Fabric under front bumper?

Okay, so I have had my new M3 home from Euro delivery for 3 days now, and I'm finally actually learning a bit more about this thing. I'll admit I haven't been into cars my whole life like some of you might have been, so my questions here might seem a bit ridiculous to some here! Anyways... I let a friend take the wheel this afternoon, and besides stalling the 6MT a few times (a bit rusty I guess) he took the car pretty fast over some pretty bumpy railroad tracks during his "test drive". As a passenger I didn't hear anything too loud in the car body, but after he went home I looked under the front bumper and noticed what seems to be black structures covered in a sort of fabric liner on both sides (I feel like an idiot here not even knowing what to call them). There is a bit of it ripped on one side, hanging down- maybe 4 square inches. It might have been that way all along, but I'm wondering if that might indicate that the front end hit pretty hard over the tracks. Is there anything else I should check? Or does the lack of any body damage suggest that everything is okay? The car drives fine, and everything else seems okay.

It's fine. Those felt covered things are designed to take abuse.

See this diagram:



They are called "engine compartment shield tips, and they are actually held up with Bowden cables on both sides - spring loaded, so they can take a hit, and return to their normal positions.

One of mine is also torn a little bit - doesn't affect functionality at all, but it bothered me enough such that I ordered replacements from Tischer (who, by the way, is not shipping to Canada again!!! )

TTBear- thank you for such a thorough and helpful response! I won't worry about it too much then. For a clean look could I just trim the excess felt? It does leave me wondering why they'd cover those engine compartment shield tips in felt. In my memory other cars have a plastic-covered area down there.

Those pieces have an aerodynamic purpose, but most importantly, the middle piece deflects hot air from the oil cooler to the bottom of the car, away from the engine compartment (take a look under your car). Their other purpose is to secure the bottom of the bumper. They're not there to protect anything, as any hit with a parking stop or such would easily break them. They'd just let you know you hit something .

Bottom line, if they're damaged, just replace them; they're pretty cheap, especially the corner ones. And no, they don't clear regular parking stops, so always watch your distance. That's probably what happened to your car, not the railroad tracks. Good luck.

Mine are damaged too....... nailed someones skid plate that was laying on the autobahn. Was highly upset.....because I had the car for 28 minutes when it happened.

Which part number (or numbers) are we talking about up there?

i think its number 23

try this http://bmwfans.info/parts/catalog/E90/Sedan/Europe/M3-S65/browse/vehicle_trim/shield_engine_comp_underfloor_panelling/

And most of us scrap that piece at some point or another...make sure you have EDC set to sport mode when going through bump or steep incline.

bump good infio

kerriganisland wrote

bump good infio

Really? What information are you speaking of? The broken link, removed pictures, or the story of how the guy broke his car in 28 minutes?

Topic has been covered.

ghostofsenna wrote

Really? What information are you speaking of? The broken link, removed pictures, or the story of how the guy broke his car in 28 minutes?

Topic has been covered.

Mine just got damaged, did some searching found this, it was helpful.

The part is referred to as an under tray or belly pan. I will skip the snarky comments about reviving an old thread.

There are aftermarket pieces now

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1439553

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-turner-motorsport-parts/turner-e9x-m3-skid-plate/021807tms03~a/

OEM

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-bmw-parts/front-belly-pan-kit/51757899820kt/

I'm sure other vendors have OEM kits or the parts.


I actually was hoping for a link that describes all of the screws required as I went for the one piece unit (deansbimmer) and only want to jack up my car once. Having all of the hardware before one starts helps.

This under tray was an issue back on my E36 M3. Replaced that with an aluminum 2 piece unit.

drrust wrote

The part is referred to as an under tray or belly pan. I will skip the snarky comments about reviving an old thread.

There are aftermarket pieces now

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1439553

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-turner-motorsport-parts/turner-e9x-m3-skid-plate/021807tms03~a/

OEM

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-bmw-parts/front-belly-pan-kit/51757899820kt/

I'm sure other vendors have OEM kits or the parts.


I actually was hoping for a link that describes all of the screws required as I went for the one piece unit (deansbimmer) and only want to jack up my car once. Having all of the hardware before one starts helps.

This under tray was an issue back on my E36 M3. Replaced that with an aluminum 2 piece unit.

Thanks for chiming in! I got all but one screw on the passenger side fender liner due to me being injured so I will need a friend to come thru and help with that, but i got the driver side fine but its very difficult to bend the fender liner back to get to the two other bolts connecting bumper to fender. I'm afraid ill break it or should it be able to be handled that rough without cracking? thanks again!

drrust wrote

The part is referred to as an under tray or belly pan. I will skip the snarky comments about reviving an old thread.

There are aftermarket pieces now

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1439553

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-turner-motorsport-parts/turner-e9x-m3-skid-plate/021807tms03~a/

OEM

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-bmw-parts/front-belly-pan-kit/51757899820kt/


I'm sure other vendors have OEM kits or the parts.


I actually was hoping for a link that describes all of the screws required as I went for the one piece unit (deansbimmer) and only want to jack up my car once. Having all of the hardware before one starts helps.

This under tray was an issue back on my E36 M3. Replaced that with an aluminum 2 piece unit.

Just checked the links and I will 100% buy that when and if the felt rips off again, it ripped of once before and i was able to swap it prior to the price hike! Today when working on my front bumper i noticed the felt and both sides hanging by those cables and was worried when i damaged my bumper that was hanging down damaged. After reading mentioned threads i realized its designed that way and if it rips off again like last time i will by the aluminum

I'm not sure I'd go for aluminum. The whole point of that thing is that it should have a bit of give and flex so that it doesn't rip the whole bumper off when you scrape on a driveway or whatever.

It's not supposed to be a full-on skidplate that protects from huge pieces of debris while you're off-roading.

dparm wrote

I'm not sure I'd go for aluminum. The whole point of that thing is that it should have a bit of give and flex so that it doesn't rip the whole bumper off when you scrape on a driveway or whatever.

It's not supposed to be a full-on skidplate that protects from huge pieces of debris while you're off-roading.

I have the aluminum replacement and have 2 things to add to this.

1. The Aluminum plate doesn't hang as low as the OE piece, so it's less likely to get snagged on stuff
2. It's easier to install, and uninstall than the factory pieces.

it's worth every penny imo.

Reading this thread like

I unfortunately hit a piece of disintegrated semi truck tire the other week which tore up the underbody shield as well as damaged the front bumper cap. I am replacing both. I had an opportunity to ask the restoration shop about doing a full aluminum piece, and they strongly discourage it. Their reasoning is that BMW designed the shield to be tear-away because (1) the shield was designed to keep out moisture and dirt, not as a skid plate, and (2) a stronger material could damage the mounting points if it strikes anything hard enough to damage it.

If I were to do, I would go with Deansbimmer So far there has been really good feedback from those who have purchased one.

Custom M3 Aluminum Undertray Replacement 2008-2013 http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1439553

Our undertray is not advertised as a skid plate. It is not intended to be a structural enhancement meant to absorb impacts from offroading. Stiff in and of itself however, when installed it is still going to withstand impacts that would otherwise destroy the OEM felts. It will still allow "emergency" upward deflection of the bumper cover in case you accidentally drive up a steep incline and the whole bumper and tray need to flex upward- just like the OEM felts allow. Also, the tray attaches to the OEM bowden cables so downward aerodynamic deflection under high speed is prevented- same as stock.

It was designed to retain the positives of the OEM felts, and eliminate the negatives.

Cheers!