...urge to kill... RISING...

[RITmusic2k]

Ugh.

Last couple days have seen some lousy luck for Echo an' me.

Tuesday night my fuel pump died while we were on our way to dinner. At the time I didn't know what exactly was going wrong since the car wasn't throwing any codes, it was just acting like it wasn't getting gas... so I opted to have it towed to the BMW dealership where I bought the car. I figure their diagnostic capabilities would be better than an indy.

So, that ended up being a non-starter (pardon the pun) for me. They wanted $900 for what youtube has convinced me is a half hour job with a $180 part... so, I opted to have the car towed back to my place, where I'll do the work myself with the new pump from Turner Motorsport that will be arriving tomorrow.

Oh, and one more thing: Somewhere, between the location where my car was picked up and when it was delivered to the dealer four hours later, my rear bumper went from looking like this:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-I1SFKZYiUBY/UPg1V--BUjI/AAAAAAAACkE/I50_AB8k5ao/s800/96CEB0BD-D4F3-46C8-A893-2FA205C3A78E.JPG

to this:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ULvm-0OPx3E/UPg1Y7AOf7I/AAAAAAAACkE/ErsKHm_JGSE/s800/407618A3-68EE-4605-816B-5F494D7A7CD8.JPG


:crying

Luckily since I have these photos, the towing company and AAA are eager to handle the bumper replacement for me, no questions asked. But still, it's a lot of hoops that I wasn't too happy to jump through.

On that note, I want to make sure I have a proper M-tech II put back in its place; is Khoalty still the best place to get a new rear bumper assembly?





Oh, and because I can't just leave things hanging on a sour note, I'll share this minor silver lining -- while Echo's out of commission, I'm borrowing this lil' guy from my girlfriend's dad:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-nrcJdBPFJII/UPhPIhXHMdI/AAAAAAAACkM/TO0yrPdFOeg/s800/553D4774-1605-4CBD-9CE4-BD403A6A7527.JPG

It's a 2006 base model with a tiptronic transmission, which I loathe, but this car handles like a f***ing demon. A demon with velcro-made-of-super-glue hands. Yay for the bright side of things!

[Mtnman]

Damn. Sorry to hear all this. At least you have something to drive for free, and its not an econo box. Good luck with the repair.

[johnrando]

Yay for the bright side. Either Khoalty or several other places where you could go OEM like Tischner, etc.

[wsmeyer]

Damn that sucks. Good thing you had pictures. Is the actual bumper damaged or just the diffuser? Maybe something to check out after you get your check lol

William.

[Hermes]

John, don't you have your stock diffuser laying around somewhere?

[RITmusic2k]

Is the actual bumper damaged or just the diffuser?

Well, there was some minor preexisting damage to the upper part of the bumper cover, though some new damage definitely occurred up there as well, so the time really is right to just get the whole thing replaced...

[Hornung418]

OEM or bust. They did it, they can fix it properly.

[Avetiso]

I have a front bumper from umnitza. Excellent quality. Perfect fit.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

[danewilson77]

I have a front bumper from umnitza. Excellent quality. Perfect fit.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

#needsrear

[BimmerWill]

Sucks about the bumper, id make them go oem unless you are looking to pocket a little bit? On another note that fuel pump should be no issue whatsoever once it comes in.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

[Avetiso]

#needsrear
I understand, but I would assume that if their front is good, their rear should be good as well, seeing as they get it from the same maker according to Umnitza.

[danewilson77]

I understand, but I would assume that if their front is good, their rear should be good as well, seeing as they get it from the same maker according to Umnitza.

Ok. Catching on...

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

[Avetiso]

Ok. Catching on...

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2
Sorry to be confusing. Umnitza gets their rear bumpers from the same manufacturer where they get their front bumpers, so I would assume that they would be of similar quality.

[danewilson77]

Perhaps. Good point.

[Oli77]

Sad story, adding awfulness to pain.

But correct me, I thought our cars should never be towed that way (need a flatbed).

[danewilson77]

Sad story, adding awfulness to pain.

But correct me, I thought our cars should never be towed that way (need a flatbed).

Ideally they would be trailered due to the clearance in front.

[JupiterBMW]

damn, sorry to hear of the bad luck.... But a Porsche Boxster with a tiptronic is way better than a Nissan Sentra with a CVT... Trust me on that one. :facepalm

[danewilson77]

Sad story, adding awfulness to pain.

But correct me, I thought our cars should never be towed that way (need a flatbed).


Ideally they would be trailered due to the clearance in front.

Additionally...now that I think about it....I'm sure the owners manual stipulates use of a trailer.

I would never tow it like the middle pic. Can't believe they have it in there like that.

http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af278/nicee46/Maintenance%20and%20Misc/TowinganE46.png

[johnrando]

John, don't you have your stock diffuser laying around somewhere?

I have my stock diffuser but I wasn't planning on selling it. If you need to borrow it while the insurance gets you right you are welcome to it. My mod philosophy is to keep all the original parts so I can return to stock if ever needed.

[Hermes]

My mod philosophy is to keep all the original parts so I can return to stock if ever needed.

agree times a milli...

I have every stock part vs. all my mods if I ever decide to sell the car (although that is not at all likely ever gonna happen)

[telijah]

Dang, I bet when they lowered the back end at the dealership, that stinger arm just smashed the bumper from underneath. Glad they're working it out for ya.


Ideally they would be trailered due to the clearance in front.

Coincidentally, when I money shifted, the tow truck hooked me up the same way as in this thread, but damn it if he wasn't the best driver I'd ever met. He brought it back to my apartment, and "backed" the car into my spot perfectly on the first try in about all of 15 seconds.

[RITmusic2k]

Thanks for all the info / encouragement, guys!

Things are never quite as easy as they should be - the towing company manager is trying to lowball me by saying that they only damaged the lower valance, so that's all they want to replace. Luckily again I have more pictures from just a couple days earlier that show that the damage above the lower portion was not there until this whole fiasco. I'm probably going to wait until the AAA claims agent gets in touch with me so I have a little more leverage on my side, because this guy is going to be a pain in the ass.

I don't mind driving around with the cracked bumper for the time being, but thanks for the offer anyway, John!

[RITmusic2k]

Urge to kill... falling.

Got my new fuel pump installed on Saturday; it was an incredibly easy job, done within a half hour... though I did have to do it twice - I accidentally moved a crucial rubber gasket out of position when I mounted the new pump, which caused me to leak a fair bit of gas after my first tank fill. So, I had to yank it and re-fit the gasket. All working now :)

[wsmeyer]

Glad to hear it was an easy fix.

If you're not doing anything tonight JupiterBMW (Jon), johnrando and I are meeting for dinner / drinks in Long Beach. We don't have a time or place set but it would be great to get some more Mafia out.

[RITmusic2k]

Oh man, thanks for the invite! I'm not sure I'll be able to make it out this time though, we've been entertaining out of town guests for the last couple weeks and might need a little downtime before I can get back out. I'll get in touch if things are looking good later!

[JupiterBMW]

Glad to hear it was an easy fix.

If you're not doing anything tonight JupiterBMW (Jon), johnrando and I are meeting for dinner / drinks in Long Beach. We don't have a time or place set but it would be great to get some more Mafia out.

Yes definitely try and come out tonight. Last I talked to him, I think JP was planning on coming up too.

If not, next time for sure!

[RITmusic2k]

Just to put a little resolution on this:

The towing company took care of replacing my rear bumper over the weekend; they did a stellar job, and I have to say... for all the shit they gave me in the beginning, they really made it right when push came to shove. All better!

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-kL6uCqpQRoo/URA1QU7kA2I/AAAAAAAACko/-JfX_Ed_l-w/s800/598CF18E-9EB8-412A-9494-2966CFEC8B27.JPG

[GMATT]

Just to put a little resolution on this:

The towing company took care of replacing my rear bumper over the weekend; they did a stellar job, and I have to say... for all the shit they gave me in the beginning, they really made it right when push came to shove. All better!

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-kL6uCqpQRoo/URA1QU7kA2I/AAAAAAAACko/-JfX_Ed_l-w/s800/598CF18E-9EB8-412A-9494-2966CFEC8B27.JPG

Nice to hear they made it right and your happy!

Sent from my fancy telephone!

[johnrando]

Phew!

[az3579]

With an OEM parts, I hope?

[RITmusic2k]

You know what... I don't know.

Crap guys, I just realized this as I'm sitting here typing to you - I never got any paperwork or receipts when I picked the car back up. The towing company dealt with the body shop and I picked the car up toward the end of the day at the towing company's location. I was so preoccupied with watching the one guy who was there as he radioed his coworkers asking for the location of my keys that I forgot to grab any documentation from them.

I'll get on the phone and see if I can get in touch with the shop to get details.

To be completely honest I'm not going to pursue anything even if it turns out that it's a replica bumper, because it looks better and even has better fitment than the bumper it replaced. I'm gonna leave well enough alone. Just want the paperwork as a record of things done over the life of the car.