M5/540i MSport front bumper cover replacement.

[Santaclaus4]

Update on post 138 of page 6.​


I really hate to post this 'cause I don't wan't to dissapoint GG, but...
What's a good source to get a replacement M5/MSport bumper cover? I own an acutal M-Sport (unlike all the e-39's you see on CL) and I wan't to replace the front bumper cover and hopefully have it delivered all ready painted. I have read the threads about it over the years but I'd like input from "knowledgeable sources".
Yea, I made it kinda ambiguous because I will pick-and-choose what I want to believe.
I was planning to use Umnitza but I have questions and they don't answer the phone.
FYI, I plan to purchase the ABS cover for perfect ish fit.

[geargrinder]

[Santaclaus4]

Hahahaha... ass hat. Lol
I finally got hold of Umnitza and ordered a bumper cover pre painted.

[cpf9]

Can you update us when you get it? I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts about fit and quality.

I've been pricing up the cost of the M-bumper recently. I looked at Umnitza, but once I selected the pre-paint option, upgraded from the PP to the ABS option and factored in shipping, it seemed rather expensive.

[Santaclaus4]

With shipping, paint and upgraded to stock ABS, the total cost is just over $600. They said it won't ship for a couple weeks because they want the paint to be dry before they box it up.
I decided it was worth having it shipped painted. I don't much feel like running around finding a shop to paint it after I get it. It will arrive at the house, I'll install it myself and "bam!", it's done.
Also, the upgraded to ABS plastic is supposed to be a 100% perfect fit.
I'll post updates.

[AusE39er]

Here's hoping the paint is great. I bought a new aftermarket bumper and took it to a local spray place.

You'd think a new bumper would be pretty easy to get right, but nah.

[DIRTe39]

Picked up an Unmitza ABS bumper and installed last month. Was hoping for a better fit but I can live with it. Got into a bender, reason for the replacement, and may have played a role in the wonky fit but had been going back and forth on whether to go OEM or not. Ultimately, I’m fine with it but I see how it may irritate others.

[philly98540]

upgraded to stock ABS

Also, the upgraded to ABS plastic is supposed to be a 100% perfect fit.

Just a heads up, the factory cover is not ABS, its a special plastic blend. i forget the actual material atm, but its a combo of plastics to give special properties. All the aftermarket covers are ABS or Poly. None are made of the factory blend AFAIK. The issue with the aftermarket covers is they make the mold from a factory cover, then injection mold new ones with that mold. During cooling of the freshly molded cover, the plastic will shrink a bit. This is a normal issue with plastics molding. Poly shrinks more than ABS, so the fit is worse. The ABS ones fit decently good from what I've read on here, but are a bit more brittle and can crack easier if you hit something. The factory material is tougher, so it resists cracking better. What they need is to to make a slightly oversize mold, so the new cover shrinks down to the perfect size, but the cost of that is crazy prohibitive. Some adjust the front bumper mounts to move the slightly smaller poly cover backwards, so they line up at the fender arch better. The ABS one should fit without that mod.

[Santaclaus4]

Well shoot... I was under the impression that ABS was the stock material. I almost went with the BMW part even though it's spendy. I just didnt want to deal with getting it painted. The whole "paint before we ship" really appealed to me.
Maybe I should change my signature line to "if you install overly convenient parts" instead of cheap parts. Lol

[cpf9]

This is all very interesting.

Good luck to you if you can afford $600, but to be honest that strikes me as a lot to pay for the convenience of having it pre-painted and delivered and yet it's still aftermarket and not guaranteed to fit 100%.

There is a seller on ebay based in Lithuania called protuninglv. They have a listing for an aftermarket front bumper which they claim is ABS and includes the fog lights. What's interesting is that they allow you to select with or without PDC holes, with or without the hole for the washers, pre-painted, all for $364 shipped to the US. Seems like a much better deal than Umnitza if it's legit.

Anyone bought from them before?

Edit: oops Latvia not Lithuania

[cpf9]

To add an extra wrinkle to this discussion: I've been browsing European eBay and have found a seller who claims to have ABS, german made, TUV-approved aftermarket replica bumpers. Unlike the Chinese bumpers, they come already primered. I sent an email to the seller to find out if they are willing to ship to the US. I will let you know what they say.

Link is here

[CPHES]

Factory says PC + PBT - Polycarbonate + Polybutylene Terephthalate.

[Santaclaus4]

Well, darn it...
I hope it fits good and is well made. Guess I shoulda done more research.
The only reason I didn't go with the BMW part is not so much cost but that I couldn't get it shipped all ready painted. Well ok, and cost. Lol
I've got lots of rock chips in my hood and a scratch on my fender and my M-Sport T-bar probably won't match the new cover anyway. I'm not sure the best way to get all that addressed without a respray of the car and I don't really want to do that at the moment. At any rate, the original cover is broken due to a car wash incident and the fender liner won't stay in place without tape which looks pretty friggin fugly...

[dannyzabolotny]

If your car is black the paint should match decently, but if you had a silver car I'd say to avoid pre-painting as that will never ever match correctly. Not to rain on your parade but I've never seen an aftermarket bumper from ANY company fit perfectly without modifications. The ABS ones fit better for sure, but they're still not perfect.

[Santaclaus4]

If your car is black the paint should match decently, but if you had a silver car I'd say to avoid pre-painting as that will never ever match correctly. Not to rain on your parade but I've never seen an aftermarket bumper from ANY company fit perfectly without modifications. The ABS ones fit better for sure, but they're still not perfect.

Yea, it's black so I'm not too worried about the new paint color matching the rest of the car. If they can pre add rock chips it'll be an even better match.
The Umnitza website says the ABS is 100%. I realize it's just AD copy. The factory bumper cover was even more expensive and still needed painted.
I'm a mechanic and electronics technician by trade, not a body and fender guy. Sometimes you gotta know your limitations. I may eventually pay someone to un-f*ck my paint issues.

- - - Updated - - -

Occasionally, I wish I could afford to just drop my car off somewhere with a list of gripes and tell them to "fix everything". I enjoy "working" on the car but sometimes hate "fixing" it.

[cpf9]

santaclaus4: Some online reviews of these bumpers say they fit fine, others say they are always slightly too short and don't line up with the fender, while others still claim they can be adjusted during install to improve the fit (though it remains unclear to me exactly how). I will keep my fingers crossed for you that your bumper fits nicely.

The seller of the German-made replicas, dm-autoteile, got back to me to say that unfortunately they do not ship to the US.

Meanwhile, the Latvian seller, protuninglv, got back to me to say they can offer shipping to the US. They are selling the ABS Chinese replicas, which I assume are the same as the Umnitza bumpers. They can do front and back bumpers, pre-painted, with or without PDC, with or without washer holes, and also including front fogs and bulbs for a grand total of around $850 shipped. I'm currently debating whether to go all in on front and back, or just get the front one for now to assess quality before doing the back as well.

It's always a risk with the pre-paint option, both in terms of color match and longevity. Since my car is black, I think match will be less of an issue. Before I put in an order, I may also give my local MAACO a quick call to see how much they will charge for bumper paint.

[Santaclaus4]

santaclaus4: Some online reviews of these bumpers say they fit fine, others say they are always slightly too short and don't line up with the fender, while others still claim they can be adjusted during install to improve the fit (though it remains unclear to me exactly how). I will keep my fingers crossed for you that your bumper fits nicely.

The seller of the German-made replicas, dm-autoteile, got back to me to say that unfortunately they do not ship to the US.

Meanwhile, the Latvian seller, protuninglv, got back to me to say they can offer shipping to the US. They are selling the ABS Chinese replicas, which I assume are the same as the Umnitza bumpers. They can do front and back bumpers, pre-painted, with or without PDC, with or without washer holes, and also including front fogs and bulbs for a grand total of around $850 shipped. I'm currently debating whether to go all in on front and back, or just get the front one for now to assess quality before doing the back as well.

It's always a risk with the pre-paint option, both in terms of color match and longevity. Since my car is black, I think match will be less of an issue. Before I put in an order, I may also give my local MAACO a quick call to see how much they will charge for bumper paint.

Well, if you get one of these, we'll have to meet in the middle somewhere and take pictures/have lunch and take lots of pictures and notes for the forum.
Perhaps Las Vegas? I know, not in the middle of the U.S. but close enough. Lol

[sienayr]

Factory says PC + PBT - Polycarbonate + Polybutylene Terephthalate.

Hmmm I think this is incorrect, at least for E39s, I looked into plastic welding a factory bumper, and from my understanding the material is

PP+EPDM

Polypropylene(PP)+ Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (EPDM)

the Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer "rubberizes" the bumper, giving it more flex. It's what makes the OE bumpers less fragile than the ABS bumpers.

Edit: I have a brand new OE M5 bumper in the garage waiting to be painted and installed, I'll check the code on the back when I open it.

[JimLev]

Sienayr, see if your code matches mine. I bought my M5 bumper directly from BMW. It came primed, I sprayed it with Bulldog adhesive (recommended) and then shot it with base and clear.

M5FB_4.JPG

M5FB_6.JPG

[CPHES]

Yes - my comment about PC + PBT is from a bumper with the same part # as Jim’s - for what we have, it is the same.

- - - Updated - - -

Edit - I can believe that a non m5 bumper and a m5 bumper are different materials from bmw - they feel and flex differently

[JimLev]

Yes, the M5 is stiffer than my old 540 bumper. The 540 bumper would flex quite a bit.

[sienayr]

Yes - my comment about PC + PBT is from a bumper with the same part # as Jim’s - for what we have, it is the same.

I stand corrected. Sheez I can't believe the internet gave me bad information, what is this world coming to.

[gsxrken]

I just replaced my front bumper with OEM after a mishap with a parking curb (not me). I got it for about $650, and then I decided to buy a new BMW fog lights as well because one as broken and the other one was so sandblasted it looked horrible. I had a body shop spray it the metallic black, and swap the parts myself. I am into it for about a grand, which sucks, but it does look good. It doesn’t stand out much from my otherwise stone-chipped hood since it’s so low.
Just ordered new Koni yellows and related parts included control arms and thrust arms etc for another $1,000 or so. These cars are great but every once in a while you need to ante up. Still beats a car payment!
86111C30-A916-4B1A-9B7A-37268BC4AF8F.jpg

[Santaclaus4]

These cars are great but every once in a while you need to ante up. Still beats a car payment!
86111C30-A916-4B1A-9B7A-37268BC4AF8F.jpg

I completely agree.

[scubajim20]

I completely agree.

and lower insurance and annual car tax. (yes in CT we pay tax on our cars value every year. Obviously older cars pay less tax than newer cars)