Rear bumper beam US vs European?

[jaffaz32]

Are there any differences between the US (square number plate) rear bumper beam and the European (wide number plate) rear bumper beam?

I mean the beam that sits behind the bumper, which the bumper attaches to.

I know STMPO sells aftermarket ones and there is a guide some where that someone has put together to make their own. Also seen a really cool carbon version.

 

[A.S. Motorsport]

No there isn't difference is in the bumper skin and foam.

 

[UnhuZ]

Hi,

yeap...the beams are different... the US has some inserts in the midlle so you
can attach the license plate frame... if you search for the SMTPO aluminium
rear bumper beam, you see tha the welds something to it to be compatible.

The Euro beam doesn't have this, because all license plate frame/hardware is
attached to both upper bumper and valence.

Nuno

 

[A.S. Motorsport]

But installing the EDM bumper foam and skin should be the same.

 

[UnhuZ]

Hi,

But installing the EDM bumper foam and skin should be the same.

well... it's like this:

- Install US beam on Euro bumper+valence can be tricky because the US beam
have those little protude things and while the bumper and valence can be installed,
the Euro wider license plate surround may not have the necessary depth.

- Install the Euro beam on US bumper+valence can also be tricky because the
Euro beam don't have the protrude thinguys to secure the US license plate surround.

I'm sure that it can be very easy to adapt, but it's not plug & play.

Nuno

 

[greenberet]

The OEM USDM steel rear bumper beam in my NSX weighed about 9.6 kg and the OEM EDM steel rear bumper beam in there now weighs about 6.3 kg. With an aftermarket aluminum beam you may be able to get that down to 3.0 kg.

The license plate screws directly into the rear bumper beam in the US while in Europe, the license plate screws into a plastic cover in front of the beam. As Nuno mentioned, to make that work the USDM beam has a metal section that sticks out with threads tapped into it while the EDM beam does not have that. I think the metal section in the USDM beam sticks out far enough that it would hit the EDM plastic cover. Also, the EDM beam has a hole in it to allow the rear tow hook to be mounted whereas USDM beams does not because USDM NSXs do not have a provision for a rear tow hook.

 

[Metabro]

here you are