[Alex.Devol]

Installed my (rep) arkym lip on saturday, i thought it worth doing a step-by-step since there wasn't one posted for this splitter yet, but to be honest it is quite an easy part to fit. You may chose to disregard this DIY though for reasons which will become obvious towards the end!

If anyone is wanting to fit this you will need:

Power drill
3.5 drill bit
Socket wrench
Some books
Chalk marker
A Curb, 2 x 4 or some way to ramp your car to see underneath the front bumper.

1) It is worth cleaning your bumper first off to ensure there is no dirt or product left in between your bumper and the splitter once fitted.

2) The splitter does not come with holes pre-drilled but there are impressions on there for you to drill out yourself, it is meant to match with your OEM bolts rather than having to drill the bumper, so i decided to check and make sure these were in the right places before i drilled anything by marking the heads of the bolts in my front bumper with a chalk marker and then holding the spoiler up to the front bumper so that the chalk would leave a mark in the proper drill spots. They were near enough correct.


3) Once holes are drilled align the splitter with your bumper and prop in place, i used some books / dvd cases for this. My splitter did not align perfectly with the bumper before bolting, it is perfectly straight and there is a slight convex curvature in the bumper so there is a gap at the outer edges and under the foglights / intakes.. This will sort itself out once screwed down.


4) screw in. The oem screws would probably have been fine to use because the fibreglass is very thin around the fixing areas compared to the visible part of the splitter, but to be sure i sourced 6 with an extra 10mm and 2 with 20mm for the edges where the splitter is thicker. If you are not using OEM screws you will also need to get some washers because you cannot remove the original ones. Be careful not to over-tighten or your washers may compress the fibreglass and break through or compress the splitter.


5) Because this is a part which is meant to sit flush with your bumper it may be worth using some 3m tape or other bonding method around the edges to keep it stuck, otherwise you are done!




The lip looks great on, unfortunately i was unable to get a good photo because after 20 minutes on the road the lip broke on the motorway! Here is a photo i got at the nearest junction but unfortunately it had suffered 4 miles of scraping by that point, you can't see in the pic, you can just see that there is a gap. It is pretty buggered though and is going to take some serious repair work if i decide to give it another go.

[Hotcoupe]

That's a f*cker Alex,is your car lowered?

[Alex.Devol]

Originally Posted by Hotcoupe

That's a f*cker Alex,is your car lowered?

Yeah a bit Ian, the birds b3 kit, but there's still plenty of clearance so not exactly sure what went wrong :/
Shit happens I suppose

[AcExSpades]

At least it wasn't a rep and not the real lip.

I feel bad regardless .

[Hotcoupe]

Originally Posted by Alex.Devol

Yeah a bit Ian, the birds b3 kit, but there's still plenty of clearance so not exactly sure what went wrong :/
Shit happens I suppose

It doesn't take much for a lowered (even in moderation) car to ground out,one reason why I've always ruled out a lip.

The underside of my front bumper has been in floods of tears for months,and screams every time I get in the car!

In honesty Alex,for you a lip is out unfortunately,you only have to hit a slight undulation in the road at speed,and the front is going to hit dust,sadly.

[Alex.Devol]

You're probably right, my first reaction was to get it patched up and sand out the scratches but I think I will probably give it a miss now, just glad the bumper isn't damaged, that would have really hurt.

[Josh1a1h]

Ahh mate sorry to hear that.

I was looking forward to seeing the fitment.

Can't believe it ripped off so soon. I am now officially,worried,about installing a lip.

It did look really good. I personally think you should give it one more go and take a little more care?

Have you got any other pics of it damaged? Has it been completely ripped in half?

[wafik]

Ouch thats bad! The lip looked so good aswell. Give it another go mate.

Ive had a lip put on my car, has been fitted 2-3 times before (due to stone chip resprays) with no problems. Ideally you need to bond it with some form of seal/glue. Think about it...drivin at high speed is forcing the lip down and with tape it will not hold down as well and once its let go and the splitter starts to drop then the wind will knock it down further, breaking it where its bolted.

[lolololol]

I like lips as well but as Ian said lowered cars do suffer. I am running some Eibachs and my front looks lower than yours and I am running identical wheels.

Nice idea - shit UK roads !

[P 5UML]

i cant believe this happened dude

as everyone said it does look spot on when fitted! just such a shame really!

now get your performance spoiler on

[skelts]

Alex gutted for you mate as the lip looked spot on when fitted.

Like hotcoupe said us guys that are lowered will always struggle running lips, its possible but we have to be stupidly careful and run the risk of smashing them. As its come off on the motorway im guessing the wind has pushed it down as mentioned. I think you should give it ago again but also try bonding it onto the bumper to try and stop this.

[lolololol]

Originally Posted by skelts

Alex gutted for you mate as the lip looked spot on when fitted.

Like hotcoupe said us guys that are lowered will always struggle running lips, its possible but we have to be stupidly careful and run the risk of smashing them. As its come off on the motorway im guessing the wind has pushed it down as mentioned. I think you should give it ago again but also try bonding it onto the bumper to try and stop this.

I wouldnt bother mate unless you have money to burn !!

[skelts]

Originally Posted by omaragha

I wouldnt bother mate unless you have money to burn !!

You could be right to be fair.

Alex is that as close at you could get the lip onto the bumper?

[Alex.Devol]

no there wasn't any gap after fitment, the spoiler isn't exactly perfect fitment, especially when lining it up initially but after getting screwed in it does improve, there is no gap at all really but you can just tell that it is being bent a tiny bit to get it to fit flush against the bumper particularly at the edges. That photo shows a big gap because it's after it had come loose & dragged across the floor for 4-5 miles on the motorway, I slowed down asap to about 50mph where airflow settled and stopped forcing it down to scrape the floor but damage was done.
I think i will refurbish it if i get some spare time and perhaps fit it for shows but leave it off for daily driving.
It's not perfect, but at nearly 1/3 the price of the oem arkym its a nice option for any non lowered guys i guess.

[Josh1a1h]

I guess I will stay away. Sorry about your mis fortune, but your thread has helped make my mind up.

[MEGA]

I had a very similar lip on my unlowered E90 and I still ground it out.. which is why I decided not to bother with the E92

Beautiful lip but as I said at Santa pod, not personally wanting to fit one again after my last experience ..