I've installed two sets of aftermarket stainless bumpers on E9s recently. Both were Federal bumper conversions. Below is my review. These are from BUMPERCAR Co. Ltd. in Vietnam.
Observations: These bumpers overall fit very well and are visually indistinguishable from OEM. If you are a metallurgist you might be able to distinguish the slight titanium coloring of the stainless vs. the pure clarity of plated chrome. The polish work on all the external surfaces is done to a very high standard. They look like 1972 Factory E9 bumpers. The fit of the bumperettes on the front is good and the kit comes with some of the rubber gaskets, however these are not OEM materials. The impact rubber front and rear is reasonably close to the original, it might be slightly smaller (section width ~-5%) compared to OEM rubber. The bumpers come with satin black paint on the inside surfaces. We did a light sanding and repainted these areas with the olive/tan color of the originals. The hardware kit is low quality stainless nuts and bolts and the kit does not include the front bumper brackets or the rear bumperettes. The rear bumperettes you have to order separately at about $200 delivered. The parts come express mail from Ho Chi Minh city and arrived in 6 days to the West Coast. Adequate to good packaging.
Issue: The rear bumper halves have two issues. See attached pics. 1) The inside radius on the rear bumper is too tight and you must grind away approx. 8mm of material to get the bumper to have the same contour as the E9 fender curve. After grinding you simply polish back the raw edge and it's done. vs. grinding on a plated part which is a no-go. Issue No. 2) the mounting brackets welded on the inside of the bumper have an incorrect angle and do not sit flush to the body. This one is more serious as you have cut this bracket lengthwise and bend the mating face and reweld it in the new position. Both issues noted above occurred on both sets of bumpers that I encountered.
The alternative is finding, fitting and replating OEM chrome bumpers. A set of cores today is about $2500.00 Chroming today for all 9 pieces is about $3-4000 for decent quality. The stainless bumper set is $1329.00 USD with free shipping. If you are installing OEM E9 bumpers from one E9 to another, the process usually does not go well. Particularly with the rear bumpers. If you get them fitted correctly you will end up grinding, welding patching to get them properly fitted to the car. This is especially true with the small rear bumperettes. So, working with stainless bumper has many advantages. You can grind, weld, fit, grind and the repolish. With OEM you have to all that up front before going to the chrome shop. Either way, someone is going to workin' a grinder and welder.
Conclusion: These are a very good value. If I do another set/install the best configuration would be to use OEM large rubber strips front and rear and use OEM smaller rubber gaskets on the bumperettes. The only unobtanium part in this project are the two small rubber covers for the rear bumperettes. Currently available at W&N but at ~$600 for the pair. I'm working on an alternative that is much more reasonable and hope to have a conclusion soon.
I've shared the above two issues with the company and they are very anxious to get feedback for improvement. Let's see, maybe the next sets will be issue free?
I purchased both sets on Ebay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/275907630469? hash=item403d605585:g:xXQAAOSwgmtkjSVG&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA8DFJbnecBbAxEkSisjAsnDTqelf19vxbcUoQcSeNjGGLgG%2BZTfhaJOCb5KIWIPEEXtmoAa3MyH57fTFy0KfCYfsXRsRhfs4K9gi4uIdTmnA6J%2FYnq1H97%2BTePHSUfV%2Brv%2FHydT0BhS0NI2IkQdT8ZMV3yJZvWur29vosCCrkKZr8wDvR8HWTm3SntsT4mBwk9DeRsqz%2BCvH9bkudXYB9L9RlZ1ff%2FblZhiYhCDDZBRluLxXjVFrzUnVtf9pEegYAzO0XOvfdPz8HEn58giunRKGCc7F7%2FeXIOYOO4atRNfwO2jQkkgqq%2BQtYHGIvYQk5Ow%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_qJnbLPYg
Manufacturer: BUMPERCAR Co, Ltd
Email: [email protected]
Or email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.bumperautomobile.com
My chanel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFpI-qIVVUHD80U2phM-FVA/videos
My phone number: +84988323071 or +842862737929
Address: 127 2B Street, Binh Hung Hoa B Ward, Binh Tan District, City. Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
Observations: These bumpers overall fit very well and are visually indistinguishable from OEM. If you are a metallurgist you might be able to distinguish the slight titanium coloring of the stainless vs. the pure clarity of plated chrome. The polish work on all the external surfaces is done to a very high standard. They look like 1972 Factory E9 bumpers. The fit of the bumperettes on the front is good and the kit comes with some of the rubber gaskets, however these are not OEM materials. The impact rubber front and rear is reasonably close to the original, it might be slightly smaller (section width ~-5%) compared to OEM rubber. The bumpers come with satin black paint on the inside surfaces. We did a light sanding and repainted these areas with the olive/tan color of the originals. The hardware kit is low quality stainless nuts and bolts and the kit does not include the front bumper brackets or the rear bumperettes. The rear bumperettes you have to order separately at about $200 delivered. The parts come express mail from Ho Chi Minh city and arrived in 6 days to the West Coast. Adequate to good packaging.
Issue: The rear bumper halves have two issues. See attached pics. 1) The inside radius on the rear bumper is too tight and you must grind away approx. 8mm of material to get the bumper to have the same contour as the E9 fender curve. After grinding you simply polish back the raw edge and it's done. vs. grinding on a plated part which is a no-go. Issue No. 2) the mounting brackets welded on the inside of the bumper have an incorrect angle and do not sit flush to the body. This one is more serious as you have cut this bracket lengthwise and bend the mating face and reweld it in the new position. Both issues noted above occurred on both sets of bumpers that I encountered.
The alternative is finding, fitting and replating OEM chrome bumpers. A set of cores today is about $2500.00 Chroming today for all 9 pieces is about $3-4000 for decent quality. The stainless bumper set is $1329.00 USD with free shipping. If you are installing OEM E9 bumpers from one E9 to another, the process usually does not go well. Particularly with the rear bumpers. If you get them fitted correctly you will end up grinding, welding patching to get them properly fitted to the car. This is especially true with the small rear bumperettes. So, working with stainless bumper has many advantages. You can grind, weld, fit, grind and the repolish. With OEM you have to all that up front before going to the chrome shop. Either way, someone is going to workin' a grinder and welder.
Conclusion: These are a very good value. If I do another set/install the best configuration would be to use OEM large rubber strips front and rear and use OEM smaller rubber gaskets on the bumperettes. The only unobtanium part in this project are the two small rubber covers for the rear bumperettes. Currently available at W&N but at ~$600 for the pair. I'm working on an alternative that is much more reasonable and hope to have a conclusion soon.
I've shared the above two issues with the company and they are very anxious to get feedback for improvement. Let's see, maybe the next sets will be issue free?
I purchased both sets on Ebay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/275907630469? hash=item403d605585:g:xXQAAOSwgmtkjSVG&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA8DFJbnecBbAxEkSisjAsnDTqelf19vxbcUoQcSeNjGGLgG%2BZTfhaJOCb5KIWIPEEXtmoAa3MyH57fTFy0KfCYfsXRsRhfs4K9gi4uIdTmnA6J%2FYnq1H97%2BTePHSUfV%2Brv%2FHydT0BhS0NI2IkQdT8ZMV3yJZvWur29vosCCrkKZr8wDvR8HWTm3SntsT4mBwk9DeRsqz%2BCvH9bkudXYB9L9RlZ1ff%2FblZhiYhCDDZBRluLxXjVFrzUnVtf9pEegYAzO0XOvfdPz8HEn58giunRKGCc7F7%2FeXIOYOO4atRNfwO2jQkkgqq%2BQtYHGIvYQk5Ow%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_qJnbLPYg
Manufacturer: BUMPERCAR Co, Ltd
Email: [email protected]
Or email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.bumperautomobile.com
My chanel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFpI-qIVVUHD80U2phM-FVA/videos
My phone number: +84988323071 or +842862737929
Address: 127 2B Street, Binh Hung Hoa B Ward, Binh Tan District, City. Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
