for a rear valance). They are very very straight forward to do. They only mount with the two main mounts on each bumper with simple screws for the sides.

[ainadude]

Hey, Chris, thanks for jumping in. DId you have to make any sheetmetal changes to the front. My parts guy at BavAuto said he thought you'd need a different valance or have to weld and re-drill some of the bumper mounting points.

As for the rear, was it just a straightforward bolt on?

[netcsk86]

Simply take off your old bumpers and put the new ones on. The bolt holes are the same and everything. On the rear, I had to drill one hole for each mount on the body side of the car. I just lined up the bumper with the mounts attached to the body of the car and drilled my hole. One of the holes already there line up, but the other isn't quite in the right spot (the small bolt).

[ainadude]

Music to my ears. Another question: How have you dealt with side-marker lights? Have you retrofit anything or are you running with out them? Also, what are you running under the front bumper and how well does everything fit? Finally, how does the rear look without a valance?

Oh, and do you have any pictures?

[netcsk86]

I have tons of pictars.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v3...bear/My%20Car/

I'm not running side markers, nor am I running front parking lights (you'll notice only two pins on the front turn signals, so you'll have to splice those into your turn signal wires).

Under the front bumper, I have the stock base model valance. It looks perfectly fine to me and isn't too bulky. The rear doesn't look great and I'm somewhat looking for a valance. I've heard that normal US medal bumper valances can usually be modified slightly to work with the euro medals.

[ainadude]

... love your car, Chris -- looks very clean. FYI: I'm having my car painted early next month. My plan is to pretty much pull all the lights, trim, roundels, most of the glass, etc. prior to having it painted, then re-assembling it with the euro bumpers and spoiler. I'll probably look at getting the rest of the M-Tech 1 kit eventually. If you're interested, I'll send you some pics.

Meanwhile, after I get the car back from the paint shop, can I e-mail you with questions? Experience in this conversion seems to be pretty rare.

[netcsk86]

You're welcome to email me any time. And I'd love to see your post paint/conversion pics. One of these days I'll have the money to get a really nice paint job done. Mine's nice, but I'd like to have a really nice one.

[ainadude]

... count on post-paint pics and my taking you up on your offer. Watch your e-mail ... and have a great weekend.