About Tino Villa Expertise Can answer bumper-to-bumper questions.
What I can't answer (for nobody knows everything about BMW), I can research and I have access to official BMW info.
Experience 5 years BMW experience, qualified to work on all models currently
available in the U.S.A. Also much lengthier experience on other cars, primarily Asian cars.
Company Training: BMW, Subaru, Mazda
Question I recently purchased a 2003 530i and the urethane bumper no longer fits tightly to the car where it attaches in front of the tire. Externally it looks fine i.e., no impact damage, but it droops and the attachment points are missing. I assume it has been dragged backwards across too many curb stops but I am looking for a budget repair vs. buying a new bumper. Are there any repair kits to address this?
Answer Dear Bob,
There is no repair kit to address this. But it is an easy repair which even you can do at home with a little elbow grease. I hope the attachment points that you mention are not the ones inside the area of the fender liner and the bumper trim itself. First let me explain briefly the terminologies:
fenderliner- is the plastic that covers the inside of the
fender
splashshield- the plastic cover at the bottom end corners of the car right after and connected to the fenderliners
First raise the wheel nearest the problem bumper end so that you would have more space to work on.
Remove the small bolts/screws (8mm) of the splashshield and remove the splashshield
The bumper trim connects to a T-type kind of holder. This holder can be adjusted by its two 10 mm bolts. The trim's
point of attachment to the T-holder is the one critical.
Usually the trim just gets pulled out of the holder and re-inserting it is easy. But sometimes the trim's attachment point gets torn/broken and for this there is no remedy but to replace the bumper trim itself. Or do a McGyver and think of a creative way to attach it--here, your ideas are as good as mine.
Tino
