e85/86 rear bumper

flight174z · Post by **flight174z** » Thu Jun 22, 2017 2:20 pm

I'm quite picky about the condition of my car and it is now getting to the stage where it is pretty much spot on for me. One problem that is a slight annoyance is that the rear bumper has a couple of minor indents on it - as if a gate has swung into the back of it or similar. None of the PDR guys that I have contacted have been able to help as it is a plastic panel. I'm not sure how easy it would be to get this back to how it should be so I am now considering swapping the bumper out for a "perfect" one. Can anyone please let me know if the e85 and e86 bumpers are the same? There aren't many about for the e86 and the ones that are on sale are a different colour or in much worse condition.

I should probably just learn to be less picky but I have always found the difficult - the closer my car gets to being "just right" the more annoying the residual "problems" become!

jamie_z4 · Post by **jamie_z4** » Thu Jun 22, 2017 3:57 pm

PDR wont work but a smart repair will easily get rid of the marks! I had someone run me off the road recently & made a mess of my front corner of the bumper - plastic welded filled & sprayed looked brand new!

flight174z · Post by **flight174z** » Thu Jun 22, 2017 5:35 pm

jamie_z4 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 22, 2017 3:57 pm PDR wont work but a smart repair will easily get rid of the marks! I had someone run me off the road recently & made a mess of my front corner of the bumper - plastic welded filled & sprayed looked brand new!

Might look into that again. The problem is they are so minor that getting them sorted in a bit ridiculous really - it's almost harder to do as it's such a small job as it's more difficult to make a clear improvement!

flight174z · Post by **flight174z** » Mon Oct 09, 2017 11:50 pm

Still not done anything about this, but have started thinking about it again so I think it is time to look at my options. Pictures are below, there is a slight indent running down from the far right parking sensor, a "dark patch" on the panel that runs perpendicular to the number plate where the bumper bulges out slightly and some minor scratches on the bottom left corner. Smart repair guys don't seem that interested - would a bodyshop be able to help? As above I know this is very minor!

patriot66 · Post by **patriot66** » Tue Oct 10, 2017 7:50 am

I had similar on the rear bumper of my wifes Freelander2. I removed the bumper skin and heated the back of any dents/marks with a heat gun. It needs to be very hot so mind your paintwork ! I then used the rounded end of a screw driver handle to massage out the dents. I'm very pleased with the results. Your dents look a lot less severe than the ones I removed so it may be worth a try.

flight174z · Post by **flight174z** » Tue Oct 10, 2017 1:11 pm

patriot66 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2017 7:50 am I had similar on the rear bumper of my wifes Freelander2. I removed the bumper skin and heated the back of any dents/marks with a heat gun. It needs to be very hot so mind your paintwork ! I then used the rounded end of a screw driver handle to massage out the dents. I'm very pleased with the results. Your dents look a lot less severe than the ones I removed so it may be worth a try.

Thanks for the tip - that is reassuring! I'm not the best at this kind of thing though - tried a smart repairer in the past when they were doing other bits for me and they made "some" difference but I want it to be perfect! I assume it's possible if I get a "pro" to do it but I need to find the right place.

It's annoying sometimes having a car you really love as it's harder to put up with the imperfections!

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