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Change from US to Euro Bumper
I am sure this has been asked before but I did not find a clear answer in my search of the SL Forum. I am interested in switching out the US bumpers for Euro bumpers--solely for aesthetics. I would like to know how involved this is, compared to simply unbolting one bumper and installing a new one. How much in the way of modification to the car is needed to achieve this? I understand the bumpers themselves are expensive, but what else is a consideration? The existing bumpers are in excellent condition. Thank you.
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#2
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The rear:
- unbolt the four nuts/bolts in the trunk. - remove the US skirt - bolt on the euro bumper with its attached skirt. Done The front is similar, but later models (and maybe even early big bumper cars) do not have the weld nuts for the bolts that are used to secure the front of the front bumper to the car. So you may have to drill a hole on each side through the bumper support and use a nut and a bolt which is harder than screwing a bolt into a weld nut. That's the front mount for the front bumper, which is most important. The side mounts are less important, and can be done in two ways. You can use the US side mounts that just secure it to the fender, or secure the euro side mounts to the back of the bumper support which may again be more difficult if you do not have the weld nuts. The front bumper has the fog lights attached. So you should detach them from your US bumper before the process starts. There's no easy way I'm aware of to detach the fog light wiring. The turn signals can be unplugged from the back of the headlights though. But if not removing the headlights in this process, you should do the same and detach the turn signals / parking lights from the US front bumper before removing it. I prefer to just unplug them from the lights though. Euro headlights eliminate the need for the under-the-bumper turn signals/parking lights though. I'm getting OT, but the euro parking lights which are "city lights" in the clear section can be modified to power dual filament bulbs in the amber turn signal section o the euro lights which can be seen from both the side and the front. US Amber lights are only visible from the side and do not function as turn signals, only parking lights. Anyway, the rear is really simple, and armed with the information I provide here, you can head into the task with the knowledge to handle the job.
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Past mb: '73 450sl, '81 280slc stick, '71 250, '72 250c, '70 250c, '79 280sl, '73 450sl, parted: '75 240d stick, '69 280s, '73 450slc, '72 450sl, |
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Eric, 1983 500 SL |
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Thank you for the guidance! Very much appreciated. Corbitt
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#6
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I saw one of the new series of Wheeler Dealers where they "did" a 107. There was an almighty gap between their Euro front bumper and the grill - I don't know what they missed off but it looked bloody ugly
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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver 1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone 1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy! 1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits! |
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Corbitt - Good info here, but also on Benzworld 107 forum. There has been a recent discussion about availability of new Euro-style bumpers. They can apparently be bought direct from off-shore manufacturer (Vietnam, I believe) or from agents in USA . In UK, SLShop appears to have something similar. Used bumpers need to be inspected - there can be significant rust on parts you can't see externally.
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Graham 85 300D,72 350SL, 98 E320, Outback 2.5 |
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