[icedragon]

Hey guys. It was snowing the other day and my mom was about to go out. Concerned for her safety, I told her to drive my 325xi since I thought the X-drive would help in the snow. Anyhoo, when she came home, she told me she accidentally bumped into the back of a Honda Accord Fortunately, she and the Accord driver suffered no injuries. The bimmer and Accord showed no apparent signs of damage, so the SUPER-NICE Accord driver just let the incident go. *th-up*
Unfortunately, the bimmer was very dirty that day so it was hard to see any damage. After I washed it today, I noticed that on the front bumper, there are 2 areas that are pinched up and 1 area that's dented.

Here are some pics. It's hard to clearly see the damage because the Monaco Blue hides it a bit, so I circled it in red.







So how should I repair this? I will be covering the repair costs myself so an affordable solution would be great. I have no intention of informing my mom as I don't want to make her feel guilty.

Option 1: Does anyone know a shop that does bumper repairs? However, I'm not sure if the pinches can be easily removed because the front bumper is made of plastic (not metal).
If the front bumper can be repaired, I would add a front lip to the bumper. Any suggestions?

Option 2: Does anyone know a shop that sells replica bumpers? I think the cost of repair would be high, so maybe I'm better off buying a new bumper and getting it painted.

A replica E90 M-sport bumper wouldn't be too bad.



I'd appreciate any other suggestions. Thanks.

[HRC]

Sorry to hear that! I'm glad your mom's okay!

As for your new bumper choices, I think the last two would look real funny with just the front bumper. If your gonna keep the rest of the car stock, or near stock, go with either repairing yours or buying the MSport one.

Danny

[itznin]

Sorry to hear, if it means anything my vote is for the M-Sport bumper.

[Carnage]

Originally Posted by icedragon

So how should I repair this? I will be covering the repair costs myself so an affordable solution would be great. I have no intention of informing my mom as I don't want to make her feel guilty. I don't think the pinches can be dentlessly removed because the front bumper is made of plastic (not metal) and cannot be simply popped out. At the moment, I'm considering buying a new (and preferably affordable) front bumper. Here are the ones I've thought about so far ...

Any other suggestions? (pls provide pic)

Thanks.

Actually it can be "popped" out. Sort of anyway. What they can do it heat up the fender and then push/mold it back to it's original shape. I'm having it done right now on a part to the left of the license plate area (about the size of a racquetball) where I hit some road debris. Cost me about $250 total.

[icedragon]

Originally Posted by matsarge

Actually it can be "popped" out. Sort of anyway. What they can do it heat up the fender and then push/mold it back to it's original shape. I'm having it done right now on a part to the left of the license plate area (about the size of a racquetball) where I hit some road debris. Cost me about $250 total.

Oh really?
That would be great!
But for US$250, I might pay a bit more and get the M-sport bumper.

[jcoo085]

Wouldn't you also need new fog lights with the M bumper?? Or is that part of the package??

[eleven24]

Ahhh, rationalization. Seems to me that part of you saw the damage to the bumper and were not too disappointed about it. It rationalizes the purchase of the new bumper... I know all about it.

It is cool of you not telling your mom though. I'm sure she'd feel really guilty knowing she cost you money, especially when you were nice enough to lend her your car in the snow. But onto your question: I think the M-Sport bumper is the best option - especially if you're only getting the front bumper. I like the Rieger, but without the side skirts (which I don't like) it wouldn't look right.

You might also want to consider how low to the ground all 3 are before buying - especially if you deal with a lot of snow.

[icedragon]

Originally Posted by jcoo085

Wouldn't you also need new fog lights with the M bumper?? Or is that part of the package??

I hope it comes with the fogs.

Originally Posted by eleven24

Ahhh, rationalization. Seems to me that part of you saw the damage to the bumper and were not too disappointed about it. It rationalizes the purchase of the new bumper... I know all about it.

It is cool of you not telling your mom though. I'm sure she'd feel really guilty knowing she cost you money, especially when you were nice enough to lend her your car in the snow. But onto your question: I think the M-Sport bumper is the best option - especially if you're only getting the front bumper. I like the Rieger, but without the side skirts (which I don't like) it wouldn't look right.

You might also want to consider how low to the ground all 3 are before buying - especially if you deal with a lot of snow.

You caught me! If it's cheap, I might just repair it and then add a front lip spoiler. However, if I have to spend a few hundred on repairing the bumper, I might as well spend a bit more and get the M-sport bumper.

I told my mom to drive my car because I knew it would protect her in a crash. And it did just that! The front bumper is pinched and dented, but it did it's job of protecting my mom.

[icedragon]

This Rieger front bumper wouldn't be bad either.
And I can re-use the stock foglights.

[longtran]

get a hartge lip, it will cover all that up.

[ldpantoja]

I can't beleive that people here like the M-Sport bumper better than ACS or even Rieger.

I guess that I'm just an idiot that likes european performance with ricey looks

[JackMac]

I prefer the M-Sport bumper, if you want to make a change. I'm not a fan of non-stock cosmetic mods, but we'll all have our own opinions on that subject.

Hey, you could be the first in US on E90Post to have it

[coupedupcivic]

M sport it...

[the*saint*]

Sorry to hear about the damage but good to hear no one was seriously hurt.

Personally, I'd opt for the M-sport bumper and maybe with correponding carbon fibre splitters. Then again, the Rieger front bumper looks good but without the side skirts (which only look so-so to me) the car would look kinda front heavy, if you know what i mean.

As for repairing your bumper, I'd recommend ColorWorks. They're used by Parkview BMW and provided that the bumper itself isn't cracked, I'd guess that it could be a reasonable patch & repaint.

Hopefully this doesn't keep you from our meet tomorrow!

[Barry626]

Refreshing for a change to read a thread that person cares...
more for their Mom then their car. Exactly way it should be!

Best of luck with your car!