O/S Front Bumper Damage

[z.sb_E85]

Hi everyone,

So today when going to work I noticed that sadly someone has given the front of my car a knock whilst parking. At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be any damage to the front bumper and wheel arches other than the scrapes but it appears that the O/S headlight has been knocked out of position?

I’m just hoping that this is just a case of applying some T-cut to the bumper to touch up the scrapes and reinstalling the headlight again. But wondering if anyone had any thoughts on any places to check further.

I’ve also attached a pic of the N/S headlight (which was unaffected) so you can compare for reference.

 

[enuff_zed]

I would imagine that at least one of the headlight mounting tabs has been broken.
You can buy new kits to fix these:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201652971902?fits=Car+Make%3ABMW%7CModel%3AZ4&epid=1509342760&hash=item2ef374297e:gcgAAOSwZQRYWoec&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA8J%2BL5vH3Zorsilp%2FTLq6hUBLAkdI14oY7p%2Fzz24EcmYV1Pv8FgUHNkgXI2ui3jOcr78V28RnY7Ivuc8moT%2B8VeERAc6FM73eaHRVSAlxQVsSMb%2BRn%2FDc%2FQ7PW%2BKyJIjZdDNzTuqN0uTslDU1lhzKzdO%2BDb8LGf5nA0JTx5hEAd5Xi4%2BpRfLALKRNpIor8GANX9KmqoYizUXq2uk09Ue6%2BfBv4L4qkc6TjAfZ%2BBfVrV0JyUunFQzcp2a63bIOBgOGbauwIWuLY6iPBtNCE4AEfibHniq%2BVYJFHubZIqWY%2BHBiyNrKzsqhgOP%2FtZ%2B7wiHJ9Q%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR661-ryDYw
BMW thought ahead with this and even put the screw holes in place so you simply attach the brackets you need.

 

[raymond.harper]

Take the bumper off to see what lies beneath https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-e&q=+remove+z4+from+bumper#kpvalbx=_BWFnZcaEJYeA8gKtjaXoDA_41

 

[DashingDaryl]

BMW thought ahead with this and even put the screw holes in place so you simply attach the brackets you need.

Way to go BMW. That is possibly the best idea a car maker has ever had

 

[Mr Tidy]

How annoying. :evil:

Hopefully it's not too big an issue to sort the headlight. And luckily it doesn't look like it has broken the clip on the end of the bumper!

 

[z.sb_E85]

Thanks everyone. It is annoying but thankfully it could’ve been worse. Luckily the culprit has offered to compensate so hopefully will get this sorted soon. Will update over the next few days

 

[Mr Tidy]

That's great news - good luck getting it sorted.

 

[z.sb_E85]

Quick update: I’ve ordered the headlight repair kit a while ago but seems to be taking a while with no signs of when/if it’s arriving. Most of the sellers seem to be based in Lithuania/Poland which may be an explanation?

Does anyone know where I could find tabs outside of ebay? Does anyone here have some spares or would the BMW dealerships sell them?

 

[paddy wright]

BMW did have them when I bought mine 8 years ago

 

[colb]

Certainly looks like headlight fixing tab has broken so the headlamp is pushed back, on mine it was the the support at the top of the bumper to front wing had broken, item 20 in the diagram on oem site here
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/en/showparts?id=BT32-EUR-04-2003-E85-BMW-Z4_25i&diagId=51_4848
For a bit of plastic its expensive, had to replace mine, they are handed so order the correct side if yours has broken as well as the headlight tab.

 

[z.sb_E85]

Thanks for the help everyone. Here’s an update, having never worked on a car whatsoever I decided this would be a good excuse to attempt repairing it myself. So, (with a bit of help!) here’s the finished repair.



Of course, I managed to break the bumper to wing side support bracket when doing this and I suspect I’m not the first to do so :x. The headlight in the first picture is still sitting very very slightly higher by a few mm than the unaffected one and I didn’t align the bumper properly as you can see in the second picture lol. I’m not going to risk breaking another plastic support bracket so I’m just going to leave it for now. I clearly didn’t do a great job but overall, I think this is a good outcome.

My excuse is that it was completely dark outside!

 

[paddy wright]

Good job- well done!

 

[MikeyH]

Well done, I wouldn't have attempted that myself and how honest of the person to own up