I prefer series 1 black bumpers?!

[MTND]

Which do you like best series 1 or series 2?
Early black bumpers or later colour coded bumpers?

Just thought I'd ask as mine is black bumpers and I always prefer those

Regards
Mark

[Citroenmad]

Where is the option for late series 1 coloured bumpers?

It depends on colour I think, a car like yours in white really suits the black bumpers and it breaks up the colour nicely. Im not a massive fan of all white cars with white coloured everything, they need some contrast.

On the whole I like coloured bumpers, they look smarter, like the bumper is part of the car rather than there for a use.

Also, to keep black bumpers black they need regular 'blacking' to keep them looking good.

So, for me, it depends on the colour of the car but on the whole, coloured.

[citroenxm]

Colour codeing FULL STOP.....

[oneday]

colour coded its the only way

[CitroJim]

Series 1 with colour-coded bumpers thanks although on a white car I really do like the black bumpers. White S2 cars with colour-coded bumpers look a bit wrong to me and so easy to loose in the snow...

[Xaccers]

Black bumpers.
Colour coded just look weird, and S2 bumpers look cheap and nasty.

[MTND]

Im not a massive fan of all white cars with white coloured everything, they need some contrast.

I think this is good healthy debate
I agree with you Chris, I've driven a series 2 car white with white bumpers and its too much white!
But the same could be said for all light cars, how many boring silver Xantia's were there towards the end of Series 2? And XM's for that matter?

Enthusiastically

Mark

[Old-Guy]

They're called 'bumpers' for a good reason.

They're inevitably the most vulnerable part of the car - the plastic is black under the paint so any scuff on a coloured bumper looks unsightly.

Unpainted bumpers are restored by 'vehicle preparation' professionals with the aid of a hot-air gun (a powerful hair-drier will do): wash the bumper thoroughly with detergent to remove all the old wax/polish/silicone, dry off (it'll probably go a bit grey) then warm gently - the trick is not to get it too hot, but to warm the plastic right through - DO NOT TOUCH - you'll burn your fingers and leave a nasty finger-print in the surface! It will now come back to black. With care and a bit more heat, dings and dents will 'relax' out. With care and experience it's possible to get quite bad dents out - provided the plastic hasn't actually cracked. Worth some time and trouble when you consider how much a new bumper costs....

[Sam KS]

...... White S2 cars with colour-coded bumpers look a bit wrong to me and so easy to loose in the snow...

[RobinMasters]

I agree on black bumpers; they're there for a reason, trying to decorate them into invisibility seems silly to me. I'd prefer they look functional.

I'd have to disagree on the heat method being the best way of restoring the blackness though-they go grey with age because of oils being lost from the plastic. Heating it will bring what oil is there to the surface, temporarily bringing the black back, but aging the plastic more in the longer term. Peanut butter or olive oil; rub it it, buff the excess off.

They're called 'bumpers' for a good reason.

They're inevitably the most vulnerable part of the car - the plastic is black under the paint so any scuff on a coloured bumper looks unsightly.

Unpainted bumpers are restored by 'vehicle preparation' professionals with the aid of a hot-air gun (a powerful hair-drier will do): wash the bumper thoroughly with detergent to remove all the old wax/polish/silicone, dry off (it'll probably go a bit grey) then warm gently - the trick is not to get it too hot, but to warm the plastic right through - DO NOT TOUCH - you'll burn your fingers and leave a nasty finger-print in the surface! It will now come back to black. With care and a bit more heat, dings and dents will 'relax' out. With care and experience it's possible to get quite bad dents out - provided the plastic hasn't actually cracked. Worth some time and trouble when you consider how much a new bumper costs....

[cc101]

Black bumpers look better on wedge shape cars as they show the cars profile and angles off better especially on the XM.

Chris.

[Citroenmad]

An unpainted bumper might seem like a more practical idea and it is great if you hit a smooth object, like a car or a post, as it probably wont mark. However scrape a wall and it will have deep gauges which are difficult to repair without losing the textured bumper look. There are comapnies who can put the texture back on but its a hassle and not always a great job.

With a painted bumper every mark can be sanded down and painted, often by a smart repairer.

So both types of bumpers have their merits.

I just prefer to not park against things

Unpainted bumpers are restored by 'vehicle preparation' professionals with the aid of a hot-air gun

I have heard of this trick and have been tempted to try it myself. However, I think there must be truth in what RobinMasters says. Now, I might be having a slow moment here ... but surely if all a black bumper needs to stay black is heat, then cars in hot countries would have black bumpers? I think the oils do dry out and you can only get them back for so long. After that it is down to the back to black silicon dressings to feed the plastic again. In fact heat will only dry the bumpers out faster, which is why cars in hot countries have awful plastics, dull and often cracked!

[andmcit]

I'm not anti colour coding but I feel the Xantia s2 bumpers are too rounded and lack any proper definition
the way the s1's have but where do the colour coded s1 Activa bumpers fit in everyone's feelings!?

My father runs a s2 Xm which manages to still have black bumper inserts as it's a SX not the full bells and
whistles VSX or Exclusive and I had a real dilemma about getting it fully coded by replacement door cappings
and bumpers but felt in the end it looked better with some contrast in the shape. I made these alternate
styling views to try and decide:






Ultimately it really does depend on the colour of the car as an all black colour coded car loses some of it's
visual styling identity over a black inserts contrast alternative.


Where it all goes wrong:

comparison

[Citroenmad]

That is a difficult one, I like the fully colour coded as it suits an Exclsuive better and looks more up-market. However the black bumpers suit the silver colour

but where do the colour coded s1 Activa bumpers fit in everyone's feelings!?

I think they suit the coloured coded bumpers, partly for the above reason.

Unless a painted bumper is scuffed they always look good, where a black bumper looks shabby if it is not dressed with products.

[DickieG]

They're inevitably the most vulnerable part of the car - the plastic is black under the paint so any scuff on a coloured bumper looks unsightly.

The black bumpers on S1 Xantia's were painted black at the factory and should you buy a new replacement that also needs painting black, originally they are grey