I'm thinking about trying to put some side skirts and a rear valance on my car. What are some of the options that would work well with the stock US valance, or possibly the RD valance. I want all the lines to flow, so that it looks right.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the RD valance the one that looks pretty much the same as the stock US with the addition of a lip?
Well if you let us know what you have found available, we can help you decide. Although it is a personal choice, I think finding stuff for our cars is the hard part. Not much available anymore. Do you have access to the RD stuff? Show us some pics.
here is mine, the sideskirts are made by BBS and fairly hard to find, but then again any body kit is hard to find for the e28. I don't think they'll fit, but i also have an e24 with zender side skirts on it. if anyone thinks or knows they'll fit an e28 i'd be glad to part with those.
zender also made a side skirt set for the e28 and bmp design out of tyler,texas sells side skirts. the only problem with the bmp stuff is that its made of fiberglass and cracks easily.
hope this helps
Take a look at the pic gallery at www.m535i.org I would also suggest do a seach on yahoo or the old forum for Polish E28 site as they have a lot of pics also.
The BMP and Erebuni kits while looking nice, are basically worthless. They have no support under the fiberglass and require custom mounts to be made by you (just ask al525i). Save your money and get the real thing from BNC or elsewhere.
I realize that body kits are hard to come by. The reason I was asking is so I could figure out what I want so that I can start trying to find it.
The problem I have run across is a lack of pictures, or if I do find a picture, I don't know what it is, or it doesn't show the lines very well....
I'm just trying to figure out what exactly I would like to get. I like the RD front valance and I've seen a few places on the web that still sell them. Though I haven't seen any really good pix, it looks like its pretty similar to the stock valance w/ the addition of the lip. I'd just like to try to figure out what skirts and rear valance would look good with that.
The biggest thing is to avoid fiberglass kits at all cost. They are harder to install generally and will crack at the slightest vibration. i had the bmp front on an old 533i and it cost me $975 with the lights from bmp and included no brackets and worthless installation instructions that just said, "bracket fabrication required" it took me two weeks to get the thing firmly mounted and it lasted less than ten thousand miles before it had cracks everywhere(and no, i did not hit anything, it was from the vibration of the road). the only one i've ever seen that looked nice is the one on stuart's 533i. it is a silver car that was at 5er fest in boone a few ago. i don't have any pics of that car but it was beautiful, sitting on 18" rims and silver. maybe someone will post a pic.
however, i'd stay away from fiberglass unless you want to keep the car in a garage and never drive it. good quality kits are made from urethane similar to the factory "is" spoiler.
The Hartge front spoiler is fiberglass and well one needs to drive more carefully when pulling up to the curb, but it looks so good it doesn't matter. I've repaired mine before a repaint and have not hurt it since the install. Repairs on fiberglass are easy, but then so is damage as you mentioned. I'll keep the H spoiler.
I have the RD front spoiler and i too would like to find some side skirts that would flow well with the rest. I have an IS rear spoiler and i think together (from the side) they look great. Heres some pictures of my car, sorry they don't sow the rear to well:
I too wouldn't mind finding out where to get some of those side skirts. I know they are rare. I think my car does look a little bit funny w/o sideskirts. I got something in the front, something in the back, and nothing in the middle!
i found those about two years ago in texas. a guy saw i had the front and offered me the sides because he'd just sold his m5 and never got around to mounting them. i think i paid around $400 for them but it was worth every penny and i'll buy another set if i come across them. They do make the car look so much better its amazing. Sorry i can't point you in a better direction but i have no idea where one would go about finding a set.
I have a Hartge front spoiler at the moment but I am in the process of painting Hartge side skirts and rear apron. Attached is a pic of my front spoiler but if you would like I could take some pics of the unfinished kit.
HTH
Justin
Here are a few pics of the bmp kit on stuart's 533i. it is an example of what the kit can be in the hands of a very very skilled craftsman. These are all i could find of his beautiful car.
