Front Bumper Cover Repair; Advice Needed

[Farrow]

So I was on a date with this beautiful girl driving around with the top down in my beautiful car when suddenly there is this horrible scraping sound coming from the front of the car. I pull over to check it out and, sure enough, the bumper cover had fallen clean off. I, as you can imagine, was rather vexed by this unfortunate event, she however, could not stop laughing.

But let's forget all that, now I'm just looking for a way to (hopefully) repair it or replace it.

Here's a few images of the bumper cover: http://imgur.com/a/1hEzz

It appears to me that there was essentially nothing holding the bumper to the car besides the mounting brackets which would explain why it decided to fall off. It's missing both the 8mm fasteners on the bottom corners and the bumper bolts which line the top. Also most of the bumper bolt holdings (or whatever the technical term is) are rather torn up.

But the final question is, do you think I can repair this? Or do I need to buy a new bumper cover?

[Vintage42]

How many miles on the car, where did you buy it, how long have you had it, did you hit anything with the bumper, might CarFax show that it had an old accident, and could there be other problems as a result?
Does the bumper cover have any damage to its mounting holes that might prevent it from being securely reattached? If so, they might not be repairable, and a new cover is needed.

[Farrow]

The car has 80k miles, I've had it for a few months, the car was a salvage title, the hood and a few other things had been replaced (I can't remember what specifically). Yes the majority of the mounting holes lining the top are torn and not complete, I would reference the link I posted, it will show the extent of the damage. Also, as far as I know the issue is solely with the bumper cover

[danomite]

...the problem is right there in the first sentence: *see highlighted area below

So I was on a date with this beautiful girl driving around with the top down in my beautiful car when suddenly there is this horrible scraping sound coming from the front of the car.

#coupe4lyfe

[Mr Bingley]

Looks like you need a new bumper cover, at the least, and that the salvage repair was less than optimal--like they already tried to repair and reuse the damaged cover and it didn't work. You could fix it, but it would take a lot of "engineering o' the hills." I say to save yourself the trouble and effort and find a good used cover in silver and mount it properly. Why don't you post pictures of the front end including the core support, headlights, bumper reinforcement and hood, and we'll see how the rest is.

[Vintage42]

... Does the bumper cover have any damage to its mounting holes that might prevent it from being securely reattached?...

... the majority of the mounting holes lining the top are torn and not complete, I would reference the link I posted, it will show the extent of the damage...

The link did look like your mounting holes were torn apart, but I thought I would ask to be sure. I had not seen a bumper cover off a car to know how it is attached.

[RedZeddy]

I did a respray not long ago and while getting some quotes, 2 shops declined to repair my front bumper which was in much better shape than yours. The issue is that if you "repair" such a bad shape part as opposed to their recommended "replace", they will end up doing some surgery and putting it back with screws attached to some other places. Subsequently, you cant claim any defects (alignment issues, fitment, etc) on the job since it was recommended that you replace the unit. Furthermore, they protect themselves from customer complaints by not doing those types of jobs without 100% customer satisfaction.

In my opinion, if you want to save money fix it yourself with the several DIYs on how to fix plastic bumpers and then do a DIY paint job yourself. There have been several "decently high" quality rattle can jobs done here, I recall a forest green Z3 who did it.

However, if you have the "mean$$$", then go the "do it once, do it right" route and get yourself a new bumper and respray. Id especially recommend this if you plan on keeping the car for a long time. Conversely, buy a used bumper that matches your color as a mid-way third alternative, but beware of running into the same issues.

[RedZeddy]

Here is the thread I was referring to:
https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...+can+paint+job

[LannVouivre]

I really don't recommend repairing the bumper. Randy F is the only person I'd trust to do that, and honestly you may end up with hours and hours of labor to recondition a $500 bumper. Ask how I know!

[SounderMN]

Shop around. I found a brand new bumper, primed and ready on CraigsList for only $75. My bumper is in pretty good shape, but for that price I'll take the new one. I'm going to get it painted and install it in the next month or two. If anyone wants a pretty decent cosmos black one in MN, let me know.