Rear Diffuser Modification

At the recent meeting at Duxford, I had the perfect chance to have a good stare at and make a comparison of everyone's back end

It may vary colour by colour, but in my opinion, on my car, the infamous spice rack doesn't quite work. My resolution of the day was to do something about this.

I know there is a rare 3rd party diffuser, but I was thinking more along a DIY route and began to look for some suitable PU foam.
However, I have found an easier way to get the look I'm after and it won't cost anything other than a bit of time and a few fixings.
The picture below is a mock-up, but it shows what I'm going to do.



My plan is to remove the heavy towing eye bracket, raise the diffuser mounting bracket on the wheel well and find a suitable way to reattach the top edge of the diffuser to the rear bumper.
I've now tried it in the raised position held temporarily by wooden blocks and it just looks better than standard from every angle. This is definitely going to be my next and easiest mod so far
Will post pictures when finished.
(The mock up picture is "old number plate and old PDC", but you get the idea).

It needs the whole car in the open to get the full effect, but I'm working on the front suspension so can't move it right now.

I'm thrilled with the result - which is what really matters

I'll do some much better "in context" photos when I get a chance, so you might want to reserve final judgement until then.

Anyway, here is the raised rear diffuser fixed in place - raising it by about an inch makes a huge visual difference!

Zitat von rogbmw;100593

That looks good. What exactly did you do to accomplish that?

1. Raised the support bracket on the spare wheel well and reattached with M6 stainless bolts.
I left the original studs in place - just drilled the bracket so they didn't foul.
2. Used the diffuser locating hooks on the rear bumper to locate stainless self tappers and washers to screw up into the diffuser through spacers to hold it in the right position.
Feels at least as strong as the original arrangement.
3. It can be undone, because unless you get on your knees you won't be able to see the small downward facing holes in the top of the diffuser.

Quick, simple and "in the flesh" totally changes the look of the rear of the car.
Like I said, I will post proper photos when I get the car back on the road.
Sadly, unlike the experts on this forum I didn't take photos as I went.

I mentioned this at the start of the thread, but forgot to repeat it.
I also removed the towing eye bracket - easy to do, but BEWARE.
Rear bolts go into a reinforcing plate inside the chassis. The reinforcing plate is not welded in, so unless you do some fiddly "take one out/put one back" with the bolts you may have a loose lump of metal rattling inside the chassis!
You could probably raise the diffuser without removing this bracket, but the towing eye would be inaccessible and the diffuser bracket would need to be cut.

Despite that - by far my easiest and quickest mod