Rear bumper removal
- Thread starter flybobbie
- Start date
Its amazing Bmw kept that poor designed plastic bracket which gets brittle over time and snaps ive had 2 e85 now where ive had to replace them. Where the angled part goes down and atttaches to bumper they can break thenthe bumper comes loose. Weight saving i suppose but very cheap design like a lot of things ive noticed on Z4 working on them
goldbcfc said:
Surely the whole purpose is they are sacrificial brackets so that if you bump the car the brackets break or release the bumper and not transmit the impact into metal panels that then bend. Then you'd be cursing if you needed a new wing or rear quarter for every car park tap or zealous mech removing the bumper.
Has to be a subtle trade off between strength and breaking.
many thanks for this great post, im just about to remove mine this morning due to some little ragie hitting me up the arse end in an astra and driving off, he hit me with such force i thought the total rear end would be a right off, the only damage was to the bumper thanks to the crash bar behind which now needs replacing or straightening, i could get away with repairing the bumper and repainting it, it does need new clips and black spacers between bumper and rear wing but hopefully they wont cost to much, oh and a new no plate which i had a spare anyway, thanks for the that, this will make my job a little easier this morning, mick [ cambridge]
Hi Flybobbie
Hope you see this post as I need to ask you a couple of questions.
I want to fit some rear parking sensors to my wife's E89 (a car with a list price of £35,000 and no parking sensors, only the Germans could get away with that one).
Obviously I need to remove the rear bumper and have been reading your post on the issue. I can't quite make out what your third photo is showing. I think it's of the boot lip so do you have to remove the trim there to get at any fasteners. Are the only fasteners all accessed from under the car as you suggest.
No doubt all will become clear when I tackle the job, just trying to gain as much knowledge as I can before I start.
Many thanks.
Hope you see this post as I need to ask you a couple of questions.
I want to fit some rear parking sensors to my wife's E89 (a car with a list price of £35,000 and no parking sensors, only the Germans could get away with that one).
Obviously I need to remove the rear bumper and have been reading your post on the issue. I can't quite make out what your third photo is showing. I think it's of the boot lip so do you have to remove the trim there to get at any fasteners. Are the only fasteners all accessed from under the car as you suggest.
No doubt all will become clear when I tackle the job, just trying to gain as much knowledge as I can before I start.
Many thanks.
Third pic shows how the bumper attaches between the tail lamps.
And should point out that you do need to remove the tail lights as they get in the way of pulling the bumper back.
Fasteners that need remove are the hex head ones under the bumper. The two screw where you see me poking with a screw driver (one each side) which can only be get at by removing the rear section of the wheel arches, three bolts each side.
To refit the two screws where you can see me using a screw driver I had to tape the screw to the end of the screw driver so as to guide it into the hole. All very fiddly.
And should point out that you do need to remove the tail lights as they get in the way of pulling the bumper back.
Fasteners that need remove are the hex head ones under the bumper. The two screw where you see me poking with a screw driver (one each side) which can only be get at by removing the rear section of the wheel arches, three bolts each side.
To refit the two screws where you can see me using a screw driver I had to tape the screw to the end of the screw driver so as to guide it into the hole. All very fiddly.
Not my video but this might help;
Seems like video of what not to do.
At 1:43 you can see he pulled bumper off without removing a screw, hole just left of finger.
You need to remove the wheel trim and longish extension with (can't remember) m8 or m10 socket to remove bolt.
When replacing bolt tape it to the socket to hold in place.
Do on a warm day so as not to break the plastic cut outs he has broken, but sometimes can't be avoided, just be careful.
Seems like video of what not to do.
At 1:43 you can see he pulled bumper off without removing a screw, hole just left of finger.
You need to remove the wheel trim and longish extension with (can't remember) m8 or m10 socket to remove bolt.
When replacing bolt tape it to the socket to hold in place.
Do on a warm day so as not to break the plastic cut outs he has broken, but sometimes can't be avoided, just be careful.