Originally Posted by MSportMatt' post='546463' date='Mar 17 2008, 02:00 PM

Hi All,

My car recently had a new Bumper and Bonnet/ wings fitted after a front end collision

The Car came back last week and it looks perfect

However I now have a noticeably larger gap between the Bumper and Bonnet - as described above than before the bump. Everything else is lined up perfect - just about 5mm more of a gap than when new.

My car is an 07 MSport - does this mean that the Bodyshop have fitted incorrect Foam inserts during the repair?

Or should I try and complete Mods 1 & 2?

Any help appreciated.

Cheers, Matt

Originally Posted by rodybmw' post='546472' date='Mar 17 2008, 05:18 PM

I would not try mods 1 & 2 since we now know that the correct foam piece fixes the gap problem. In your specific case I can think of two possibilities of why the gap is now present on your car. Either the wrong (non M-Tech) foams have been installed or they did not align all the body parts/ bonnet correctly when they did the repair. Either way it should be the body shop's responsibility to fix it...............so don't try the methods I described above.

Originally Posted by MSportMatt' post='546475' date='Mar 17 2008, 02:22 PM

Thanks Rody,

I think it is the Foams that will be wrong - everything else lines up perfect - Wings Bonnet etc.

Going back to the Bodyshop is a hassle and to be honest - I have the tech ability and time to sort this myself - hopefully!

So - can I remove the Bumper and do a quick check - by using the drawings above?

Roughly how much are the Foam inserts?

Regards, Matt

Originally Posted by rodybmw' post='546489' date='Mar 17 2008, 03:46 PM

[...]
One other thing is that the M-Tech body pieces (bumpers, side skirts) have the letters "MP" on the back sides....which stand for "M Package".........so maybe the correct foam pieces for the M-Tech bumper would also have the letters "MP" on it ??? ...............not sure though.

Originally Posted by rodybmw' post='546489' date='Mar 17 2008, 03:46 PM

[...]
One other thing is that the M-Tech body pieces (bumpers, side skirts) have the letters "MP" on the back sides....which stand for "M Package".........so maybe the correct foam pieces for the M-Tech bumper would also have the letters "MP" on it ??? ...............not sure though.

Originally Posted by BlaSTiWi' post='546497' date='Mar 17 2008, 02:53 PM

Yes Rody, I got those two foam sittin' in the garage and they do have "MP" marking on the front side.

Originally Posted by coolguy' post='528719' date='Feb 8 2008, 12:41 AM

So, is the correct foam pieces included from quad_m ? I am having mine installed this weekend.. So I want to be sure this problem don't exist. Since I am paying a installer to do this Mtech install

If not, I guess I have to advise the installer to go with Washers route to fill the gap.. provided he can buy them from somewhere

Originally Posted by rodybmw' post='140318' date='Jun 17 2005, 05:41 AM

I finally fixed the gap that I had between the hood and the top of the M-Tech bumper in my car. I know there were a couple of people here who had the same problem and wanted to know how to fix it.

There are two metal brackets that are needed for mounting the M bumper to the bumper carrier. When I first did my installation I noticed that those brackets were being pushed down by the black styrofoam on the bumper carrier and thought about making cutouts in the foam so that the bottom of the brackets sit flush to the bottom of the foam, but then I decided to try it that way first. I did and noticed a bigger than usual gap above the bumper. Later on I noticed that on some of the installation pictures on this board it looked like some people had done the same thing that I was thinking of doing (makeing a cutout in the foam). I decided to try this but did not have time until today. It ended up getting rid of most of the extra gap, but there was still a bit more than I liked, so I tried to use some thick washers as spacers or shims under the mounting points at the top of the bumper. This helped get rid of the rest of the extra gap. I have directions and pics of both methods that I am posting below. I will call the foam cutout "Method 1" and post it here, and I will call the washer/spacer method "Method 2" and post it in a reply below. If anyone has this gap and wants to get rid of it I would suggest trying the second method first since it is MUCH easier and it works quite well. If that does not solve it completely then try Method 1 as well.


<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Method 1</span>

First of all notice how in the picture below the bracket is sitting below the big black foam on the bumper carrier. It does not even look that bad in the picture but once the bumper is put on it pushes down on the black foam which in turn pushes down on the bracket. This makes it very difficult to fit the bumper, and it is physically forced down, hence the big gap above the bmper. The foam needs to be cut out to a slightly larger dimension that the bracket so that the bracket sits inside the foam and the bottom of the bracket is flush with the bottom of the foam. You can see all these in the pictures below: