Series II R3 aero bumper kit
 

Hi Paul,

I saw that japanparts had a "kit" for the R3 style bumper, coming pre-painted in all the factory colors
http://i49.tinypic.com/2znvdki.jpglocated here .


I was wondering, would it be possible for you to get this at a price that's as good if not better than japanparts? Seeing that the price of shipping from them would cost me more than the bumper itself just seems ridiculous, and I don't know if it's possible for you to get a better deal. Part of the beauty of this kit is that I wouldn't have to get the vastly expensive paint job to match up to my car, since it's Sparkling Black Mica. Also, of note, I've seen that a few forum members have been interested in an R3 front bumper for their cars...maybe we could arrange a group buy for these, if you can get them?

Thanks so much in advance!

**edit** please post in if you'd be interested in doing this group buy. If we get enough impetus behind it, maybe we can all collaborate to make something happen.

Also, Paul, if needed, I've found two separate part numbers for the R3 front bumper out of the Japanese accessory catalog, and also an EPC database that shows the bumper as painted...let me know if those can help in figuring out a way to get a pre-painted bumper.

Send me the numbers by pm and I can try to work some magic.

Paul.

Just sent you the PM now. Thanks so much for looking into this, Paul...I really appreciate it!

Not a problem. I will do the research. It could take 2 plus weeks to have the pricing for you from Japan though.

Paul.

I may be interested in a group buy depending on price :) . SBM here as well :D

I'm a little confused... is this a "kit for the R3 bumper" or is this a kit to make your regular SII bumper into the R3? Pic just looks like my R3 nose

it is the R3 bumper

Oh very cool. So you get all the hardware and the bumper painted. Not too shabby.

Sounds great, Paul. I had no expectation of this being something quick, much less whether this would be possible. I have my fingers crossed that we can work something out, since the idea of a ready-to-go R3 bumper from Mazda got me excited. Keep me posted, and thank you again :]!


Depending on what Paul's able to do, and if we're the sole two interested, maybe we can split shipping on two kits if it benefits us? We'll have to play it by ear.


Bingo :]. Apparently Mazda offered the R3 bumper, with all hardware and installation documentation, in all factory SII RX-8 colors pre-painted as an accessory kit option for cars that came with the non-R3 style bumper. They also did the same with the R3 side skirts.


**edit**
In case you were wondering, AZ R3 & paimon, this is my screencap from the JDM accessory catalog showing how Mazda offered the aero as optional parts:

http://i48.tinypic.com/ih4fva.jpg

Clipped that screencap to edit out part numbers, so that my hard work is exclusive to Paul, btw...I feel that's fair, unless someone else cares to do an equal amount of digging :].

As I told OP..I would hate to think of the cost to freight these out ex-Japan, it would be a huge cubic capacity box, just for one...

Not impossible though...it would want to be extremely well packaged as the rocking up in the air cargo will rub off paint.

You can let me know the cost too Paul.

I'm interested, too, if the cost isn't crazy.

Will do Ash.

My average shipping cost right now is close to $1000 for an individual bumper to the US from Japan. I can crush the initial cost and seriously injure the shipping if I do the slow boat though with multiple. Each customer would still have shipping from Atlanta to their final homes but it may be practical yet.

It can take me 2 plus weeks to get the quote so a little patience will be in order.

Paul.

Paul, this sounds seriously promising. I'm not going to hang all my hopes on it, as you're saying it's still up in the air...but I'm really liking the direction things are heading. As I see it, there are at least four of us (ASH8, Chibana, paimon, and myself) who would be in on this thus far, which can hopefully divvy the shipping cost effectively....this all depends on what you're able to do with all of us, and which of us are definitely confirmed, of course. I actually saw another forum member in California that has a white SII Sport or GT that's looking to do an R3 conversion, and is just missing the front bumper...maybe he'd be interested as well? I'll PM him with the thread. If there's anything I can do to help this along, please let me know...I can definitely see this as a great opportunity for SII non-R3 owners, and potentially something good to further boost awareness of Mazmart.
Thank you again, Paul, for everything you're doing....I know it's not easy, but I greatly appreciate it!

So will probably be around $2K painted for US buyers anyway in the end?..roughly.

Just did a check of all the main 6 parts in this kit to purchase US individually (Bumper only primed) and it runs into about $950.00...+ painting of bumper?

That's not taking into account the drop in price due to multiple bumpers being shipped together (or if Paul would get a "bulk" rate), or the reduced shipping rate Paul mentioned....so it's very possible that we could get in a close range to ordering everything separately and then getting it painted, without all the hassle of getting a bumper and then having to take your car back and forth to match the paint (which is a big deal on the highly metallic colors). Sounds to me like things may be pretty competitively priced, if Paul can get things set up the way he has in mind. I'm definitely intrigued.

This isn't including the skirts at all. I just made a screencap of the section of the accessory brochure, which happened to have the skirts in the same section as the bumper (which makes sense if you want to "aero kit out" your RX-8 from the dealer in Japan). The whole point of what we're doing here is that Mazda apparently doesn't offer the R3/aero bumpers pre-painted in dealers outside Japan....it saves a lot of headache to get everything already ready to go on your 8, especially with colors like Sparkling Black Mica due to the inherently high cost of that type of paint. And yes, you can already order R3 side skirts from the dealer, pre-painted, here in the US.

I can assure you if you are prepared to buy all the 6 parts separately and then get bumper painted locally it would be far far cheaper than ordering through Japan Parts, JP buys their Genuine Mazda parts from 'a' local Mazda Retail Dealer and then on sells...

Yes, get the parts through Paul, get the bumper covers painted in the USA, Paul can buy from MNAO Parts like he normally does and it will be at a far better price.

You originally wanted factory painted from Japan Parts when you approached me before this thread....:)

I like the idea too, but now you have suggested to get the painting done separately you sort of lost me...I cant see any benefits going via JP.

Even if we could secure them factory painted, then my main concern is paint damage, inside a carton parts move a lot if not packed tightly, lots of rubbing up in air plane cargo turbulence...That is if the parts are available from MMC, as I think I mentioned once a car finishes production these type of accessory kits are not re-stocked/made...cross fingers.

BTW: The MMC EPC Parts Kit 'D-Code' is V4-919 which includes everything inside the square boxed.
The 51-91JA is the F197-51-9K1B black plastic lower R3 Spoiler and is almost as much as the R3 Bumper Cover (unpainted).;)

IF Paul is having trouble getting the KITS from J-P painted..

He could try for the Bumper Covers ONLY factory painted from Japan, which could still be available. And just buy the other 5 black parts locally in USA?.

As the S2 Japan Accessory Catalog says..
F1Y7-50-03XA** (** paint colour code), for 46,200 Yen or about $600 (old price) + Shipping
F1Y7-50-03XABB non painted in USA for about $400

No no, I wasn't suggesting getting them unpainted...I was just reiterating the point Paul made, about how it's possible that we could get in the range of (if not cheaper than) an unpainted bumper plus the cost of getting it painted. The whole thing with this is that I'm stressing the point that, according to most of my friends that do paint professionally, metallics like Sparkling Black Mica would be prohibitively expensive without a "friendly discount", and might not even end up with the right level of flake or what have you on the first attempt. While I do have a few professional auto painting friends, I'd rather avoid that whole mess and get the bumper pre-painted from Mazda...no muss, no fuss. I'm sure others, such as the member I mentioned that has a CWP SII, would like that convenience as well.


Agreed on this...I would be concerned as well, however, these kits are meant to be shipped throughout Japan, so I'd think they packaged them as well as OEM aero kits I've purchased in the past. Based on that, I think they'd be okay until they reached Paul, at the very least. I do like the option you said about ordering pre-painted bumpers, and then adding the aero add-ons here locally, though....that might be another option for us, to both save cost and create our own "kit".

Generally, air freighted goods get tossed about (turbulence) a lot more than what is shipped by the factory (Mazda) to Distributors by sea...I have worked in all areas of this both Mazda Parts wholesale (Mazda Australia), retail (Mazda Dealer), air and sea shipping, there is a huge difference with 'damaged goods' and reliability.

And yes, I understand your concerns about painting, but paint shops todays are pretty good, even the factory painted bumpers on both of my cars has a different look.

It is a known fact, all brands have issues painting their bumpers...Mazda pass it off as normal.

Unless packed really well by sender, I can almost guarantee you will get rub marks on bumper if shipped by air.

We will see.:)

I have begun the process and I feel good about what we can do about cost and condition.

Paul.

Sorry if I came off a bit of an arse....didn't mean to sound like I completely doubted what you had to say. I suppose I like to look at things in the most optimistic manner, whether that be foolish or not. It sounds like Paul is aiming for boat freight, so maybe that will help us quite a bit.

Oh, I'm well aware of factory paint variances...I used to own a 2001 Civic some time ago, and Honda never bothered to match the bumper to the body from the factory. You could see it on every example that was silver like mine was. I was thinking more in terms of cost of the paint/labor, and (even moreso) the hassle of transporting a large bumper without causing damage myself, even with as careful as I am about things.


This is awesome news, especially on a Friday :]. Definitely excited about all this, Paul. I know I've said it a few times, but thank you again for all your effort....it's greatly appreciated!

So far 2 potential sparkling Black Mica, if the price is right?

Paul.

If you're including me as one of those, I can confirm my being in if the price is right. Something tells me that you've worked some magic, Paul.