The E46 Conversions

[e36beema]

Im new to the boards and the BMW world. And in mod researching ive found i would like to perform this conversion at some point but i dont have that many good resources for the BMW world yet so im wondering if someone can help me. I have three Questions:

1) Is there anyplace i can get the E46 M3 Conversion bumper in ABS , CF, or Urethane, i would prefer to stay away from fiberglass. (red and black cars)

2) Ive seen the conversion done using the E46 hood and E36 headlights, can anyone fill me in on details doing it this way ? (is the hood bolt on , is it a custom hood that needs to be ordered and where , ect ) ( ive included the pics of the yellow car for my example)

3) are the E46 bumpers the same dimensions , would they fit, on an E36 as bolt on , what about the hood, and fenders?

[kamikazinyc]

The hood is not a OEM. The bumper is a fit but the OEM has one bolt pointing up and one pointing forward (E46) the E36 has both bolts pointing forward so OEM bumper need some mods, after market don’t, and the fender is OEM with a vent cut out.
PS have you ever seen a pic of a top view? The E36 front is more square and the E46 is more round not a good fit plus be who you are (E36) don’t be a wanna be.

[e36beema]

Its not a matter of i wanna be an E46, if i was to do that i would replace the whole front end, lights, fenders ect... i like the look the yellow car has with the e46 style hood which includes the grill ( does anyone know where to get that hood by the way ? ) I prefer the look over the stock hood thats all ...thats like everyone putting the angel eyes into their E36 - they didnt come with them did they ? so they are pulling em off another model because they prefer the look of it. and thank you for the other information you have provided

[Furious]

i like this idea of converting, a little variety in bmw modding is cool, and this in my mind is tastefull if done properly,
finding an e46 m3 bumper is quite easy now-a-days, it seems most companies are trying to replicate or do something similar. the hood is the same on both models i believe, i read somewhere that they were the same, however dont quote me on that (maybe it was someone who did the same conversion and found a way of doing it) honestly its not been done that much so my knowledge in this is limited. mirrors are kinda tough, i havent seen any replica e46 mirrors for the e36, maybe there is a way to use the base of a stock e36 with the head of the e46 (sounds expensive).. grills are quite easy, just a little cutting involved. the headlight issue is kinda tough but might go well with the hood, there really is a lot of work to be done and its very expensive to do so. if i were you id find a company that can possibly fabricate all of your requirements and pay them instead of going to all different types of companies with requests.
now if money is no problem , may i suggest going with some sort of widebody kit for the car to give it the E46 M3 look? any other questions lemme know.

[e36beema]

well it looks like its the E36 headlights with a hybrid hood, the fenders are the E36 so really the only thing i see is the hood and the bumper , does anyone know where to source the hood ?

[CyPHER]

Just looking at it I'd say that the hood is stock E36 with a few pieces welded on. The bumper is an E46 M3 replica for the E36...they can be had on ebay. The E46 M3 fender grills are very easy to put on. I saw almost this exact conversion on another BMW forum. They had fender flares and the whole nine.

[whitebeemer328]

Yeah is deff the stock e36 hood and see next to lights where it meet the hood the line there what they do is take your e36 front grill shell cut the middle section out and hopefully weld it to the hood and on on the side to cover the light then a little body filler to smooth it out and and its done .If you know a good body guy he will be able to do it easily for you u just have to explin to him how.