Widebody Conversion

[Faheem]

Hi all,

Hope everyone is doing okay!

It has been a while, been a busy few years but I have been popping on here every so often.

My zed is finally at the bodyshop to have the widebody conversion done. In 2018 I sourced a set of rear arches and back bumper from what I believe was a pre-facelift 2.8 Z3.

The shop are having issues getting the bumper to line up with the rear arch.

The arch aligns correctly at the 'front' of the bumper but there is a gap between the rear of the arch and the bumper - see below:

Just wondering if there are any other parts I need to source (bumper mounting bracket or the mounting points on the chassis) and if the bumper and arches look correct (from a 2.8 widebody)

I am going to do some of my own research but thought I would post this in case anyone has ran into a similar problem.

 

[Z Victor 1]

Are you just changing the wings? Don't know why you'd do that.

 

[Faheem]

No it's the rear wings and back bumper and sills that I'm changing. The old ones were rusty and the car needed some paint work anyway so thought I would get the conversion done at the same time!

 

[IainP]

That's a facelift bumper.
That's why the gap.

View attachment 322577

 

[Faheem]

Thanks! I thought so but just wanted confirmation and reassurance that the wings are okay and it's just the bumper that isn't right.

 

[spurs fan in a coupe]

Good to see you on here mate. As Ian has said my only guess is that it’s the wrong rear bumper. Let me know if you need a prefacelift wide body rear bumper.

 

[Faheem]

Hi mate, I'll send you a message.

 

[Faheem]

Just been doing some googling over the past day to try and solve this mystery. These panels did all supposedly come off the same car when I bought them.

Am I right in thinking that all facelift rear bumpers have this design feature under the license plate / near the exhaust cutout - almost like a diffuser.

The 'widebody' bumper I have doesn't have this feature...

Unfortunately I don't have a better picture but you can just about see that the body line isn't the same near the exit for the exhaust

Just trying to identify if the bumper I've been given is definitely a face lift or if something else is a miss before I throw any money at it.

 

[Synclare]

.

 

[Faheem]

Thanks Adrian, hope you are well.

What makes you think it's the wings that are from a face lift and the bumper that is pre face lift?

I would say the alignment of the rear bumper with the tail lights is off.

 

[Eddie Zedder]

Hi Faheem. They are definitely pre-facelift wings. Looking at the pics it looks like the bumper hasn't been pulled back enough to locate in the clips that are on the wings.

On the bumper there are two keyhole type holes each side that the clips slot into, once located you have to pull the bumper back to engage the clips in the slots. This is best done before the plastic brackets and the main carrier bolts are fitted.

 

[Faheem]

Thanks @Eddie Zedder this sounds very plausible as these panels supposedly came off the same car. I personally did a 4 hour drive down to Sunderland in 2018 to collect these from a member on here. Unfortunately I didn't get to see them on the car but it did seem odd that they didn't line up when I offered them onto the car.

None of those plastic clips are there, I assume they have broken off and I had completely forgotten about these.

Do the clips locate onto the bracket that is spot welded onto the rear quarter and then the keyhole on the bumper?

Assume they go here in the bumper

And then attach onto this bracket on the wing

 

[Z Victor 1]

I thought the point was that he was fitting 'wide body' wings for some reason so,by definition, they are pre facelift.Just wonder why you would fit wide body wings to an original 1.9 ? However, it's your car and your choice. Hope it turns out how you want.

 

[Faheem]

Thanks, my car is a bit like Triggers broom ...Far from original now but I like to think not stupidly modified either and still almost 10 years later puts a smile on my face every time I'm in it. I do try and hang on to all the parts so I can put it back to stock if I ever want.

 

[Duncodin]

I thought the point was that he was fitting 'wide body' wings for some reason so,by definition, they are pre facelift.Just wonder why you would fit wide body wings to an original 1.9 ? However, it's your car and your choice. Hope it turns out how you want.

I do like the look of pre-facelift wide body. IMO the best looking Z3. I don't see it as a problem that it's 'only' a 1.9

 

[Eddie Zedder]

Do the clips locate onto the bracket that is spot welded onto the rear quarter and then the keyhole on the bumper?

That's correct Faheem.
Part no 51128399166

 

[Eddie Zedder]

You will probably need the plastic nuts and washers for the support brackets too, part 7&8 below.

 

[Faheem]

Amazing thanks.

If I am remembering right the support bracket is on the chassis itself secured by two black plastic nuts? The bumper then slides into this bracket.

If so, that part looks like it is universal across all models. I wonder whether there is any adjustment for that support bracket, whether you can slack off the plastic nuts and move it forward/backward for getting the panel alignment correct.

I am away for the next few days but I will pop into the bodyshop with this new found information and see whether the clips sorts the alignment issue out.

 

[Eddie Zedder]

I wonder whether there is any adjustment for that support bracket, whether you can slack off the plastic nuts and move it forward/backward for getting the panel alignment correct.

There is some slight adjustment as the holes in the bracket are quite large, but it is more up/down rather than forward/back. There is also adjustment on the carrier shock absorbers to sort panel gaps.

 

[Faheem]

Thanks @Eddie Zedder this is very useful.