NOS Bumper quality

[Allenr56]

I just bought a NOS Euro rear bumper. How bad should NOS be? This bumper has visual grind marks under the chrome on the bottom 1/2" of the bumper. It has short ends and there is chrome on the backside of the bumper.

I suspect this is a cheap chrome job on a crappy bumper and before I complain to the seller, I want to make sure that I'm not expecting too much of early factory bumpers.

[Scott Sislane]

ebay?

[esty]

a couple of weeks ago i bought an NOS rear euro bumper from an ebay seller, from houston, for $149.00 and it is beautiful...it still has the BMW stickers on the 3 sections...it doesn't appear to ever been out of the original wrapping

the seller had a middle eastern name which i can't recall

[Allenr56]

Yes Ebay.

I bet I bought mine from the same guy Esty, but mine do not have stickers and look like they were sanded on a belt sander by hand before they were plated. Are the inside surfaces of your corners painted?

I'm trying to take pictures of the defects, but these pictures are beautiful. Why can't I make everything look this good with that camera?

[BLUNT]

I just bought a NOS Euro rear bumper. How bad should NOS be? This bumper has visual grind marks under the chrome on the bottom 1/2" of the bumper. It has short ends and there is chrome on the backside of the bumper.

I suspect this is a cheap chrome job on a crappy bumper and before I complain to the seller, I want to make sure that I'm not expecting too much of early factory bumpers.

unfortunately thats not uncommon . Ive seen some real crap come from BMW. the top half will look nice but very little polishing is done on the bottom half. Thats why I have mine replated.

[esty]

all three sections of mine are shiny top to bottom, no scratches and the inside of each piece is painted or primed in a dull/flat grey color

[eastsidebimmer]

FADI has sold some treasures...lots of early bumper sets, not NOS packaging from what I can tell, hard to say. The NOS set I have on hand has orange BMW stickers, not purchased from this seller, has more of a textured look on the lower portion of the chrome and the insides are painted with thick tan paint.

[auggiemize]

I have/had several original ones, and all of the original ones have, as Ben said, the thick tan paint on the backside. Chrome without paint, almost always indicates a rechrome job...but not necessarily a bad thing.

I have an NOS rear center, and an original euro 73 currently that have the crappy grinder marks also, below the centerline. I have another original that has the textured surface on the bottom as photographed. I think the quality depended on if there was an "R" in that month. Kinda like oysters...

Dave V. in NC

[Mikesmalaga72]

Every OEM NOS BMW bumper I have seen with only a very few exceptions have a textured lower non-polished look.

I dont know the real reason why BMW did that except their possible logic/perception of how THEY view the car as one not usually looking under the car, but from of a person standing, and viewing the car.

It is more expensive for the extra polishing that is more for the higher line cars like the coupes etc. I think the senior sixes like the Bavaria had the same quality bumpers as the 2002`s because they manufactured alot more of them.

If yours look similar to ben`s you should be good. Like some of the others it is your choice to go for triple open checkbook show chrome.

Happy holidays!

[jgerock]

The pebbled finish in Ben's picture looks like the lower sections of the rear bumper on my tii. I thought it had been re-chromed at first, but maybe the three sections are original.

[eastsidebimmer]

A Few More Pics, this set is for my 68 resto:

[Mike Self]

The original bumpers on my 69 when delivered new had the pebbled finish on the lower portions (all six sections, front and rear) as depicted in Ben's photos. In addition, the chrome itself was very thin on the inboard end of the rear center section that was hidden by the kink in the rear body panel. It never did look right until I had it rechromed some years later.

Interestingly, some bumpers came with a greyish-cream paint on the inside and others had silver paint. Two different suppliers? Dunno. I've never been able to figure out how they were able to plate one side of the bumper but not the other.

I think the pebbly finish on the lower parts were due to the steel not being polished before plating--just a way to save a few pfennigs...kinda uncharacteristic of BMW--at least back then.

mike