Foreign cars sold in the American market place suffered an unfortunate aesthetic set-back for the 1974 and subsequent model years. They were required to be equipped with "5 mile-per-hour" impact bumpers. Most foreign cars already had bumpers, albeit they were typically tasteful little chrome accents to an already well styled car. For 1974 and later, BMW added large, thick aluminum beams supported by hydraulic rams to the front and rear of this delicate little Michelotti-Designed sculpture (for the US market only, Euro-market cars still had attractive slim chrome bumpers). I can only imagine the look of horror on the collective faces of the BMW Dealers in late 1973 when they took delivery of these "things" that they were going to have to convince people to buy. The prior years were equipped with very appropriate, slim chrome bumpers which appear as a thoughtful part of the cars over all visual appeal. The new bumpers were, simply put, nothing like that at all.
Having said that, I actually don't mind the 70's funk on this car. Along with the bumper change, BMW also updated the rear lamps and the front grills. The look of the 1974+ cars appeals to me because I see it as a transitional piece. It clearly is the same classic body as the car that debuted in the 1960's, but possesses modern traits that would be a BMW tradition through to the 1990's. It's not as archaic looking as the earlier roundies, yet not as refined looking at the classic E30 3 series, but evokes nostalgia for both.
Having also said that...I can't really appreciate how far the bumper stick out on my wife's car. The gap at the front and rear is absurd in my eyes, so I set about fixing that. Here's how I shortened our 1975 BMW 2002 by half a foot.
Don't stand on the front bumper when it's wet or icy, as you might fall through!
It's about 3.5 inches from the grill to the trailing edge of the front bumper.
Not hideous, but coupled with the bellows, I feel it's a let-down to the original design of the car.
The rear is the same, about 3 inches away from the body, with a "modesty skirt" (BMW's term) filling the gap.
Ram covers unscrew and side bellows unbolt.
I used a 5/16 drill bit to pierce the ram, here you can see the "anti-freeze" leaking out. Note that the rams were under pressure and momentarily sprayed with about as much force as a shaken can of Pepsi.
With ram pressure relieved and fluid drained, the bumper easily retracts back to the minimum the rams will allow.
Nice, a closer fit, but still provides protection to the nose in case the car bumps a wall, I guess.
I trimmed the bellows. I have no intention of re installing them to the fenders. I will fill and paint the holes when I rehab the rest of the body for paint.
The bellows stubs are temporary. I plan to make some proper end caps from metal. The bumpers need caps for aesthetics due to how roughly the ends are designed.
I also shortened the rubber-coated metal front ram covers by an appropriate amount with a cut-off wheel.
Ram and bumper bracket at normal rest position
Ram retracted to its minimum position- about 2.5 inches shorter than stock.
I wanted just a little more tuck, so I drilled new bracket mount holes and trimmed the bracket a bit. This yielded another 1/2 inch. On the left is a stock bumper bracket, on the right, a modified one.
Ram fully retracted and lightly welded just to prevent it from creeping out during hard braking or other driving activities.
A splash of paint on the welds, and shortened ram covers also installed.
Modified brackets painted for rust prevention and installed.
Beam re installed with bellows stubs fitted.
I really dig this look. I also like how elimination of the bellows shows off a little more fender detail.
About 1/2 inch gap. It's a good fit while still offering some protection.
Impact bumper is cleaned up. Note, I am also eliminating the silly redundant-looking front side markers.
The rear bumper was easier than the front. I unbolted the beam, unscrewed and removed the modesty skirt, drilled all three rams (there is an extra one in the center of the beam) retracted and welded the outer two and left the center one to float. Note that I also tacked the drill holes shut to avoid occasional fluid drips. The beam is about 1/4 inch from the rear body panel. I left the modesty skirt off and trimmed the end bellows to stubs like the front. The result is three inches shorter at the rear and three inches shorter at the front, I shortened the car by half a foot! Hello parallel parking space...
Update: I have since decided to reinstall the complete rubber bellows at the sides. It just didn't look right after a while without them. I trimmed out several inches and tried two different bonding agents to reattach the front and rear halves. I used some plastic-specific clear stuff and I also used JB Weld Marine. I like the JB better as it's held up for the last year in the elements, but the other stuff did not.
