Colour coded bumpers

Hey folks
Just a quick question. Once my X5 has sold I will be looking for a Freelander with the 5 odd grand I should get for it. I have two choices though, pre facelift TD4 for about 3k and blow the rest on an MX5 or similar OR all 5k on a facelift TD4. Quite a conundrum on its own really!!
My question though is on painted bumpers. I like the body coloured bumpers on the facelift so has any owners of a pre facelift tried having their bumpers sprayed? If so, did it work and how did it look?
Cheers all
Gareth

Or a real Landy like a disco or defender where colour coded bumpers mean nothing.

£3k on a 2003 03 plate,
and save the other £2k for repairs or mods..

what ever comes first..

Well I currently have a mk3 mx5 (Which I have put up for sale) and a TD4 pre face lift. I can tell you now I would have both if I could afford to insure and tax them both. Before I had the mk3 mx5 I had a mk1 which was equally as good (although not as comfy as the mk3.

I may get slated here being on a landy forum but I'm sure others will agree. The TD4 is slow, it rolls like a hippo, and it breaks a lot. Anyone on an mx5 forum will say they are great fun and very reliable (but make sure you don't get one with any signs of rust as its a killer on mx5s).

I cant imagine the facelift td4 been much faster, if any or roll less. Although I haven't looked at the actual stats.

For me what you have said an mx5 and a pre facelift td4 is a winning combo. Apart from looks I cant see why the facelift is any better. Although they do look a lot better!

I have seen a couple of pre facelifts with colour coded bumpers but I'm not sure how much thats gonna cost you. They also have a fair bit of texture to them too so would take a lot to get it matching the body.

Garethdeb said:

Hey folks
Just a quick question. Once my X5 has sold I will be looking for a Freelander with the 5 odd grand I should get for it. I have two choices though, pre facelift TD4 for about 3k and blow the rest on an MX5 or similar OR all 5k on a facelift TD4. Quite a conundrum on its own really!!
My question though is on painted bumpers. I like the body coloured bumpers on the facelift so has any owners of a pre facelift tried having their bumpers sprayed? If so, did it work and how did it look?
Cheers all
Gareth

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I've seen lots of colour coded bumper/ arches down this way. The look different, almost car like. If it's done well it looks ok but a bad spray job stands out a mile. I'll see if I can take a picture of one if I see one.

think somebody on here has one

there are a couple pre-facelifts in Malta like that, to be honest they are hideous plus it takes out the aggresiveness (if there's any) the facelift still has two sections which are not colour coded which are enough in its case

I actually went to have a look at an mx5 last week. It was just around the corner from me. I have always likes them so took this one for a test drive. If drove great but it sure did feel low and small felt a bit vulnerable really so let it go. the one dream car ruined.

The rear quarter panels are also colour coded on the facelift, not sure how far I would go to make pre facelift look like facelift.

nickcc said:

The rear quarter panels are also colour coded on the facelift.....

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That was from 2001 onwards (white indicators) if i'm not mistaken.

nickcc said:

.....not sure how far I would go to make pre facelift look like facelift.

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Some say its a straight forward job, some say it requires fitting, dunno tbh

Zejmjien said:

That was from 2001 onwards (white indicators) if i'm not mistaken.



Some say its a straight forward job, some say it requires fitting, dunno tbh

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Having looked into this at lengh, it appears actually fitting the parts to face lift the pre-2004 Freelander isn't that difficult if you are good with your hands. Finding the parts you need especially the front bumper and head lights at sensible prices is.

That's what I thought too as its known that the vehicles are almost the same when stripped to the bones