Mystery damage to t'other car :-(

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omar

Member
Got back to the F10 this morning in a car park and found this mess. Obviously no note etc... can't really work out what's done it - maybe a towball but seems a bit low down for that? :x

The whole bumper is all one piece so it's looking like a pricey fix - anyone have any experience of getting warped plastic pushed back into place? Is it even possible?

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I hate this... So frustrating!

Plastic can be heated and contorted back... However looking at the damage it looks almost pulled forward... Like something caught it and then pulled it forward so maybe a trailer?

I would say you would be better off getting a second hand one off ebay... Or use it as an opportunity for an M sport front end!


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Gutted for you :( like you say hard to determine what could have caused that. Potentially any CCTV footage available from the car park?

As aquazi mentioned, you can heat plastic up to obtain it's original shape, therefore it may be salvageable. I would certainly speak to a body shop for a repair quote before splashing out on a new/second hand bumper etc..
 
Nah no chance of any footage sadly... Wish I'd caught them! I guess it was bound to happen given how big the thing is... The zed would have been tucked away at the end of the bay out of harm's way.

There is actually a bumper in the right colour on fleabay but it's got scuffs and scratches so would probably need a full respray anyway. Will investigate the heat gun approach with a couple of garages tomorrow.

Not keen on the M bumpers actually - either on this one or the previous shape 5. And since everyone else has a 520d covered in M badges I quite like being different... Especially with my comically big ActiveHybrid badges :roll:
 
Is it only yourself that drives the car?
Is it a possibility that either yourself or someone else hit something while parking somewhere else and didnt realise and now you have found it think that someone else hit you?
Its in a strange place for another car to hit it.
 
Nictrix said:
Is it only yourself that drives the car?
Is it a possibility that either yourself or someone else hit something while parking somewhere else and didnt realise and now you have found it think that someone else hit you?
Its in a strange place for another car to hit it.
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This was my initial thoughts also.. Then thought that by the extent of the damage surly this would have been heard from inside the car. Just from when I have slightly caught my front splitter its noticeable from inside.
You could have a valid point though, if someone else drives the car and hasn't owned up to it? :fuelfire:
 
This really grinds my gears, it's getting to the point now where you can't relax until you get back to your car after parking up and find it unscathed. Nobody seems to give toss about other peoples property anymore. Bloody annoying to say the least, whoever did that must have known they'd hit the car.

I looks to me more like the step of a van or a 4x4 (as aleady mentioned) that's done it. Pity my old dad's still not alive, he was brilliant at repairing bent and cracked plastic body panels on cars, he'd have had a go at sorting that for you. He was a terrible paint sprayer though - but I'm not bad at it :)
 
omar said:
Nah no chance of any footage sadly... Wish I'd caught them! I guess it was bound to happen given how big the thing is... The zed would have been tucked away at the end of the bay out of harm's way.

There is actually a bumper in the right colour on fleabay but it's got scuffs and scratches so would probably need a full respray anyway. Will investigate the heat gun approach with a couple of garages tomorrow.

Not keen on the M bumpers actually - either on this one or the previous shape 5. And since everyone else has a 520d covered in M badges I quite like being different... Especially with my comically big ActiveHybrid badges :roll:
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Getting a new ebay bumper resprayed you are looking at £250-£300 depending where you are.

If you can get that heated back into shape then a smart repair can do an amazing jobas coving up any paint damage - so that may work out cheaper.
i would check the lower clips/ undertray are not broken though.. as the way it is twisted it seems unlikely that has remained intact.

I didnt want to say it.. but looks like it couldnt something and then the car may have reversed to pull it that way.. but equally so could be some steps from a mobility bus... so who knows. :?
 
Doesn't make a jot of difference as the damage is a mess and it costs to fix and is gutting, but to me it looks so likely that in reality it's been driven into something like a bollard, post, etc. while parking and not noticed until much later when returning to the car and seeing it. Hours, days later.

I cannot imagine anything that could drive into it and make a vertical impact that low and not touch a higher point on the bumper and even the scrapes look like marks from concrete and not another vehicle.
 
I made a similar mess on my wife's 1 series coupe on one of those wooden posts at the end of each pathway to the the cabins at Center Parcs.I only drove forward about 10 ft straight into it.Not a major impact but the force actually bent the bumper underneath so the fog light was facing down.Anyway the next day after getting home I was able to reshape it using a heat gun and cooling it as I went along.Once done I was left with a few scrapes and was able to do a SMART repair on it.
 
Fair points... I did wonder if I'd hit something that had fallen onto the road but surely would have heard it. There's no paint transfer that I can see so agree I haven't been hit by this guy:

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but I walked up to the car at home while it was facing me and then also parked it by reversing into a bay. Can't imagine that I missed the damage both when getting in and when walking away.

I'm inclined to think it was indeed some kind of low step or towball. The car park does get used by a lot of vans as it's near an industrial estate.

Had a couple of places talk a good game on fixing it without replacing the bumper so will see how it goes.
 
In terms of missing damage when walking too and from a car it's amazing how blind we are. It's not like you stare at the front wondering if you've hit the bumper, scraped an arch, kerbed a wheel, etc.. Most things get spotted way after the event unless you heard something that alerted you. I find all my damage when washing the cars..

I do agree that if you hit something on the road you'd really know unless you just assumed you'd hit a pothole, but to me that looks like low speed impact. I remain convinced it's a car park gentle 'push' against something solid and you'd probably not hear or feel it.

Hope it pops out with a bit of heat and pushing...
 
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