realigning front bumper? pic heavy

J

Johnnymiller

Member
 Birmingham
HI All,

My new (to me) M roadster had a bit of paint done on its front bumper due to what i understand to be a fairly minor parking injury. kevshore the previous owner told me about this at the time of sale that he had had this painted. i noticed this issue when checking panel gaps on a few other Z's on forecourts, and believe it is fairly common with the low car to end up scraping/bending etc. which can lead to this kind of issue The bumper is in fine fettle paint wise, however as a perfectionist, this alignment is bugging me.

see the following pics for what im talking about. The issues as i see them are

1) the nearside where the bumper meets the wing is not flush
2) the nearside headlamp protudes from the bumper, the offside does not
3) gap seems bigger above the nearside headlamp

2012-09-22%2018.31.30.jpg


2012-09-22%2018.31.37.jpg


2012-09-22%2018.31.46.jpg


2012-09-22%2018.31.51.jpg


2012-09-22%2018.31.57.jpg


So....

1) can i adjust this easily? i've read the "how to" on removing the bumper, was wondering if i just loosen off the main bolts will it be adjustable
2) what about the headlamp how is that attached?
3) with the gap where the bumper meets the wing, im not sure how its fixed on? i will study the how to again tomorrow.

any tips welcome.... :)

JM
 
Johnnymiller, got some pics from when I removed my bumper recently that I never got round to posting up. The sides are held on by black plastic clips that are prone to breaking if you are not careful... Which may have happened to yours. Clips are about £21 plus VAT. Each :cry:

Remind me by PM if I forget - out all morning I'm afraid, should be okay banging them up during the Grand Prix though :D

Light position can be adjusted, but you need to take the bumper off...
 
cheers Bing.... any images would be useful, ive read a few posts on here saying about slacking the 7 bolts under the bonnet and pushing it around.... will try that tomorrow.

its not really a major thing, but it bugs me when something isnt quite 100%, i may just make the bumper snug for now and see what the light looks like then.... :)
 
I also have to get around to doing this to mine at some point.

Bottomed out the front reversing off my parents drive now one of my side clips look like yours :cry:
 
Bumper removal guide here: http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=1071

Should be easy to do, I've had my front bumper a few times, and had to re-align it once, as I hadn't got it right when putting back on :thumbsup:
 
Okay, forgot about this. I'll get the photos up shortly. None of the light adjusting points I don't think though...
 
Johnny, pics below (I will put them in the other thread too for completeness). BTW - I am not sure, but I think your passenger side headlight sticks out far enough, but needs adjusted up and left a bit is all. The driver's side looks too far in ? On mine the bottom edge of the light unit runs parallel / above the crease in the bonnet around the light fitting on both sides, if that makes sense - they shouldn't sit right back. Someone else may chip in, like cj or ranski...

Okay, some photos from my bumper removal. This is the bumper clips before swapping them over, not nice, wide / wobbly panel gaps :

DSCF3666_zpsd499140d.jpg


DSCF3664_zpsb816385c.jpg


As said elsewhere, when removing the bumper it is very important to pull the edge up before pulling out as this helps to unclip the edges on the underside. Here is the state of my clip on the driver side (the passenger side was worse) :

DSCF3668_zps2ee0931b.jpg


Clearly broken, but in case you didn’t notice (the 'clip' you can see sits behind the wing mounting and stops the arch liner and the arched edge of the bumper moving when it is all together) :

DSCF3669_zpsdaf64e1e.jpg


Getting these out without a proper trim removal tool is a b1tch as there are 3 or 4 feck off big clips that it is impossible to push from the inside without taking the wheels of and getting right inside the front of the arch. Having Eibachs and spacers doesn’t help, :oops: so I had to break them up very gently using a pair of snips to cut through the plastic and a small screw driver wrapped in cloth. When doing this you need to be careful not to bend the metal of the wing out of shape round the clip holes otherwise the new ones won’t sit flush. Here is what was left of the old clips when I was done :

DSCF3672_zps59cada0c.jpg


New clips in, you can see it looks they have changed the design and added some strength by completely surrounding that bolt above the light fitting... It may have been broken on the old one but I didn’t think so when I had a look :
DSCF3670_zpsc76f4f3e.jpg


DSCF3671_zps4d2f103e.jpg


All back together – not perfect (maybe I bent the fitting holes a little...), but much, much better :

DSCF3673_zpsb24b444d.jpg


DSCF3674_zps49cbaaf1.jpg
 
Cheers bing, great help, I understand how the clips work now...

Anyone else got any comments on my light positions, I only want to do this once... :?
 
i have one other question regarding this little task, does anyone have the part numbers for these clips, assume they arent specific part numbers for the M.

I've been on realoem.com and can see the part in the diagram, but no part no..... any clues welcome, would like to tackle this job over winter, and work out whats going on with the headlight sitting proud on one side....

JM
 
Okay, had to find the receipt :roll:

The bracket part numbers are :

Near side - B51.11.7.165.179
Off side - B51.11.7.165.180

Each bracket was £21.95 plus VAT

I also got new rivets for the arch liner as some were missing and I was bound to lose some of the wee pins...

Rivet - B51.71.7.007.296 - they are £0.39 each plus VAT
 
Ah yes, the bumper clips. I managed to break one when removing my bumper. Was absolutely gutted when I found out the cost of replacements :(
 
It may already have been broken... Mine were. But yes, stupidly expensive for a bit of plastic. However, Sopers of Lincoln will probably give you a 10-20% forum discount if you speak to Jamie in Parts :thumbsup:
 
good work bing... :) i did search on here and couldnt find them! :)

Will get some ordered and have a go in the next few weeks..... im curious about the headlight, hopefully all we be clear when i have the bumper off. Might ask Kev again what happened to the bumper, and where the intravee is insatlled so i can upgrade the firmware :)
 
Johnnymiller, no worries :thumbsup:

BTW - had another look, and I think I want to reverse my advice... I think the driver's light is too far back in the corner - you shouldn't be able to see the back edge of the bumper so easily from that angle. I would take pcs of mine but I am not sure it'll be clear because of the colour. Hmmm.
 
well ive ordered the clips and some replacement push rivs.... won't have any time to start this until November 8, so the headlamp alignment will play on my mind a bit longer.

its strange, one (or both) are clearly wrong, as they sit differently. ive been looking at pics of other cars, and my bumper just isnt sitting right. the headlights are solidly mounted, so i dont think anythings broken there, kev would have had it fixed anyway. To be honest, when your stood looking at the car it doesnt really jump out at you unless you know its there, but im a bit anal about these things... :) to my eye, it looks like the near side is the misaligned one, but i havent parked it next to another Z4 to compare so that could be bobbins! :| my mate builds prototype and R&D cars for a living for JLR and he reckons my passenger side one looks like it would be the one out of tolerance....

I have a gap above the headlamp which doesnt appear here on the press shots......

http://www.netcarshow.com/bmw/2006-z4_m_roadster/1600x1200/wallpaper_05.htm
 
The headlights are held in place with three screws that can be loosened so that the fittings can be pushed in or moved slightly up/down/left/right Johnny. Can only be done with the bumper off, but with a bit of fettling you will get it right. Cj10jeeper or ranski will be able to give better advice than me about how best to do it when the time comes :)
 
yeah, i need to know how the lights are fitted and aligned properly without the bumper fitted for reference. i guess there is a way to do this, otherwise the bumper would be on and off like a brides nightie while you adjust mm by mm.... lol
 
Yep - that's why they know more than me - I bottled buggering about with more than one screw :lol:
 
4 screws holding the headlights. If they are removed it would be easy to put them back on squint even with all 4 screws in. You really have to line them up before screwing them in tight.

Once the bumper is off ( very easy job) you will be able to sort the light no problem.
 
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