wolf

There isn't necessarily anything wrong if the bumper has been repainted. Most bumpers get scratched up, especially city cars. CPO cars are supposed to be "like new" so they recondition them. THe issues is was the paint job any good. I purchased my car CPO'd and I was able to detect some work on it. BMW will not CPO a car that has had any frame damage. The body work on my car didn't bother me much as it looked good and the car was mechanically sound with a warrantee. That much said, if my bumper continues to bubble, I'll bring it back and ask them to address it.


I am not an expert on detecting paint work but there are a few things you look for to tell if a car has been repainted:

* Look at the entire car and see if paint in certain areas / panels does not match the rest of the car
* Look for sanding marks under the clear coat. If body work was done and they were sloppy you will see scratches on the body compound that was used and now under the paint/clear coat
* Look (and feel) for "seams" in the paint work at the edge of body panels. This will be where they taped off the area to be painted. Thus after painting they pull the tape away and a very fine line is left behind at the edge of the painted area. You can feel this with your hands. Lift the hood and feel along the inside of the fenders, door jams, edge of trunk, etc. - My friend who is an expert peels back the rubber and carpets in the trunk and other areas and inspects the car on the edges - Also look for overspray
* If a car has been in a body shop for an extended period of time, paint and sanding materials sometimes "settle" on the car and you can feel them
* Professionals use a "paint meter". This tool checks the depth of the paint along the car. Based on the readings on the meter you can detect cars that have had work on the body panels.

Allen

Look for the absence of the "orange peel" effect...that ripple effect on the painted surface that you see in the clear coat when you look at the paint from an angle. A factory paint job will have some of this...typically, an aftermarket paint job will not. Also, get in good sunlight, locate the reflection of some object on the painted surface of a factory painted panel. Then move yourself and "move" the reflection across the suspect panel. Almost always, you will see a difference in the clarity/focus of the object as it passes from the factory panel on to the suspect panel...IF it has been re-painted.

Keep in mind that a re-painted bumper or side skirt is really not that big of a deal....obviously unless it's crappy job or the paint falls off. These plastic body parts are NOT painted at the same time or location as the metal body parts...hoods, doors, roof, etc. The plastic parts are painted at the factory that makes the bumpers or skirts, then shipped in bulk to the BMW assembly factory. At least that's how Mercedes does it, and I'm almost positive all others do the same.

As a point of reference, I recenlty was looking into getting a Ferrari 360. I would say that at least 90% of all the cars I looked at, had the front bummper resprayed due to rock chips, due to the very low front end. I was turned off by this at first, but it turns out that this is basically a normal thing for those cars. In fact, many people actually desire a car that has the front resprayed...no chips on the bumper.

Moopai

I say re-paint the bumper and install the Venture Shield (clear guard).

ponnu

Thank you Allen and Wolf ..good information. I am not able to determine whether my bumper was painted or not, nevertheless as you said, its really in good shape. I am happy with it.