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bumper cover repainted, pics & installation info
I picked up my bumper cover yesterday. This is the second or third strip and repaint, I seem to have lost count. I think this is the third. Next time it'll probably be a new cover. License plate holes filled. I just put the grill back on, I'm about to put the brake ducts back on and install the cover.    More pics to come at http://www.rfdm.com/BumperCoverRepaint/pics/ | | Reply » bumper cover repainted, pics & installation info |
Is it cheaper to strip/repaint than to just replace the cover?
By how much?
| | Reply » bumper cover repainted, pics & installation info |
Quote: | Is it cheaper to strip/repaint than to just replace the cover? | In my case, yes. Keep in mind that the covers come from BMW with no paint, and in my case couldn't just be sprayed (since I was having the license plate holes filled).
Quote: It varies depending on your shop. It's been ages since I've compared prices (the first repaint), but I seem to remember the neighborhood of $700 for a new cover and paint, with no filling. That was years ago, BMW parts prices have gone up.
The work I had done this week wasn't just the bumper cover work; I also had the trim panel on the trunk painted (a new one). A rough breakdown:
3 hours labor for strip/patch/fill: $114
4.5 hours labor for sand/prime/basecoat/clearcoat: $171
materials (paint, flex additive, etc.) $107
I obviously didn't get charged labor for removal/installation since I did that myself. I'm also a regular customer at this shop, we're on a first-name basis and they do the oddball stuff for me like painting my stone guards. So I can't say my pricing is the same as everyone else's at this shop. Comparing to another invoice, it looks like they filled my license plate holes for free. And talking to Gary (the guy that works on my car), he said they were a little tricky (in part because I told him that the backs had to remain untouched and retain structural integrity since they go into rubber isolators in the bumper; damaging them might be begging for cracks in the finish around the fill later on).
The next one will probably be a new cover because this one's about had it in terms of being repainted. I suspect that the plastic pins holding the grill in place won't survive another removal/installation, and there's plenty of high-build primer on my cover at this point and one plasti-weld from when an airport shuttle backed into my car and punctured the cover.
The bummer is that the car is going to see a lot of miles (HC trip) before the paint cures and I can put the X-pel kit on.
| | Reply » bumper cover repainted, pics & installation info |
Since this has come up before w/ respect to adding the S54 oil cooler to the S52 cars, here are some pictures of the two-piece undertray on the S54. The top piece is P/N P/N 17.21.2.228.449, which is the part that directs air for the oil cooler. The bottom piece is P/N 51.71.2.491.034
| | Reply » bumper cover repainted, pics & installation info |
Most of the bumper cover is held on by expansion rivets. 3 under each headlight, 2 in each brake duct, and 4 in front of the grill. These are P/N 51.11.1.908.077. Pics before I push in the expanders.
Under driver side headlight:
In passenger side brake duct:
Under bumper in front of grill:
There are two pop-rivets in the top center (under the kidneys). These are P/N 51.11.8.400.709. Randy and I think these are pop-rivets so that there's clearance for the hood. I had to remove the tip of my pop rivet gun to install these, the stems are too short to grab with a tip installed. Before this round of bumper cover repainting, I let the body shop remove the cover. They removed the pop rivets and replaced them with low-profile blind plugs. Either will work fine.
| | Reply » bumper cover repainted, pics & installation info |
Quote: Since this has come up before w/ respect to adding the S54 oil cooler to the S52 cars, here are some pictures of the two-piece undertray on the S54. The top piece is P/N P/N 17.21.2.228.449, which is the part that directs air for the oil cooler. The bottom piece is P/N 51.71.2.491.034
| I'm going to try and make those S-54 parts (the one shown and the one that goes in front of the oil cooler) when I start in on that project for the black car...
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bumper cover repainted, pics & installation info