Can someone help me with some pic's of front bumpers ???

[Guest Anonymous]

I have a dilema, the front bumper on my 68 1600 doesn't look right to me, never has. It seems to be way too far out from the front nose panel, a gap of about 4 maybe 5 inches.

If anyone has a correct 68 1600 and would'nt mind posting some side view pic's of their front end I would be eternally gratefull.

The PO had done some horrible things to this car while he owned it and I think he may have changed the bumper to a later style and thats what looks wrong, the brackets could be wrong too, who knows!

Thanks a lot....Rob.

[Guest Anonymous]

US models) used the same front bumpers, overriders and mounting brackets. They didn't change the brackets and overriders until the 1973 model year and the bumper blades themselves are the same except for adding rubber mouldings in 1971. The bumpers do stick out 5-6 inches from the nose panel if measured horizontally, but if you look vertically the bumper just barely protrudes beyond the top of the nose panel/leading edge of the hood.

If yours droops or hangs strangely, it may be missing the small aluminum spacers that go behind the bumper blade where the center bar, the side bars and the overrider all bolt together. These spacers can be installed upside down too, so I'd check. Also check the brackets where they mount to the body. They're held in place by carrige bolts whose heads fit into slots in the frame rails. If the brackets are bent or someone has jury rigged the bracket mountings, that can cause the bumper to hang funny.

Post a pix of yours and we'll see if we can diagnose...

Cheers

Mike

[Guest Anonymous]

Hi Mike,

My 1968 2002 VIN 1662918 has the small euro front overriders and rear euro bumperette clips installed instead of the standard US parts. Was this fairly normal on the early imported cars? From the looks of the parts they are as old as the car and I don't think a previous owner had them changed...unless it was the very first owner......

Just wondering.....

WH

[Guest Anonymous]

series" '69 (built before 1 Jan 69.) According to my VIN extrapolations, 1969 VINs begin at approximately 1662850. Does the aluminum VIN plate on your car have a date stamped on it? Most '68s that I've seen have "1968" stamped below the VIN, but the '69s don't.

I presume your car is a USA model--English gauges, owners manual etc. If so, it may have been bought new in Europe (military, tourist delivery) and the original owner either ordered it without the bumper guards (they were a mandatory $8 option from Max Hoffman if you bought the car in the US but theoretically could be ordered without 'em) or took 'em off and replaced 'em with the covers when the car was new. All 1968 USA 2002s came with the bumper guards as "non-optional options" when bought in the US.

Just a theory...too bad you can't track down the original owner, but you could find out where it was originally delivered to by writing BMW...

Cheers

Mike

[Guest Anonymous]

What's your VIN? I have 1568930 (1600 VINs start with 15xxxxx.), and had 1561195. The early cars had front bumper brackets that curved, and I've found that these hold the bumper closer to the body than the later 02 bumper brackets that are bent at right angles to the nose panel. On early 1600's the front bumper should be far enough away from the nose panel that you can just barely stick your fist in the gap (depends on the size of your hands, I'm 5'11'') - closer to the body than post 1970 cars. My 1968 and 1969 1600 had the same bumper setup and spacing. Email me and I can send you some shots of my 69 1600, which has the original style bumper, but with euro guards that I installed.

dscott@dplus.net

[Guest Anonymous]

Hi Mike,

The aluminum plate doesn't have the date stamp (plate matches stamp in chassis).. so that means it's a 69? The car is fitted with the long neck differential and sliding splined driveshaft.. also single line calipers on the front. Has CV's on the axles instead of u-joints (which I'm not sure is 100% original being the flanges are drilled for either --a 68 option?). It has a 3.64:1 rear diff.

Yes, the dash is US spec. The car could have been miltary delivery and the parts switched when new? I know it was serviced in San Francisco,CA being I found old reciepts under the rear seat when I bought it (1978). I've owned it for slightly over 10 years now... and the car had been in Oregon since 1984 or so (DMV records in the glove box) I knew the PO for 4 years before I bought it.

I'll write BMW and see if they can give me any info on the car. Mucho thanks, Mike.

Regards,

Frank Haas "WH"

[Guest Anonymous]

it has essentially the same spec's as my late '68 production '69 sunroof (vin 1664730) - long neck diff, sliding center driveshaft, single line brakes, painted grilles with US guages and books. It came with enough documentation to prove that it was a factory delivery car, though I haven't been able to pin down whether it was military or tourist (suspect tourist, as it was shipped home after about 30 days in Europe).

[Guest Anonymous]

His car 1664731 is one of the last first series '69s, and mine (1664801) is one of the first second series 69's, in that it has 4 pot calipers, shortneck diff, CV jointed rear axles and a three speed heater.

It's possible that your car was titled as a '68 because it was sold/titled prior to a state-established cutoff date in the state where it was first registered. And that varies from state to state.

In Florida, for example, the cutoff date was 1 Nov--I had a Renault that was built in March 1959 but was titled as a 1960 because it was sold new on Nov 15, 1959.

I've never been able to get absolute VIN cutoffs by US model year for the early cars, beacuse the factory went by calendar year (Jan-Dec) vs US model year (Sept-Aug).

Cheers

Mike