If you have a Series III with the USA/NA protruding bumpers and would like to come closer to the appearance of ROW bumpers, this might be of interest to you.

In a nutshell......

You can modify the bumper impact absorbers so they can be collapsed.....allowing the bumper to slide inward to imitate the ROW look. I recently did this on the rear of my Ser III with good results. Maybe this weekend I'll have time to do the front.

The bumper impact absorbers must be removed which requires partial disassembly of the bumper. The bumpers have lots of nut-on-stud fixings that'll almost certainly be rusted. Use lots of rust penetrant and be patient as snapping off the studs will ruin your day.

The absorbers slide into a tube (part of the body of the car) are held in with a single nut. At the rear you'll have to remove the rear mufflers to reach the nut.

The 'modification' (partial destruction, really) of the impact absorbers involves drilling a series of holes into the body of the absorber so the impact absorbing material can be removed. With the material removed the unit can be collapsed and simply reinstalled.

Some report a gell-like filling inside the absorbers. Mine were filled with a fluffy white material. On drilling the holes a lot of material just oozed out. The remaining material has to be picked out and/or 'squished' out by exercising the absorber in-and-out. It took me about an hour per absorber to remove all the material.

As you can see I just randomly drilled some holes in the absorbers. A cut-away diagram of the absorbers, showing the internal chambers, might've been useful and allowed a more ...um....educated drilling of holes. I discovered, if nothing else, that the bottom of the absorber....the part opposite of the attachment to the bumper beam....is empty.

The first pic shows the bumper shock being modified and some of the white fluffy stuff. The second pic is the 'after' result.

I forget to take a 'before' pic of the rear bumper so I just snatched something off the internet to show the protruding bumper. That's the third pic.

Cheers
DD

 

Chuckle!!!!


1. Lot of fun, laying on your back and drilling upwards. or, blessed with a lift, arms extended drilling upwards. along with the other take apart work. Sharp bits help a bunch.


2. Sure looks slick.


3. Amy protection of tin,. gone, gone, gone..


But, so what. bumpers ain't what they used to be anyhow!!


Carl
.

 

After I change my sbc I will do that job.

 

PS:


Plug the holes to keep the rust bugs away????


Kinda wet up your way, so I hear.


Carl

 

Heh heh.

After drilling-and-collapsing I did a trial fit.....and was so chuffed at the results I forgot to slide the absorbers back out and fill the holes. I doubt much moisture will enter, though. Fingers crossed. The tube is closed at one end and has a big, very snug rubber collar at the other.

Cheers
DD

 

frankly my dear, I don't see any difference.

you could have done better getting the Euro bumpers which are slimmer.

 

Really? Look at the black pad. You'll see the difference instantly

On the USA/NA bumpers the black pad protrudes about 3 inches....maybe a bit more. After modification the pad protrudes about 1.25 inches. This is very close to the slimmer Euro style.

Cheers
DD

 

I don't understand why so many people don't like Xj6 stock bumpers. When I first saw this mentioned several months ago, I looked at my car with a critical eye, and maybe it's because the car is black and the bumpers are black, or maybe because she's lower than the average Xj6, but I think Nix would look sort of stubbed off with 4 or 5 inches total shorter bumpers.

She just wouldn't look right.

I guess that's why we're allowed Personal Preference, isn't it.
(';')

 

mine are as they left the factory. They are pretty sturdy bumpers, you can bump someone at a green light if they are texting and when they look at you, you give them the thumbs up!

 

LOL I'll remember that!
(';')

 

Indeed !

I hardly noticed the jutting-out Series III USA bumpers until, ages ago, I was made aware of the non-USA versions. At that point I found it impossible to ignore the hideous protrusions. A curse, actually . It would be a blessing to not see the difference at all, like Jose. He's the lucky one.

It's extra good that you're happy with your bumpers because, as a Series II owner, duplicating or even approximating the 'Euro' appearance is much more involved.

Cheers
DD

 

Yup!


PP, a way to live by.


Thumbs up, neat, sorta. Around here two things are possible, neither good. Road rage response. Letter from ;lawyer!!


Not gonna mess with mine. So many other fish to fry.


Electrics!!!!


Carl

 

On my parts car, I removed the front and rear bumpers, and it straight away gave back the lines of the car that it was designed to have, the bumpers are such an add on piece, they really don't suit the car at all.


The S1 XJ6 looks so much better with its tiny chrome bumpers and large front grill.

 

Very nice modification Doug. The large black bumpers also tend to catch my eye and I've wanted to do this modification. Ever noticed the 'diving board' bumpers on an 80's BMW 630/633? Some of their owners do a similar modification.

I guess it's fair to say this would be impossible to do in situ? I've removed part of a SIII bumper before to get to a gas tank and it was a bear getting it apart.

Have you dropped the V12 into the car yet?

 

I tried in situ. No way!

Just gotta dig in and remove the bumper. If the bumper is coming off for any other reason---fuel tank repairs, having car repainted, etc --- it would be an ideal time to do the bumper mod




Nope, not yet. Hopefully in a few weeks.

Cheers
DD

 

This is a common modification with mid-80s BMWs. I've done the rear on my '86 BMW 325 and it looks a lot better. Always stare at my S3 thinking "what if?". I advise anyone to be careful, I got sprayed with a nice dose of hydraulic-like fluid as soon as that drill bit punctured the shock.

 

Doug, very nice, did you do the front and essentially the same process worked?
Secondly, I've seen the instructions in this forum to do the same result by disassembling the unit and threading the piston so that you do not need to remove the absorbent material. Presume this method is a little more difficult and maybe why you did it that way? or was there other reason(s)?
I plan to do this visual modification myself, now it looks like I have two ways to choose from.

 

Will do the front soon, using same process




Hmmmm. Never heard of that method. I'd like to hear or see how the impact absorbers can be disassembled. IMHO it doesn't look possible.


If you use the other method please post details!

Cheers
DD

 

Doug, sry I do not know how to find/link the other posting but I did save the instructions for future use. Also never saw any pictures. Here are his instructions:

If you are thinking about or want to do this, here are the steps I took.

1. Remove the front turn signal bulbs from their lens/Disconnect horn
wire/ground.

2. Remove the black rubber/plastic cover on the bumper.

3. Remove the two 19mm nut/bolt that hold the aluminum bumper to the
pistons.

4. The easy part is over. Now you have to get the two nuts off the back of
each piston (near the radiator support). These nuts are thin and hard to get
to. I was able to do it with a regular sized 17mm open end wrench but I
would suggest finding a shorter one that is hinged. This is the hardest part
of the job.

4. Once the nuts are removed, I had to put a long screwdriver on the bumper
side of these pistons to wiggle them out of their rubber boot. Use anti
seize or silicone spray when refitting.

5. Now with the pistons out, you need to remove the little nut on the metal
stud sticking out of the back side. Then unscrew the outer part of the
piston off that metal stud. Now with the whole stud exposed you will see
that is only threaded part of the way down. You need to extend those threads
all the way down so the outer part of the piston will move lower thus
"shortening" the piston.

6. Take an m10 with 1.0 pitch die and thread the stud all the way down. I
did this without any problems.

7. Screw the outer part of the piston back on all the way down. I used anti
seize as well. This is tiring, just FYI.

8. Now you have a shorter piston but a longer stud. I measured the reveal I
wanted and cut the overall length of the piston to 10" minus the width of
the nut. You may want a different measurement so this is for example
purposes only.

9. When cutting off the stud, I threaded the die onto it first so that I
could clean up the threads after the cut.

10. Once they both are cut to length, slide the pistons back into their hole
and put the nuts back on. Be aware, the drivers side you can start by hand
but the passenger side you will have to use a magnet or get someone with
smaller hands to help.

11. Reassemble the bumper/horn/turn signal.

My bumper now sticks out about 1 3/4 inches in the middle and about 3/8 on
either end. I was not able to take pics of the process but I can post on of
the finished product and post.