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Finally got around to tackling a few things today.
Took the bumper off, the shocks out, bled and squeezed them, locked them in place, put 'em back in and reinstalled the bumper.
Along with installing a used airdam with my old crusty bumper corner covers.
Anyway.. on with the pics:
Take bumper off. Four Bolts on back.
Now remove the bolt at the front of the shock.. holding it to the body.
Then open the hood and look down by the battery, you will see a fat bolt down there that holds the back end of the shock in.... Similar spot on the pass. side too.
Use breaker bar and/or impact to get these babies out.
Slide the shock out.
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Now on to the butchering!
So I've got pics of the 635 shock at top and the 633 shock at the bottom. I already collapsed one of the 633 shocks, but needed to do another side and just used the 635 shock.
They look different, but mount the same.
I used a angle grinder cut wheel to slice into the skinnier tube. I went about 1" out from where it slides into the other..
A moment after I cut the hole, it started to foam out a bit.
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Then onto the squeezing!
With the slice in the side of the shock tube, I looked around for a clever way to push it in. The 635 was a LOT tougher to push in than the old 633's ever was!
I looked at the tow hook points on the car and decided to let the car crush them. The back of the shock snugged into the hook and I slowly lowered the car on it.
It squeezed out a ton of juice when it "POPPED"! LOL. My suggestion would be to have it in some kind of catch basin or just be prepared somehow for that mess you see.. she bled like a stuck pig. Oddly, the "juice" from the shock smelled just like Super Glue.
I decided to go in 1 and a half inches. So I made a reference mark with scratches (make sure to mark for twisting and collapsing).
Got it all shoved in and aligned. Then used a drill bit to get a pilot hole for a self tapping screw. This will keep it from moving.
Put the bumper back on, and then all a sudden got the urge to attempt the airdam install prior to paint.
Last edited by Seeker; 07-05-2008 at 10:33 PM.
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Some final pics after spending 2 hrs or so getting the airdam and it's brackets figured out.
Member
Awesome write up! I'm planning out my euro bumper swap and this will definitely will come in handy- thanks!
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BTW, I did have plans to compress the rear bumper as well.
After I got the front done, I went to replace the rear bumper rubber trim and install a rear apron.
When I got the old rubber trim off, I saw that the left and right outer mount points for the shocks were corroded/cracked pretty bad around the stud bolts.
Evidently, not even the aluminum on these cars isnt invulnerable to corrosion!
If I had tried to unbolt the shock nuts from the bumper, most likely the studbolts would have twisted right out of the bumper.
So for now, I guess I'll just live with it like it is until someday I find a good rear bumper to replace it with.
For now, I'm just thrilled to have a decent looking front end.
Member
Very cool. You hear about this mod from time to time but it's good to actually see it.
The diving board definitely looks better when it's retracted, more like an 88-89 style world bumper. The one drawback -- and I've wondered if this wouldn't happen from looking at my own bumper -- seems to be that a gap opens up at the rubber end covers.
Could the covers be modified to get rid of the gap? IMO, if the gap issue can be solved, this is the perfect mod for the federal-bumper cars.
Btw, is it true that the 88-89 bumper shocks will mount up to the earlier cars? I've read they're about 1.5" shorter. You wouldn't have to drain them (gotta say though that your technique is pretty clever!), plus the bumper would keep its ability to absorb energy if it got hit.
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Yea.. it not only has gaps around the corner parts, but also it's lifted the top rubber cover too by about 1/8" or more.
Thought about double sided tape to snug it down, but I bet it would eventually pull up again and then I'd have the mess of the foam tape to deal with.
The covers might be modified by trimming back the lower part. I didnt want to chance taking the top part off.. it's pretty crusty. I had to use black self tapping screws w/grommet washers to snug them down to the bumper and used them to attach that long metal bracket on the sides by going straight thru the bottom side of the corner parts.. on thru the spoiler and then finally self tap into the metal bracket.. then snug it in.
Most of the airdam install was ghetto rigged to shame. But I think I got 85% of the brackets hooked up and it withstands road speeds. The brackets and all are so frustrating, I'm painting it on the car.
Today I'm trying to get it shot with base/clear... hope it goes smooth
Member
I see what you're talking about with the ~1/8" lift on the upper cover (the one that laps over the top of the bumper). You might be able to solve that by bending down the upper rear edge of the bumper so that it doesn't nudge the cover upwards. In fact, BMW already bent it down slightly, probably for this very reason. It would just need to be bent down further in.
For the side covers, my thought was maybe they could just be trimmed back some. The problem is you'd lose that nice molded-in lip on the front edge which could make it look hackish. There also seems to be a metal plate in there that starts about an inch from the front, so you couldn't go any further back than that without exposing it. There's gotta be some artful way of fixing those gaps but it's sure not obvious what it would be.
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I'm thinking of filling the gaps in with something. Some black rubber foam or something that looks decent.
For the improved stance it gets, I think the hassle of the gaps is worth it.
Whew.. I'm beat. Just got done finished shooting that airdam and some other e36 parts too.
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had a couple inquire about this mod I did.. so I'm bumping it back up
Member
What air dam did you use? Euro or later US version?
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Originally Posted by 82bmw633
it's a stock '86 sport air dam I got off ebay
Member
Nice work although my Australian delivered 633 has a fixed front Euro bumper and no shocks. I wonder what weight the US spec bumper with shocks adds to the 6'er?
Member
I bought a used US M6 air dam as my '82 633 was never fitted with one from the factory. It matches up well with the stock (uncompressed bumper). Know what you mean about the brackets. I fabbed my own out of aluminum bar stock. Since the bellows were in bad shape I couldn't use them for an attachment point. So I just made a bracket that went straight into the side of the air dam then covered the bolt head with a furniture plug. You can see it just below the reflector in the bellows.
Member
How about trimming the back of the bumper rubber? I'm not sure how it all connects but if I was to do this mod I would want to see more aluminum and I would probably polish up the bumpers as well. Good write up BTW.
Regards,
Dwight
85 635CSi (the Bomber), 87 DINAN /// M6 (SOLD)
Member
Great instructions! Can this be done without removing the bumper? Also, I've read somewhere that bumper shocks from an '88-'89 are about an inch and a half shorter than earlier models - anything to this?
bgriff
'14 Wannabe
nice write up!
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