What would you do with this bumper

[dougie175]

I have just purchased an s3 bumper for my A3, I know alot of you are against fitting S3 bumpers to A3's but I personally cant warrant the fuel cost of running an S3 as I do over 300-400 miles most weeks so a TDi is ideal.

My idea when styling the vehicle was to make a sort of equivalent to the golf anniversary tdi or the seat leon cupra tdi which both have the economical tdi like myself but with the looks of a sporty hatchback, a sort of S3 TDi is the idea behind the project.

Anywho this is what I have just purchased AUDI A3 S3 FRONT BUMPER 00 TO 04 MODEL on eBay (end time 05-Mar-11 20:50:04 GMT) I will be blanking off the headlight washers and smoothing over them as I have no requirement for them, what has got me a little baffled now is what to do about the missing fog lights and surrounding grills.

I dont really want fog lights anyway, however Im not sure there is such thing as a foglight blanking grill for the S3? Do all s3's come with fog lights?

Can anyone suggest options I can look at for trying to fill the holes with something that looks genuine but doesnt cost a ridiculous amount of money.

Thank You

 

[hades-]

i cant see the point of not fitting the fogs grills etc
its just gonna look silly if you try to blank them

 

[dougie175]

Well the idea was if I could create something the matched the grill lines it would look stock, as in the a3 comes with both fog light grills and then grills that dont have fog lights.

Seems quite a few people take them out when they fit a FMIC, so may be a good chance to pick some up?

I could always fit a FMIC on my PD130, however it would kind of move away from the Audi made look I am going for.

 

[cecilthesausage]

Why don't you just mesh them

 

[dougie175]

I was thinking about that, but what mesh would look good and not make it look like a tacky fibreglass bodykit?

 

[sportstractor]

no dont fit a fmic to your tdi, its almost pointless.

149.99 is a bargain, iv been after a new bumper for mine and sure i havent seen anything that cheap.

I think if you want it to look oem your going to have to go down the grill and foglight route. Could go down the honey comb mesh route, but its hard to make that look good i reckon.

 

[dougie175]

Yeah I snapped it up as soon as I saw it Ive been after one for a while!

I am a sprayer at an audi approved bodyshop so I have a decent idea of what Im doing when it comes to bo0dywor but fitting mesh is very difficult to make it look stock, usually just looks very tacky.

Think I will have a better idea when I have the bumper infront of me to work with.

I do like the look of honeycomb grill but think the only way it would look right is to convert the whole front bumper to honeycomb not just the 2 fog grills.

Anyone with any great ideas please feel free to post though I havnt made my mind up what to do yet

 

[dougie175]

Seems mesh has moved on along way since the last time I did anything with it, this sort of thing could acutually work very well depending on how much curve there is to the grill Race Mesh Black 98x24cm Open For MINI MITSUBISHI on eBay (end time 12-Mar-11 20:55:06 GMT)

 

[Kave]

Dougie have you gone mental. Let me get this straight, you have bought an S3 bumper, which you are going to modify to look like a standard A3 bumper, by removing the fogs and smoothing over the washers?

Bud just get an s3 center grillle and be done with it. Sack off this aftermarket mesh lark. I have the real S3 tdi, and I wouldnt consider sticking that guff on it.

Good luck in your endeavours

 

[sportstractor]

Dougie have you gone mental. Let me get this straight, you have bought an S3 bumper, which you are going to modify to look like a standard A3 bumper, by removing the fogs and smoothing over the washers?

Bud just get an s3 center grillle and be done with it. Sack off this aftermarket mesh lark. I have the real S3 tdi, and I wouldnt consider sticking that guff on it.

Good luck in your endeavours

This man has a point, is the fogs the only difference? Dougie if you have a change of mind and want to flog the bumper... Shotgun.

 

[dougie175]

Nah I disagree even with the washers smoothed and no fog lights the shape of the s3 bumper is far superior to that of an a3.

I would imagine I can get the covers at a reasonable price from out parts guy, but its the actual fog lights that are proving difficult to find at reasonable money.

 

[steve bain]

i had an s3 bumper on my old a3. much better shape, bigger grill. better in many ways. I like the idea and think you should crack on. personally i would honeycomb the vents

 

[dougie175]

I guess this is the sort of look I would achieve by using honeycomb

I actually think it looks quite factory and good