Rear bumper crash bar reinforcer the same pre/post facelift?

[JINGLE]

as above, took my rear bumper off over the weekend to see whats involved in getting my PDC up and running (incidentally there are all there just cabled tied back out of way) and noticed the rear passenger side of my rear bumper crash bar reinforcer has been damaged so i want to replace it, theres a couple going on ebay for £35-£50 delivered so not bank braking..... but i have 2 questions:

are they the same for pre facelift and post facelift???
whats involved in removing existing and fitting the new 1..... is it simple enough to do myself or a massive pain in the A*** ??

thanks, Jamie

 

[GuidoK]

Yes it's the same pre/post facelift.

The hardest part is getting the bumper off especially if you have TV reception and diversity tuner due to all the antennae/wires/plugs/grommets, but you already have the bumper off.

On the impact bar there is (depending on the electronics in your car) an antenna clipped to it, but it clips off easily.
This is my impact bar + antenna



For the rest it's just straight bolt on/bolt off.
The nuts are behind the plastic bootlining (on the rear of the boot).
Torque for the nuts is 19Nm (not that critical).

I've removed this as it is a piece of bolt on sheet metal that is notorious for rusting (it gets a lot of spray that the lower part of the bumper scoops up), so mine needed some derusting and a lick of paint

At the stealer this is an expensive piece.

If your bar is bent, inspect the metal/paint of the body monocoque where the impact bar mounts to the body.
No cracks or flaking etc or you'll get rust.

 

[JINGLE]

thanks for your replay, very helpful.

here is a picture of mine.... it appears my passenger side must of had a shunt (which would explain why my rear passenger side wheel arch needed replacing, why theres a section of heatshield missing around the exhaust, why the exhaust has been changed, why the original bumper was replaced with a blue bumper sprayed white with no PDC holes) and the metal section to the left which i assume was hit, was bent and cut off



and heres a closer look with what i assume is the aerial, im guessing this is broken??

 

[JINGLE]

am i right in thinking this isn't too serious in the respect that i can buy a replacement crash bar, paint it and get it looking fresh, then simply unbolt my damaged one and replace with the shiney cleaned up 2nd hand one.... then buy the replacement bits like exhaust heatshield piece and a new aerial piece?

at 1st i was crapping myself thinking it was a Cat C/D or something and i had been majorly stitched up by previous owner

 

[GuidoK]

That's the broken diversity antenna:
65206912244
http://bmwfans.info/parts-catalog/E85/Europe/Z4_2.0i-N46/2008/browse/audio_navigation_electronic_systems/single_parts_f_antenna_diversity/#pos_4

The damage looks minor. That impact bar is sawn off. Maybe due to a runin with a high curb, or streetpole etc.

Get the imact bar off, clean the rear paint and look for cracks/flaking in the coating and if you find any, spray some paint or so.
But it looks as if it's recoated with stonechip and white paint already.

As for the exhaust heatshield, I can't see if that's damaged or partly missing.
Getting a new heatshield on is a pain, as the exhaust has to come off. (and not real cheap, probably some £70 or so)
It looks like you have an aftermarket muffler, so maybe it's easily removable.
By the looks of it only a piece of the side of the heatshield is missing but you can see that better than I do :lol:

Damagewise this is all very minor. Apart from the broken wire this damage would only be noticeable by someone that knows the z4 insideout and it's easy to fix to 100% OEM.

 

[JINGLE]

That's the broken diversity antenna:
65206912244
http://bmwfans.info/parts-catalog/E85/Europe/Z4_2.0i-N46/2008/browse/audio_navigation_electronic_systems/single_parts_f_antenna_diversity/#pos_4

The damage looks minor. That impact bar is sawn off. Maybe due to a runin with a high curb, or streetpole etc.

Get the imact bar off, clean the rear paint and look for cracks/flaking in the coating and if you find any, spray some paint or so.
But it looks as if it's recoated with stonechip and white paint already.

As for the exhaust heatshield, I can't see if that's damaged or partly missing.
Getting a new heatshield on is a pain, as the exhaust has to come off. (and not real cheap, probably some £70 or so)
It looks like you have an aftermarket muffler, so maybe it's easily removable.
By the looks of it only a piece of the side of the heatshield is missing but you can see that better than I do :lol:

Damagewise this is all very minor. Apart from the broken wire this damage would only be noticeable by someone that knows the z4 insideout and it's easy to fix to 100% OEM.

this is why i love this forum, uve made me feel a lot better about this and answered most of my questions for me

so now im gonna source a new rear crash bar (ebay, £30-£50) and new aerial another £20 so im hoping its a £50 fix which isnt so bad at all!!
and as for heatshield, most of it is still there, its just the part nearest the wheelarch has been cut back so its missing a fixing point from the heatshield to wheelarch so i defo want to replace it if i can.

couple of questions, what type of paint should i use to treat the new bar assuming it has rust etc?
what does the diversity antenna actually do? i remember reading the stubby deals with the FM signal and the AM signal was in the bumper... so i assume this is only the AM signal?? as i never use AM is this even worth replacing/fixing? (the very few times ive listened to radio 5 live for football it works anyway?)

thanks again for all your help

 

[Beatman]

The below is a photo of my pre facelift, with the bumper removed. The parts look exactly the same.
I would say they are as the facelift is what it says, different mouldings ect, but the main components would remain the same

 

[GuidoK]

For paint I first removed the rust as good as I could with an angle grinder/electric drill with steel brush (wear face protection!), and after that treated with some spray can rust convertor (like fertan etc), and after that I used the cheapest black spraycan I could find :lol:



..that car from Beatman looks very very clean... like factory new clean

 

[Beatman]

For paint I first removed the rust as good as I could with an angle grinder/electric drill with steel brush (wear face protection!), and after that treated with some spray can rust convertor (like fertan etc), and after that I used the cheapest black spraycan I could find :lol:



..that car from Beatman looks very very clean... like factory new clean

Not new, just removed a few panels and as you said, wire brush and paint

 

[GuidoK]

lol yes that seems more recognizeable.

I thought that the first pic was just a pic from that you removed the bumper for some random job and that that was the state in how you found it :lol: (so I was like wow that is an insane clean car if that is what you find after removing the bumper...)

 

[Beatman]

lol yes that seems more recognizeable.

I thought that the first pic was just a pic from that you removed the bumper for some random job and that that was the state in how you found it :lol: (so I was like wow that is an insane clean car if that is what you find after removing the bumper...)

No just a bit of ocd,

 

[JINGLE]

thanks for reply guys, im gonna go ahead and buy this replacement.... £50 delivered

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Z4-E85-REAR-BUMPER-CRASH-BAR-REINFORCER-7016072-/221711981674?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&fits=Model%3AZ4&hash=item339f105c6a

looks pretty clean and no rust etc, removed from a 2007 so its a facelift (just in case there is a small difference)

im off to Budapest this weekend for a stag do so will fit it the following weekend, and i will also try and get a replacement exhaust heatshiel piece (altho not sure if its a job i can do myself on the drive if i need to start removing exhausts etc to fit it??)

pics of new crash bar...

 

[JINGLE]

is it worth me ordering anything else in the meantime... new bolts or re-use the old 1s....... any type of sealant to put anywhere... anything like that?

thanks once again for advice guys