Driver sider undertray came loose

[romero1990]

Hi All,

I drove to a plaza that I have never been to. The bumps turned out to be slightly higher than the other places. When I passed it, I can hear the bump scratching/pushing on the undertray. On my way home, I sort of heard loss screw kind of dangling sound. I managed to drive home slowly.

I looked under afterward, it seems to me something on the driver side came loose. If I push the area where driver side meets center piece, there is about half inch play. It cannot go up further, but I did not dare to pull down. The passenger side is solid and no play.

If I looked up the diagrams, the only thing holds that area is Bowden cable unit (#24). The part seems to be clipped onto somewhere underneath. But when I pushed up, I can feel solid resistance like hitting a block. A loose cable should not do that.

I wonder if anyone who has opened up the belly can help to figure out what might be broken? I live in condo so no direct access to lift/jack (not even allowed). I want to try to find out what is broken and just order the parts before going to shop.

(When I looked under, I noticed the few screws that holds bumpers are not there. Probably were gone when I bought from last owner earlier this year. Can anyone point out the part# for the bumper screws too?)






thanks

[roastbeef]

The cables connect at the top and twist into a bracket like a button... they are somewhat firm.

[romero1990]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

The cables connect at the top and twist into a bracket like a button... they are somewhat firm.

thx. do you think the top of the cable can come undone if it got pushed hard from the bottom? After looking at a few YouTube video, the area should be like my passenger side, no play up/down.

I probably should tear the area up entirely. Last time the car went into shop, the mechanics found a big bolt fell/caught by the under tray.

[roastbeef]

They get old and can just break.

[amrazM]

Came loose? You mean it’s broken

[pbonsalb]

The front felt undertrays are usually badly damaged on any of these cars that have been driven. Particularly the side wings. Not cheap but replacement wings are available, as is the center tray. Deansbimmer sells a flat aluminum plate replacement that is more durable and won’t scrape itself to pieces over a few years.

[EJT86]

It’s only held on by the two cables, and clips that you screw it into. The new clips suck and end up tearing the felt which might be why you’re missing some. You don’t NEED a jack or jack stands, find a curb to straddle maybe in a park or lot. BUT I’ll tell you this, the treys are so fragile, and since it sounds like you haven’t been under there in a while, there’s a good chance it’s been broken for a while you just didn’t know it. So now that you do know there’s not much of a need to treat it like a huge deal, just my advice. If it’s a broken cable I have two extras from my old trey

[Helmsman]

Just bought one the other week, 90 friggin Euro for a piece of plastic. Ridiculous BMW.

[romero1990]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

The front felt undertrays are usually badly damaged on any of these cars that have been driven. Particularly the side wings. Not cheap but replacement wings are available, as is the center tray. Deansbimmer sells a flat aluminum plate replacement that is more durable and won’t scrape itself to pieces over a few years.

I have been thinking about letting it wear out and change for the aluminum one some day. I think there is a aluminum undertray from forum that covers the whole area, not just center. Gotta admit, the car was lowered to like 1" off ground when I got it, I managed to move it up to 2" clearance but still pretty scary from time to time. (the previous owner had the KW coilover installed)

[romero1990]

Originally Posted by EJT86

It’s only held on by the two cables, and clips that you screw it into. The new clips suck and end up tearing the felt which might be why you’re missing some. You don’t NEED a jack or jack stands, find a curb to straddle maybe in a park or lot. BUT I’ll tell you this, the treys are so fragile, and since it sounds like you haven’t been under there in a while, there’s a good chance it’s been broken for a while you just didn’t know it. So now that you do know there’s not much of a need to treat it like a huge deal, just my advice. If it’s a broken cable I have two extras from my old trey

that's true though, I have been only down there probably twice since gotten the car. The main concern here is safety as it might drop while I am driving. I DD it (5miles to work round trip), and random Sunday spirited strolls. I'll probably just drive it slowly for now before getting it figured out. I'll check if it was the cables broken. don't really mind if the replacement is used. thanks!

[romero1990]

just realized the video embedding did not work. fix it to show what's up down there.

[Frozen]

I'm about to go with the deans Bimmer one

[Siajoon]

There is an extremely easy solution to this... I wouldn't get the solid belly tray because i have heard that it can be dangerous when hitting things with such a solid piece. The hit needs to be absorbed somehow and if it's a solid piece the body of the car will take the shock.

The felt on the other hand is soft so it's suppose to do its job and take the damage.

What's the solution you ask? Well I just recently changed both left and right wings and the center front belly tray for roughly 500 dollars from FCP euro. And with there life time warranty on everything if it gets damaged I'll order another one and return my damaged one and get my money refunded. Easy.

[romero1990]

Originally Posted by Frozen

I'm about to go with the deans Bimmer one

let me know how it goes. I am certainly interested in replacing it with something solid

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by Siajoon

There is an extremely easy solution to this... I wouldn't get the solid belly tray because i have heard that it can be dangerous when hitting things with such a solid piece. The hit needs to be absorbed somehow and if it's a solid piece the body of the car will take the shock.

The felt on the other hand is soft so it's suppose to do its job and take the damage.

What's the solution you ask? Well I just recently changed both left and right wings and the center front belly tray for roughly 500 dollars from FCP euro. And with there life time warranty on everything if it gets damaged I'll order another one and return my damaged one and get my money refunded. Easy.

$500.... Woah, think I'll stay away from the curbs instead.

[Siajoon]

Originally Posted by Helmsman

$500.... Woah, think I'll stay away from the curbs instead.

Well, I got the car like this unfortunetly. The left and right wings were completely missing and the center belly pan was torn to hell. So after 2 years of ownership I figured my car deserved a clean splash shield lol.


The sellers excuse was his dad stalled it and the lip went over a bump stop in a parking spot and when he reversed it took the pan and side shields with it

[romero1990]

after watching a video on how to uninstall the belly pan, I think the cable nut might be unhooked from the clip when the belly pan got pushed up really hard. The video uploader almost just slided the nut to one side and gave a push. Well, I probably should not speculate more but find a time/place to take it off and see what happened

[Frozen]

Originally Posted by Siajoon

There is an extremely easy solution to this... I wouldn't get the solid belly tray because i have heard that it can be dangerous when hitting things with such a solid piece. The hit needs to be absorbed somehow and if it's a solid piece the body of the car will take the shock.

The felt on the other hand is soft so it's suppose to do its job and take the damage.

What's the solution you ask? Well I just recently changed both left and right wings and the center front belly tray for roughly 500 dollars from FCP euro. And with there life time warranty on everything if it gets damaged I'll order another one and return my damaged one and get my money refunded. Easy.

Interesting point about how this should not be such a solid piece in order to absorb shock and take pressure off the car.

I wonder if deansbimmer has ever commented on this.

[EJT86]

Originally Posted by romero1990

after watching a video on how to uninstall the belly pan, I think the cable nut might be unhooked from the clip when the belly pan got pushed up really hard. The video uploader almost just slided the nut to one side and gave a push. Well, I probably should not speculate more but find a time/place to take it off and see what happened

Doubtful, you have to twist it when putting it in then it relaxes to its normal position “locking” it in place when you let go

[Scrippy]

Go back to that same speed bump and drive fast. Jk, you will become veeeeery familiar with the 3 little assholes under the bumper. The world is on a mission to destroy the 3 little assholes under our front bumpers. You will learn to look ahead and predict moronically performed maneuvers by other motorists and avoid their debris if it is 3 cubic inches or greater or you will lose your 3 little assholes under our front bumper. Welcome brother!

[romero1990]

Originally Posted by Scrippy

Go back to that same speed bump and drive fast. Jk, you will become veeeeery familiar with the 3 little assholes under the bumper. The world is on a mission to destroy the 3 little assholes under our front bumpers. You will learn to look ahead and predict moronically performed maneuvers by other motorists and avoid their debris if it is 3 cubic inches or greater or you will lose your 3 little assholes under our front bumper. Welcome brother!

ah hahahah good one.

I managed to raise the coilover to like 2 inches off ground. The bothering part is all 3 parts are physically lower than the front bumper. Like BMW build it so we can screw it up.

[Scrippy]

Originally Posted by romero1990

ah hahahah good one.

I managed to raise the coilover to like 2 inches off ground. The bothering part is all 3 parts are physically lower than the front bumper. Like BMW build it so we can screw it up.

Turner makes a more rigid and slightly lower profile one. I'm a little lowered so I've replaced the center piece 3 times and the two side pieces like 4-5 each! I'm probably going to fab some out of aluminum sheet metal for the side pieces. They hang low to force air under or around the tires but I don't think I'll mis the extra .00000025 of a mile per gallon they provide.