Bumper respray - take off or leave on?

[dhobbs]

I was just recently recommended Impact Bodyshop next to bluebell railway when my car was in BMR performance.

Need to get my wing resprayed so was going to give them a call.

From meory the do a lot of work on Porsches. Nice to see other members using BMR, going to take my daily to them in Nov/Dec for service.

Yep they are mainly porsche repairers but BMR use them for all their work (this was from one of their mechanics)

 

[Penelope]

It's unusual to break the brackets.I had my bumper off a few times and never broke them.Undo the inner wing liner.Slip your fingers in behind the bumper and have your thumb against the wing ,then pull out with your fingers.
I would take the bumper off.

I find them to have the strain resistance of a Kit Kat. Very brittle hard plastic with zero flex. I don't think I am heavy handed but you clearly have a magic touch to get away with reusing them. The visible thin edge that sits between the edge of the bumper and wing is particularly fragile. Maybe the aftermarket ones are more solid?

 

[patriot66]

It's unusual to break the brackets.I had my bumper off a few times and never broke them.Undo the inner wing liner.Slip your fingers in behind the bumper and have your thumb against the wing ,then pull out with your fingers.
I would take the bumper off.

I find them to have the strain resistance of a Kit Kat. Very brittle hard plastic with zero flex. I don't think I am heavy handed but you clearly have a magic touch to get away with reusing them. The visible thin edge that sits between the edge of the bumper and wing is particularly fragile. Maybe the aftermarket ones are more solid?

Like Maxman I have removed and replaced my front bumper many times over the last 5 years of ownership and never had an issue with the brackets. They were the original 2003 brackets until the summer of 2018 when I had the front bumper resprayed following a small accident. Two new brackets were fitted by the body shop at the time as part of the repair (the other partys insurance were paying ! ) and these have also been fine. I use exactly the same method of removal as mentioned by Maxman

 

[maxman]

It's unusual to break the brackets.I had my bumper off a few times and never broke them.Undo the inner wing liner.Slip your fingers in behind the bumper and have your thumb against the wing ,then pull out with your fingers.
I would take the bumper off.

I find them to have the strain resistance of a Kit Kat. Very brittle hard plastic with zero flex. I don't think I am heavy handed but you clearly have a magic touch to get away with reusing them. The visible thin edge that sits between the edge of the bumper and wing is particularly fragile. Maybe the aftermarket ones are more solid?

I had bought some brackets before I took it off the first time.They were never needed,sold them on here after I sold the car

 

[PAH]

Got mine dropped off today

 

[GJ1]

Got mine dropped off today

Keep us updated

 

[dhobbs]

Just been quoted 1200 for a new front wing and respray and blend in.
Seems high personally.

What do you guys think?

 

[maxman]

Way to much.

 

[kis]

It's always going to be a fine line with a ageing car. You don't want to pour money in excess of £1k into the car. For most of us, that's a substantial percentage of what we paid for the car in the first place.