[Tomahok]

My front bumper on my 2006 BMW 325xi Wagon is pretty smashed in and ripped, and it needs replaced.


I really like the M-Tech bumpers, but they are pretty expensive by the time I get it purchased and painted. I stumbled upon this one (http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Painted-...torefresh=true) when looking on ebay, and it seems to be good of a deal to be true. I know it does not come with the covers for the headlight sensors, but mine are in good shape and can be reused. Anyone purchase one of these? Or should I avoid it at all costs?

PLEASE HELP! Tell me your thoughts on the matter, or if you have other suggestions about non-OEM (aggressive looking bumpers)



BTW, I have headlight washers, but I have no parking sensors.

[Zoog]

I recently bought a M3 Rep off ebay and the fitment was excellent. That seller is pretty reputable so I don't see why not. Obviously test fit before painting just incase but other than that I would go ahead and pull the trigger on that.

[hassmaschine]

I'll have the same one on our E91. I haven't seen it yet, but we'll have the car back in a couple days. I posted a similar question and the feedback here was that the quality was good.

you won't be able to beat this price - the insurance quote was about $700 for the same thing.

[vautrain]

I bought one from that seller. Paint was about 9.5/10, it's just a bit lighter than the rest of my car (which is black sapphire metallic), but most folks won't notice. Fit is about 9/10, it went on great but there were a couple of mounting holes missing from the fog light mounts, I had to drill those. You can tell the mounting hardware (such as the grommets under the engine bay bolts) don't fit quite as well as they do on the OEM piece. From the exterior it looks perfect, though and you can't beat the price. If you haven't done a bumper cover R/R before, I'd budget 2-3 hours.

[Tomahok]

+1 Thanks for the quick response and the useful information. I will order one soon and install it my self. I am somewhat sad about not getting one of the M-Tech ones, but, I am in school and cannot afford to pay 600+ for a bumper replacement.

[Tomahok]

Tell me how it turns out! Post pictures if possible.

[vautrain]

BTW, shipping was prompt, but they are painted to order, so it took something longer than a week. I'm close to Michigan, so actual transit time was minimal.

[vautrain]

I added a couple of photos of my car with the fresh bumper. The car's not sexy, and the photos are kind of crappy, but you might find them useful.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/bpgara...=view&id=19246

[mojobmw_e90]

I also got a m tech front bumper for my 335i, fitment was good as well

[mike@x-ph.com]

Exterior parts off Ebay are a hit or miss ... Make sure to read lots of reviews on that part and talk to people who already got it

[rick100]

the fitment should be good , most companies have the fitment right at this point since the e90 platform is in the older side by now.

The only problem may be the paint matching , its almost impossible to match your paint as paint fades over time , so even if the paint was 100% match to OEM , it may not match your current paint as it has aged.The only way to do that is taking it to a bodyshop , where the painter will mix paint to match your specific colour, even then it would probably not be match 100 %.

Some people are pickier than others , so you may be ok with

On some cars you may not notice this a lot , so you may be ok too .

[hassmaschine]

alright, I have our E91 back with the aftermarket bumper cover. It's a 10 footer for sure.

paint: 8/10 - Some blemishes (looks like tape marks? ), but looks better than the road rashed (and then damaged) paint it had before. Paint seems fairly thin, and a bit of orange peel. Could probably be polished out once it cures.

color match: 9/10 - The car is 10 years old, so it's probably faded a bit, but the match is close enough for my wife.

fitment: 7/10 - ok, so it physically "fits" on the car just fine, and the shop didn't say anything about the grills/lights etc not assembling nicely. But the physical shape of it, especially along the hood line, isn't all that close to stock. If you just saw it by itself, you probably couldn't tell (and my wife will likely never notice). But next to my E90, it's pretty obvious that it's not the same as the OE bumper cover. It sticks out a bit past the hood and the "nose" between the grills is a bit pointier than stock. It looks kind of weird to me, but again, I doubt you would notice unless you knew it was aftermarket.

Overall - I don't think I would buy one for a "nice" car, I think you would be disappointed. However, if your bumper is really beat up and the paint is in poor shape, it will look better than it did before. It's just not going to be the same as a new OE bumper or the original one re-painted by a good shop. Basically you get what you pay for.

[BeastMode335i]

i got an M3 rep for a few bucks more.. fitment is spot on.. But yeah, just do some research on whatever you intend on purchasing..

[Miller335]

What could go wrong...

[b1mmr]

Originally Posted by Miller335

What could go wrong...

paying for return shipping lol

[vautrain]

Originally Posted by hassmaschine

fitment: 7/10 - ok, so it physically "fits" on the car just fine, and the shop didn't say anything about the grills/lights etc not assembling nicely. But the physical shape of it, especially along the hood line, isn't all that close to stock. If you just saw it by itself, you probably couldn't tell (and my wife will likely never notice). But next to my E90, it's pretty obvious that it's not the same as the OE bumper cover. It sticks out a bit past the hood and the "nose" between the grills is a bit pointier than stock. It looks kind of weird to me, but again, I doubt you would notice unless you knew it was aftermarket.

This could be accurate, but honestly, I didn't notice until you said something, and I don't think anyone would notice at all without having the two cars side by side, like you do.

The eBay seller in question actually had these on sale a couple of months ago when I got mine, it was only $220, so maybe that's why I'm less critical of it.

[hassmaschine]

right, I wasn't trying to discourage people from buying it - I mean, it was only $300 painted/shipped, and even though it has flaws it's way better than what was on the car before.

But if you have a creampuff car and are picky about it, it's probably not the right choice.

[Tomahok]

Originally Posted by hassmaschine

right, I wasn't trying to discourage people from buying it - I mean, it was only $300 painted/shipped, and even though it has flaws it's way better than what was on the car before.

But if you have a creampuff car and are picky about it, it's probably not the right choice.

After reading through your guys responses. I think this is what it comes down to. I will likely notice the issues in fitment and paint matching, but it sure beats paying $400-500 more for no flaws.

[Tomahok]

Originally Posted by vautrain

I added a couple of photos of my car with the fresh bumper. The car's not sexy, and the photos are kind of crappy, but you might find them useful.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/bpgara...=view&id=19246

+1 Thanks for the pics. If you did not tell me in was not a stock bumper, I would not know from the pictures.

[tlow98]

I'll bet some light polishing of the entire front end would do wonders to hide the differences, as well