Hello Everyone,

I have owned several different Fiats over the years from the Uno to Bravo Cinquecento etc and have just recently taken owenership of a three door stilo with Abarth side skirts. Its silver in colour. The black bump strips around the side and on the bumpers of the car have all be colour coded silver, which seems to look nice, as has the front grill been done silver too. Whilst i am far from being a modder, i just thought this looked like a smart looking car and bought it.

However, my suspicions were aroused this morning when i noticed after looking at some pictures of the three door model that mine actually has a five door front bumper fitted to it. My mind immediately raced to ringer/cut & shunt job to front end accident, i have checked the vehicle numbers and they seem to match up under the little door in the driver footwell and under the bonnet...i dont have the vehicle logbook back from DVLA yet.....and then remembering some subtle modifications had been made as detailed above i wondered if the person who made these previous modifications might have decided that the five door bumper looked better than the three door? Is there anyone who has done this or can put my mind at rest??? i will get some pictures of it up on here as soon as i can.

I also phoned a fiat dealer and they said it was possible to fit the three door bumper to five door model and vice versa and they said some people thought the five door bumper looked better that might explain it??

Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks

From what I've read of this I think the dealer is wrong.

You CAN swap the front ends but you WILL notice misalignments and gaps etc.

Yep, it can be done BUT there will be gaps, etc - as proved when I had the opposite on, a 3 door bumper on my 5 door car.

Looked ok though

The way forward is the 5dr bumper ..so dont listen to anyone up ^ there

Pic of 5dr bumper on the 5dr with added spoiler :yum:

thanks for all your help so far...i really appreicate it. Please can any of you point out where these gaps and misalignments might be...i looked under the headlights and noticed the bumper sits in under the headlights just a touch on the outside of each headlight - only a fraction rather than sits flush basically i am praying this is the case and that i dont have some cut and shunt job on my hands!

Do you know anyone previously or have any of you ever fitted a 5 door bumper to three door model?

I take it that someone may have actually fitted the 5 door bumper to my 3 door stilo out of choice? As i stated i am not into modding but the touches on my car i think are subtle and i like them.....The five door bumper looks smooth BUT surely people into modding seem to make their cars look more aggressive and at first glance i would say the three door bumper looks more sporty/aggressive?

Also...my fan that powers the hot and cold air seems pathetically underpowered....the ventillation around the car is decent but i can never seem to get it really toasty warm when i am in there and have to turn the fan up to about 3 or 4 to get it any sort of decent warmth but then it can be quite noisy....is this just the norm for the Stilo?

yes , im afraid, blowers aint up to much on the stilo IMHO, try cleaning or replacing the pollen filter... i replaced mine a few eeks back and did notice a bit of an increase in power from the blowers

Have a look at this guide:
https://www.fiatforum.com/stilo-guides/55320-pollen-filter-how-remove.html

thanks very much for your advice mate...i will this.

Hi Steely,

is yours a three door stilo with a five door bumper fitted?

Here is a picture of my car taken a couple of days ago...Sorry but i didnt get the front bumper in as i didnt realise at the time. i will get one of the front bumper tomorrow!

no, Mines a 5 door... to be honest im suprised how much the bumper actually suits the 3 door..., i very much doubt that its a cut and shut so to speak!, looking good... even if you got a front grille and reprayed the front bit black like mine, it would look brill on a 3 door!

if your not sure have a look at where the wings bolt on to the subframe under the bonnet, does it look like the bolts have been undone??

Steely said:

no, Mines a 5 door... to be honest im suprised how much the bumper actually suits the 3 door..., i very much doubt that its a cut and shut so to speak!, looking good... even if you got a front grille and reprayed the front bit black like mine, it would look brill on a 3 door!

if your not sure have a look at where the wings bolt on to the subframe under the bonnet, does it look like the bolts have been undone??

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Your car looks very nice - just seen it in the gallery section. Thanks, I will take a look at the wing bolts under the bonnet and see if they have been undone, i appreciate your help! Maybe i should put my pics up n the gallery section if its going to be the only 3 door with a 5 door bumper on!!!

Hello lifeline. Regarding your heater. There a thread on here referring to stilo cold feet. Check it out as you are not alone!

850kd said:

Hello lifeline. Regarding your heater. There a thread on here referring to stilo cold feet. Check it out as you are not alone!

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LOL thats exactly it "cold feet" thanks very much for the info i will look it up!

lifeline said:

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Ah so you dont get gaps as such, but you can see where the front wings overhang the top of the bumper...........dont look too bad tho

that was the first thing i noticed to. It does look wierd though

if you think its a cut and shut or been in an accident why are you just looking at front bumper? you should be looking for any accident damage around the engine bay..do all the panels line up..look for over spray..do the doors line up, is the gap the same the all the way around..are there any paint inperfections..get under the car and have a look..dodgy welds. Put your mind at rest and get it checked out..put it on a jig and see if everything is straight. Looking at the bumper isn't going to do much

Does rather beggars belief you could even attempt to match the front end of 5 door with the rear of 3 door though (only thing common is the bonnet)

Strikes me far more likely the cars been involved in a minor shunt and the repairer managed to get hold of a 5 door bumper easier than the 3 door.

As you say, I'd be looking for evidence of creasing under under the car and towards the front. Also check suspension/steering for any evidence of old damage to the side.

If there are signs of repair then I'd have a full 4 wheel alignment check (which is useful anyway)

Thanks for all your help and advice. I have a day off tomorrow so will take a look around the car at the things you specify.

I have actually started to quite like the look of the 5 door bumper on my 3 door...If it has been involved in a front ender, its not the end of the world. i would probably have preferred the bodyshop to have fitted a three door bumper as its the correct one...but for the price i paid for the car i really cannot complain. Person i bought it from only wanted £1895 and he part ex'd my old 98 punto for £500..have to admit the cheap price also aroused my suspicions but i fell in love with the car at first sight and had to have it! i didnt notice the difference in bumpers until a few days later.

Does anyone know a place other than somewhere like 247spares.com where i can get hold of a silver three door bumper if i ever wanted to?

thanks very much again for your help chaps.

Here are some shots of the front of the car....let me know what you think?

Hmmm ..its quite obvious and you can see in the first pic where the line along the wing does not line up with the bumper ..