Euro Bumper Installed

[STALKER]

If the OP chooses to purchases a EU bumper and spend $1000 or $5000 on it, its his/her choice.
Some ppl would say some of you are nuts to spend $5000 on wheels or $500 on SSK.

Each to his own...thats my opinion.

[SlammedR8]

Originally Posted by STALKER

If the OP chooses to purchases a EU bumper and spend $1000 or $5000 on it, its his/her choice.
Some ppl would say some of you are nuts to spend $5000 on wheels or $500 on SSK.

Each to his own...thats my opinion.

I agree with you, but lets be honest...spending $5000 on aftermarket wheels that make your car different from the rest and then spending $2000 on a bumper where you could have spent $500, or even $1000 is dumb.

Just my opinion, your LITERALLY throwing money out the window!

[SlammedR8]

Originally Posted by F000007

I absolutely never said a top shop couldn't match the color perfectly, don't know where you got that from. If they can do the paintwork immensely better than the factory then they can easily match the color, it doesn't take a genius to do that. Only that a likely benefit of having the factory painted bumper is that it will match the paint on the car extremely well straight from the box.

Yes you did

Originally Posted by F000007

The only possible benefit of factory paint is that it's practically certain the color will match perfectly well. In terms of paint quality you can have immensely better paintwork done by top-end professionals.

Now your referring to the quality/finish matching, but in your original post...you said "the color will match perfectly well"

[Eliminator]

I was embarrassed to mention this part of the story but it may help clear up some confusion on why I would do this. I pulled a dumbass move and released the clutch accidentally and ran in to my tool box in my garage damaging my original bumper in such a way that it could not be repaired with bondo and paint. There are innies and outies and the bottom lip is wavy. <- that sucks! I do repair myself, so now that I have the original off the car, I'll start sanding and fix as much as possible but the outies will be difficult and the wavy bottom lip is impossible. It will never be the same, so it will become my winter bumper. I have the color matched - didn't test it yet - and some 2K polyurethane clear to spray on. I'll have to document the repair for those interested. This way, in the winter, since the car sits lower than most, I can act like a snow plow and not lose my marbles in concern. I also want to cover the bottom lip of the winter bumper with chip-tape, which is clear bra. We manufacture this chip-tape for OEM's so I have plenty!

[Eliminator]

BTW - Since I work in Paint Shops with all OEM's I can tell you honestly the amount of money that goes in to a paint shop far outways any other dept in the factory. The paint shop is enclosed and all employees have to walk through a wind shower to remove any debree and they have to wear paint suits and caps to cover their hair. Particulate of any type is frowned upon in the paint shop. The paint ovens are absolutely perfect with temperature and humidity, filtering and updraft boothes throughout the process. Extremely particular and impossible to replicate in an aftermarket repair booth. So the application of the paint is perfect. Got it. However, the "cheapness" of the OEM starts to shine through on the choice of clear coat and the paint, to a lesser extent. I can spray a much better, harder, clearer, thicker clear coat myself, but I cannot keep the particals off while the clear flashes and I cannot apply such a uniform coat. Of course some have more talent and un updraft booth!

[J08M3]

[gthirtyfizle]

Originally Posted by Eliminator

I was embarrassed to mention this part of the story but it may help clear up some confusion on why I would do this. I pulled a dumbass move and released the clutch accidentally and ran in to my tool box in my garage damaging my original bumper in such a way that it could not be repaired with bondo and paint. There are innies and outies and the bottom lip is wavy. <- that sucks! I do repair myself, so now that I have the original off the car, I'll start sanding and fix as much as possible but the outies will be difficult and the wavy bottom lip is impossible. It will never be the same, so it will become my winter bumper. I have the color matched - didn't test it yet - and some 2K polyurethane clear to spray on. I'll have to document the repair for those interested. This way, in the winter, since the car sits lower than most, I can act like a snow plow and not lose my marbles in concern. I also want to cover the bottom lip of the winter bumper with chip-tape, which is clear bra. We manufacture this chip-tape for OEM's so I have plenty!

Now that makes a bit more sense......

BTW, good luck on fixing that bumper. U should post before and after pics to show us ur progress. Y dont u try to alter the stock one? Sounds like u know what ur doing. Worth giving it a try. I have no clue about this kind of stuff so dont know if its even possible, but if it is, hey, why not.

[badfish]

I personally would never have the bumper holes filled and then painted. The filling material will not be the same as the bumper. Therefore with expansion and contraction you can end up some cracking and then the lines will show through. I've had a lot of experience making custom parts using materials like body filler, kitty hair, fiberglass, epoxies and I just would not recommend or trust a fill job for something like this. There is very little adhesion area around the holes so the adherence will have to be done from backside of the bumper cover. Even with very good adhesion back there, you still are filling in a fairly large hole and the edges around the hole will not stick well unless you can plastic weld it using the same material (which these shops are probably not going to do). The best way to get rid of the reflectors is to do what the OP did, replace the bumper cover. Looks great BTW!

[datbimmerdoe]

Super clean!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[JCtx]

There's nothing like factory folks. And I'm not talking about a shop not being able to do a better job. Problem is if you make it better, it's not going to look factory... and same if worse.
More than the color (which is a challenge all by itself), the shop would have to match the factory 'orange peel', which is practically impossible without exactly the same equipment, method, conditions, and materials. THAT's why if you want your car like new, that's the only way to go. And even with the same equipment and materials, the euro bumper might not match our bumpers perfectly, since they're from a different batch (just like a fingerprint), but should be close enough not to be noticeable.

It's a lot more expensive than I thought (understandable, coming from Germany), so I'm not going to replace it now, but it's good to know the option is there in case I ever really need to replace it. Good day.

[STALKER]

The EU bumper looks great bros.
I had one on my e46 M3 as well.

[Big Windy]

Originally Posted by Eliminator

I was embarrassed to mention this part of the story but it may help clear up some confusion on why I would do this. I pulled a dumbass move and released the clutch accidentally and ran in to my tool box in my garage damaging my original bumper in such a way that it could not be repaired with bondo and paint. There are innies and outies and the bottom lip is wavy. <- that sucks! I do repair myself, so now that I have the original off the car, I'll start sanding and fix as much as possible but the outies will be difficult and the wavy bottom lip is impossible. It will never be the same, so it will become my winter bumper. I have the color matched - didn't test it yet - and some 2K polyurethane clear to spray on. I'll have to document the repair for those interested. This way, in the winter, since the car sits lower than most, I can act like a snow plow and not lose my marbles in concern. I also want to cover the bottom lip of the winter bumper with chip-tape, which is clear bra. We manufacture this chip-tape for OEM's so I have plenty!

awesome! never heard of a winter bumper before, but sounds like a great idea! thanks for the specs by PM too.

[SlammedR8]

Originally Posted by badfish

I personally would never have the bumper holes filled and then painted. The filling material will not be the same as the bumper. Therefore with expansion and contraction you can end up some cracking and then the lines will show through. I've had a lot of experience making custom parts using materials like body filler, kitty hair, fiberglass, epoxies and I just would not recommend or trust a fill job for something like this. There is very little adhesion area around the holes so the adherence will have to be done from backside of the bumper cover. Even with very good adhesion back there, you still are filling in a fairly large hole and the edges around the hole will not stick well unless you can plastic weld it using the same material (which these shops are probably not going to do). The best way to get rid of the reflectors is to do what the OP did, replace the bumper cover. Looks great BTW!

sorry, but i have to disagree with you on the cracking and then the lines showing up. I have had mine done for 6 months, and there is NO cracking whatsoever. You can run your hand over where they used to be and you wouldn;t even feel it, much less see it. Mine and Jaypod were done at the same time at the same body shop, both were done from the backside of the bumper. AND lets just say it does crack and the lines begin to show, it will cost 300-400 to repaint the bumper and those cracks would most likely NEVER come back once they are repainted the second time. So it still cost you $500 (original filling and paintjob) and then $300-$400 (repaint if cracks occur), so your still only it in for $800-$900 bucks!

[IND-Distribution]

The bumper looks great!! Glad to hear another customer report great customer service from Simon/Gary of RennSpec. Good guys over there!

[badfish]

Originally Posted by slammedm3

sorry, but i have to disagree with you on the cracking and then the lines showing up. I have had mine done for 6 months, and there is NO cracking whatsoever. You can run your hand over where they used to be and you wouldn;t even feel it, much less see it. Mine and Jaypod were done at the same time at the same body shop, both were done from the backside of the bumper. AND lets just say it does crack and the lines begin to show, it will cost 300-400 to repaint the bumper and those cracks would most likely NEVER come back once they are repainted the second time. So it still cost you $500 (original filling and paintjob) and then $300-$400 (repaint if cracks occur), so your still only it in for $800-$900 bucks!

6 months isn't a long time IMO. I'd say give it some time, use, and weather and see how it holds up. If getting it repaired or leaving it cracked is acceptable to you then it isn't such a big deal. You might just barely see it wear through. I remember talking to some of the best shops in my area about filling it in and they all would do it but could not guarantee it would not need repair later on. slammedm3 your car looks fantastic, too BTW...

Anyhow, I was just saying that I wouldn't get my reflectors filled in. Eliminator got rid of them the best way possible IMO. If you think he spent too much that's your opinion and I'm sure some other people share it as well. But given the choices, I think he's made a great one at that and I would have done the same.

[dmerk1978]

Originally Posted by badfish

I personally would never have the bumper holes filled and then painted. The filling material will not be the same as the bumper. Therefore with expansion and contraction you can end up some cracking and then the lines will show through. I've had a lot of experience making custom parts using materials like body filler, kitty hair, fiberglass, epoxies and I just would not recommend or trust a fill job for something like this. There is very little adhesion area around the holes so the adherence will have to be done from backside of the bumper cover. Even with very good adhesion back there, you still are filling in a fairly large hole and the edges around the hole will not stick well unless you can plastic weld it using the same material (which these shops are probably not going to do). The best way to get rid of the reflectors is to do what the OP did, replace the bumper cover. Looks great BTW!

not going to read the whole thread but i had my reflectors deleted and filled not with bondo or other such products but the shop actually used and old e9x bumper and plastic welded the filler piece so it can have the same consistency,

[rzm3]

Originally Posted by Eliminator

BTW - Since I work in Paint Shops with all OEM's I can tell you honestly the amount of money that goes in to a paint shop far outways any other dept in the factory. The paint shop is enclosed and all employees have to walk through a wind shower to remove any debree and they have to wear paint suits and caps to cover their hair. Particulate of any type is frowned upon in the paint shop. The paint ovens are absolutely perfect with temperature and humidity, filtering and updraft boothes throughout the process. Extremely particular and impossible to replicate in an aftermarket repair booth. So the application of the paint is perfect. Got it. However, the "cheapness" of the OEM starts to shine through on the choice of clear coat and the paint, to a lesser extent. I can spray a much better, harder, clearer, thicker clear coat myself, but I cannot keep the particals off while the clear flashes and I cannot apply such a uniform coat. Of course some have more talent and un updraft booth!

Thank you! Finally someone who understands and appreciates the amount of engineering and quality control from an OEM. This is why "factory paint" and "no body work" means so much to the value of your car.

Sure OE BMW paint has orange peel, but it doesn't matter because it seems to have been accepted as the industry standard. But when you get anything painted by a bodyshop, even the best ones, there will be imperfections (i.e. dust, bubble, etc.). The edges/corners of aftermarket paint jobs will never be as smooth as OE paint, and this is how experienced car appraisers check for body work.

[RENN Spec]

Glad you enjoy the bumper!