GTi 16v front big bumper

[andykram]

In the never ending quest for perfection I could do with a new front big bumper for my 91 16v. However, I know they are NLA.

I've done a search and seen one or two threads about the VW Heritage ones but they were a couple of years ago. Has anyone got any recent experience of these or experience of having one over a length of time? My bodyshop guy wants me to try and find an original one which makes me wonder about the repro ones.

Being lucky enough to be able to speak German I've also found a repro one on a German website. It looks fine but just wanted to double check the original VW part number which the German website quotes. Does anyone have the original part number?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[th3_f15t]

Can't speak for the replica bumpers from VW Heritage but the panels they supplied to the previous owner of my Mk2 Golf GTI for repairing the body look spot on and they only seem to have high praise so you should be alright with them. Plus with a UK distributor/seller, if you have and issues it'll be easier to sort out.

[Simeon]

If it's perfection you are after then you need to hunt down a good second hand genuine one - even if it fits right, you can tell a repro bumper just by looking at it. All the repros I've ever seen haven't fitted properly either.

[dubber36]

I have a VW Heritage rear bumper of mine. The fit is spot on, so is the texture on the plastic, but the colour is a fraction out. With trim dressing on it's not noticeable, but I guess that's down to 20 odd years of aging and all sorts of products applied to it. In all honesty I think you'd struggle to find a perfect match with an original used one. The chances are it will have faded differently to you other moldings.

[andykram]

There's the rub Simon - it seems to be a case of "the lesser of two evils". Even Heritage's own website comments that the plastic trim on a new one might not match the original, thus the reason my bodyshop is advising me to try and get a 2nd hand one. The side bracket on my current one is broken so both a new Heritage one or a 2nd one (as long as the brackets are intact) are both gong to fit better than that.
Well, that's the plan anyway.

[logeyboy]

Are you getting a new one just beacuse the side bracket is broken?

[andykram]

That and other things. It's obviously been subject to a botch job in the past and there's a near two fingered gap between the bumper and the body on the driver's side. The body shop did some plastic welding to keep it secure but it's only really a temporary measure.