Rear light trim on E86 – proper mounting

[martinsnajdr]

Hello,

I have noticed that this trim part on my E86 seems to be not properly installed and the trim on the inside of the fender is very loose. I have been fiddling with it for an hour, but i cannot figure out whats the proper way to mount it. It seems to have some kind of metal clip (number 11 on that image), some screw (number 10) and a hole at the end.

Also there are some plastic white washers or inserts in the panel you are mounting the trim to with screws. You know the part number? It looks like one of them was replaced on my car with a thicker one, so the trim cannot be mounted completely straight (like on the left side). Is it possible to pop it out an replace with an OEM part (might be number 7 on the second image)?

I have been searching a lot, but there is not much information about mounting this part properly.

Thank you

 

[bigwinn]

The metal clip (11) allows a screw to secure the plastic part to the bumper clip (not shown in that picture) which sits between the wing and the bumper

 

[martinsnajdr]

Thank you for your reply! I'm not sure I have seen some clip on the bumper in that place. Should be somewhere here?

 

[bigwinn]

Correct

It’s black plastic that secures the wing and bumper

They do snap over time

There is a small hole toward the rear of the car that allows the screw to secure

 

[bigwinn]

The other thing to check is that there is a small plastic dowel on the trim piece that fits around the light. That locates the trim around the light correctly. If that’s not seated in the right location the trim will not sit properly

 

[TriggerFish]

I have my rear bumper off, so here's a photo of what I have.

The plastic mounting brackets are brand new/nothing snapped.

The black rear light shrouds have both snapped here on mine, so the hole for the bolt is missing



As such, to fix it I got a small piece of flat metal, drilled two holes in it, and attached that to the bumper bracket on the car, and then drilled a new hole on the shroud, and attached the metal bracket to that with a nut and bolt.

It works. It's not the most elegant solution, but you never see it with the bumper on. I tried to grab some photos, but it's really hard to see with the rear lights fitted.



It's meant to attach like this

 

[martinsnajdr]

Thank you so much for the photos! Really really helpful. I guess i need to take of the rear bumper and see what's up with mine.