ra535i

For those who just want to see pics, they're in the link at the bottom.


I'd like to start this off by thanking Nerwyll (Trinityautosport) and Matt (Umnitza) for their help with getting what I needed to complete this project. I'm hoping that this will be sort of a PSA for others who are considering to or have already made plans to do a kit in the future. I'll do the best I can to explain what I went through to get what I needed and to inform you on the outside costs (other than the kit pieces themselves) to complete the install.

Here we go.

PURCHASING:

I purchased the front bumper and skirts from Nerwyll at Trinityautosport. Based on user experiences my initial intention was to buy everything from Trinity.

Trinity Autosport : M Style Front Bumper for E60 525i/528i/530i/535i/545i/550i/xi [1163] - $349.00

Trinity Autosport : M Style Side Skirts [1165] - $199.00

Upon trying to purchase the rear, Nerwyll emailed me to let me know that the rear was on backorder. After a few emails back and forth with Nerwyll It was my understanding that they receive shipping crates in the middle of the month and they have pretty much no idea what's on it. So, I was stuck either waiting half a month and hope I hit the lottery with the crate or buy from someone else. It was at this point I decided to buy it from Umnitza.com.

http://www.umnitza.com/e60-5series-m...er-p-5685.html

After placing my order from Umnitza that same night I received a phone call from Matt letting me know that they also did not have the bumper in stock. He also told me that the rear that I wanted was in very little demand and out of the blue everyone was ordering them leaving them low on stock. I asked how long it would take and he said that if I placed the order they would have it on the next crate. I then asked him if I needed to order brackets for the rear as I've read from other people who have done this before and he said "no". I was sort of shocked. I asked again and he was then like, "oh yeah yeah you do need brackets". Which I might add, Umnitza doesn't sell.

https://5series.net/forums/e60-parts...-116719/page2/

Thanks peachykonan

I decided that I couldn't wait any longer so I went ahead and placed the order. About a month later, I got an email from Umnitza stating that the rear bumper was being shipped. So I set up time with shop. A week passes and I didn't receive a tracking number as I was promised by the end of the previous week so I emailed them. After a couple of emails I finally received a tracking number and low and behold I had to wait another week. I had to reschedule my appointment which was just flat out pissing me off because at this point I probably changed it twice before, plus, the guys at the shop were holding my front bumper and skirts for about 2.5 - 3 weeks at this point.


Misc:

Carbon fiber rear diffuser (ebay)
Blacked out grill (Amazon)

INSTALLATION:

As most shops would suggest, it's always best to do a pre-fit, prep, paint. If something doesn't fit just right there may be some modification needed prior to painting. This also adds extra cost. If you want it done right, do not scoff at this.

Rear Bumper:
The right rear side of my car needed to be trimmed towards the bottom. I'm sorry I don't have a picture, but the sheet metal stuck out just a bit too much upon trying to fit the rear bumper. Other than that the rear sat pretty well. Now here's the part that pissed me off. Upon prepping the rear I received a phone call from the shop to come and take a look at the rear bumper. When I got there they pointed out how wavy the bumper was on the back. Then they flipped it over and low and behold someone had filled in the pdc sensor holes with plastic. I don't think Umnitza did this. I believe it's the manufacturer who patched up the bumper to sell off as a non-pdc bumper, but it was an additional 80 dollar labor cost that was completely unexpected. You know what though?! Come to think of it, there was a mysterious extra week Umnitza had the rear before they actually shipped it to me... call it coincidence or make your own personal assumptions.

Skirts:
Perfect. Nuff said.

Front:
Something I didn't mention earlier in regards to the front bumper is that I was missing parts. The fog light surrounds and the bumper washer nozzle covers were missing. I emailed Nerwyll and he got them sent to me quite quickly. As far as the fit of the front bumper goes, well, there were some adjustments that needed to be made but not much. The point where the sides of the bumper hangs on the fender needed to be trimmed to sit flush with the fender. There's a notch/hook where the bumper wraps around the screw and the hook wasn't completely cut out so that caused some fitting issues. Not a biggie though. My biggest concern was how flush the bumper was going to sit up against the headlights. After it was all said and done, there was just too much of a gap to my liking under the headlights. I found this thread and applied his fix using 1/4 inch nuts to hoist the bumper up to where it is now.

https://5series.net/forums/diy-do-yo...-bumper-12675/

Thanks rodybmw

I also ran into another problem which was closing my hood. After raising the bumper up using the nuts, closing the lid required me to slam it down hard as fuck. After the hood was closed there was damn near a pinky gap between the hood and the center nose of the front bumper. THIS WAS COMPLETELY UNCACCEPTABLE. It looked atrocious. What I ended up doing was remove the foam gaskets sitting on top of the kidney grills (see rodybmw's post). I didn't have to remove the whole clip assembly, just the foam and the VOILA Gap gone!!!

COST:

Like I said in the beginning, I want this to be a PSA so full disclosure here. Here's the layout.

14 hrs to fit, paint and install @ $80 per hour = $ 1,120
Materials ( sealer, primer, paint & clear) $ 150
Shop tax (normally 10% of labor) $ 25
Sales tax $ 90.65
Total $ 1,385.65

I realize that this seems astronomical to some of you guys but this shop works on Ferrari's weekly. Call me an idiot if you like, but I want my shit done right. I also want to point out that they wet sanded and buffed my kit which was unexpected and much appreciated.


So there we have it. If you guys have any questions please feel free to drop me a message and I'll try to do my best to answer anything you need if you're looking forward to this project.


PICTURES!!!

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ETNav382

About the rear bumper and having to trim the fender liner, this is normal on both sides for front and rear bumpers since they do not go out as far as non sport bumpers.

I see that going aftermarket vs OEM you saved a lot of money. I went OEM with my bodykit and spent about $1500 for the kit and then $670 for paint. I installed it myself instead of paying another $650 for install.

Kidduce

I guess we all do things differently, I liked the challenge the front bumper gave me adjusting and making it fit. Car looks great btw. Looks like the paint came out nice.

Boost7

The end result was well worth it.