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View Full Version : Saggy front bumper fix doityourself



Tenoch
09-04-2014, 09:17 PM
Below is a little writeup on what I did to fix my saggy front bumper on my 330i.
Things I used:
1 Permatex PermaPoxy - 5 Minute Plastic Weld Epoxy
~20 BMW Plastic Spread Rivets 51118174185
A C Clamp
A flat head screwdriver
wire cutters
~1hr of work
~4hrs to let the plastic weld do its job

**My front bumper didn't have foglights and fender liners so you might additional equipment/parts if you have this.

First some background story. You can skip this and just go down to the pics.
When I got my ZHP the first thing I noticed was that it had a loose front bumper.
At the lot, I couldn't tell what the issue was, I noticed that the bumper brackets didn't seem to be in place so I assumed the brackets needed to be reseated.
I went ahead and purchase the car and decided to deal with the bumper later.
When I took the bumper off, I noticed that both bumper brackets were cracked.
I looked for the bracket panels online but didn't find them even though they both have their own OEM Part #.
At first I thought I had to either get a new bumper or find a used one.
I found a craigslist ad for bumper repairs, I send them pics of my broken brackets but was told that they couldn't fix it.
One day, I was in autozone and saw something called Plastic Weld and decided to give that a try.

There's probably different and better ways of doing this, but below is a description of what I did.
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/652x489q90/911/QznYNV.jpg

First, I took off all the front black moldings.
I removed all the black rivets and two small bolts from the bumper.
I'm missing the foglights and the fender liners so I didn't have to worry about those.
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/652x489q90/540/lnkfeq.jpg

I removed both trim pieces below the headlights and pulled the bumper out.
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/652x489q90/633/ZkyIrD.jpg

This is my right bracket panel.
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/367x489q90/743/r18GYk.jpg

Only the top part of the bracket was cracked, the bottom part was fine.
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/367x489q90/538/vbT9rG.jpg

I forgot to take a picture of the Plastic Weld I use but here's a pic I found online.
Squeeze, mix and apply.
http://images.oreillyauto.com/parts/img/large/per/per_84115.jpg

I applied the plastic weld between the crack and used a C clamp to hold the piece in place.
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/367x489q90/673/pj9GSs.jpg

I did a light coat first, above and below the crack.
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/367x489q90/537/tY7xbt.jpg

Once it hardened; ~5mins, I removed the C clamp. I got a little happy and applied a generous amount on the top and smeared some in the bottom but made sure I didn't leave any plastic weld bumps so I wouldn't have a problem putting the bumper back.
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/367x489q90/540/H1Ik7v.jpg

This is my left side bumper bracket panel.
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/336x489q90/540/iXOp0S.jpg

The top part was cracked, same as the right side but this one had a broken piece at the bottom.
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/367x489q90/661/HaRlZH.jpg

The good thing was that the broken piece was still in the car, somebody had screwed into the plastic piece were the bumper bracket rests.
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/367x489q90/538/5ErcZ8.jpg

I plastic welded the broken piece first. Same as before, first with a light coat between the crack, top and bottom.
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/367x489q90/537/PqXAZc.jpg

Once the broken piece was welded, I repeated the same procedure I did earlier on the right bracket to weld the crack on top of the left bracket.
I put a light coat of plastic weld between the crack, top and bottom.
I used a C clamp to hold the cracked piece in place for about ~8mins.
Once it hardened, I took the the C clamp off and put a generous amount of plastic weld.
I left the bumper sit for about 4 hours.
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/367x489q90/538/fQ31an.jpg

After about 4hrs, I checked the plastic weld and it was really hard so I went ahead and put the bumper back into the car. No more saggy bumper for me :roundel.
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/652x489q90/742/7Hxn4u.jpg

It's been about a month since I did this and the plastic weld is still holding strong.

I hope this writeup helps or at least give you some ideas to do it better.

Smilez
09-04-2014, 09:23 PM
Nice were up. Your inside brackets were actually breaking? Wow.

Tenoch
09-04-2014, 09:33 PM
Thanks,
Something happened to the bumper, I'm assuming it got stuck on those concrete things on parking lots.

trancenation
09-04-2014, 10:25 PM
Nice write up! I encountered this problem many years ago and never got around to fixing it. Funny to see the diy on the same color car as me.

Tenoch
09-05-2014, 06:48 AM
Do you still that issue or did you do something different?

cakM3
09-05-2014, 08:41 AM
Good writeup and pics! :thumbsup

Tenoch
09-05-2014, 10:22 PM
Thanks!

JPMo
01-06-2019, 02:40 PM
A long shot but any way you can get the pictures re uploaded? I’m trying to tackle my front bumper as well and upon inspection, it seems like the actual bracket on the bumper that mounts to the white hanger is broken on my car ��

Reasoned1
01-06-2019, 03:01 PM
The lower facia on my DD is bent down after hitting a raccoon at 70 mph (he sure had a surprised look on his face). I was very surprised it didn’t break anything.