Introduction
This journey all started when I decided to make a STW E36 racing replica car years ago. I purchased this 1998 328i about 6 years ago for $1400 (back when they were cheap). At that time I had no intention of embarking on this journey, and just drove the car as a cheap daily driver. About 4 years later, the car started to overheat due to a bad head gasket and I parked the car for another 2 years. Fast forward to 2025, we fixed the head gasket, added coilovers, manual swapped the car, and started looking for the right body parts to accomplish this conversion.
Super Tourenwagen Cup History (STW)
If you aren’t familiar, STW was racing class in the 90s, and in my opinion was one of the coolest racing series BMW was ever involved in. The Super Tourenwagen Cup (STW) was a German touring car racing series that ran from 1994 to 1999, created as a successor to the DTM after its shift toward more expensive Class 1 rules. STW featured Super Touring regulations, which emphasized production-based, 2.0-liter sedans. Manufacturers like BMW, Audi, Opel, and Peugeot competed aggressively, often fielding factory-backed teams. The series was known for close racing, diverse entries, and technical equivalence, making it a fan favorite during the 1990s before eventually being phased out as DTM returned in 2000.
Which Bumper to Get?
Now finding original parts on these cars is almost impossible, so luckily a company in the USA called DTM Fiberwerkz, remanufactures some of these which made this easier. We went ahead and purchased the STW front spoiler lip and the STW rear wing.
This blog is not about the entire build, but since there is not a lot of information out there on the front spoiler, and which bumper to use, I thought I would share the knowledge I learned in case you are interested in doing this conversion as well.
Through our research, we found out that BMW made at least 4 different bumpers for the E36 chassis, and I believe a fifth one that was special ordered through a catalog as part of their aero kit. We will focus on the original 4, because the STW cars only used one specific part number.
Throughout the years BMW changed the styling of the front bumper and offered an early model bumper that came on the 318/325, a late model 318/325 bumper, and of course the M3 front bumper. Since the STW cars were early model 4 cylinders, I originally purchased an early model 318 bumper (BMW PN 51118132417). To make the spoiler fit you have to cut the bumper almost completely in half to mount. With no instructions anywhere, we went ahead and did this, and the STW spoiler fit fairly well. We posted a picture on the internet, and received some comments from our UK friends that, this was not only the wrong bumper, but we cut it in the wrong spot. Kind of puzzled, we went back and forth with them to get all the information we could. They sent us close up pictures of real STW cars from the 90s and other replicas they have built over seas.
From our findings, it turns out there is a Euro only version of the bumper (BMW PN 51118122312). Looking at the “Euro” and “USA” version, it is very hard to tell the differences, but they are there. Since we wanted to make this car as close as possible to the real ones, we went ahead and found a Euro bumper, and shipped it to the shop. (Keep in mind, you can install the STW spoiler on any of the 3 non M3 bumpers, but it won’t be exactly like the original cars).
The main difference between the “Euro” and “USA” style is a body line that runs across the entire length of the bumper, which sits a little above the fog light cut outs. The USA version has the body lower on the bumper and cuts through the fog light cut outs. See the pictures below.
I hope this helps anyone that is trying to achieve the same look. We will create a blog later that shows how to install the spoiler correctly.
