So my wife decided today to give herself a little scare. She managed to run over a parking curb and onward onto the side walk. Thankfully the car stopped before hitting a pole and no one was there

She can't quite explain to herself what happened. It sounds like she was moving into a parking spot and for what ever reason did not stop, kept going until the car stopped by itself. She was quite freaked out so I tried to hold back my instinctive inner frustration (since I knew she was fine) as much as I could. It wasn't easy but it would not have helped anything to let it out other than upset her even more... I asked her if she started to touch, panicked and froze but she doesn't think that's what happened. The fact that she doesn't know is what worries me the most . . .

Thankfully the damage is minor. The bumper got a very slight scuff mark. I'll just put some touch up paint. But the lower trim (front spoiler) got pushed in and is quite a bit scrapped.

So does anyone know the part number for that piece (for an S)?
And where do you guys think I can get a new front spoiler trim at a modest cost rather then full price?


My wife doesn't feel we should spend the money to fix it but I told her that it matters to me and the more things a wrong with a car the less one cares and things gets worse a lot faster. When you spend the money to fix things it becomes a good incentive not to do it again... (or as soon again )

 

Is it #9 in this diagram?

http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?...62&hg=51&fg=15



Google the part number (51112759225) to find vendors: https://www.google.com/search?q=51112759225

ECS Tuning (a forum sponser) has it here: http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/51112759225/

 

Thanks!
It's actually number 19 oh... Or 9,right the big one

 

+1 rkw , yep that's the part on the Cooper S Coupe and roadster , just like the cooper S hardtop of that year, except it has a little more flare. People have been using this as on upgrade for certain models. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-2011-r56.html


Part # 51112759225

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/51112759225/



Just watch in the future on parking lot curb and high angle driveways.


Numbers for the whole parts on realoem are not circled. Number that are circled refer to the hardware which has a little box on the side picturing said hardware.


Thanks

 

All good info. I'll order it soon as I'm away so I can have it and change it when I'm back.

 

Not that too many cares but the package has arrived which is great because I'll be able to get to it this Saturday!

Thanks ECS for the speedy delivery!
3rd time I order through ECS with happy results

btw . . . I'm so glad you guys have updated your site so more model can be selected in the search. That helps a lot!

 

Oh, and the silver lining is that I will now have a rubber bumper part I'll be able to test vinyl wrap on . . . something I've been thinking about for the black trims . . .

 

Very nice. Thanks , we appreciate it.

 

I uncovered more damage than I was prepared for
I could use some input... more here: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...85-post19.html

 

Oh man, that sucks! I probably would get a quote and see what the financial damage is and then decide. Like you said , you can put things back together and drive away like nothing happened, then always come back to it if you just can't get it out of your mind.
Optimist thinking is it can just be pulled back into shape without replacing or rewelding anything.
Either way I would get an estimate from a couple of good bodyshops and or the dealer, talk with your ins. agent and that will probably make your decision easier.

Again, sorry about the car, I hope that it can be pulled back out for minimal expense !

Steve

 

Much thanks Steve for the words. They are much appreciated

I've been spending a good portion of the day trying to sort this out, making decisions, looking for input, prices, understanding, etc...
It sounds like it my be best to change it myself. I'm confident the rest of the car frame is undamaged so replacing the front bumper frame might be something I can handle (no welding needed, just bolt on).

I've put the parts togethers minor a screw to let the plastic bumper parts lay the way they should.

It's actually interesting that if the lower metal bumper frame portion wasn't there it likely would have resulted in a lot more cost due paint body shop and many of the front parts, painted bumper, intercooler, radiator, might have been damaged.
So all in all I consider ourselves lucky on this one.

After all is done I expect all the repairs to end up roughly around $650-$750 if I do it all myself (including the front spoiler trim I allready ordered and received). In the long term that sounds like the best approach. it probably could be bent back but like everything in our modern days it's probably cheaper to trow away and replace...

In the end what matters most is that my wife is safe and that it wasn't a bigger accident. From that angle that cost is minimal in comparison. It is still money I would have rather spend elsewhere but these things happens to most.

I'll keep you all posted on the repairs. I certainly hope I won't find more surprises once the whole bumper is off. I'm confident I won't but let's not jinxed it

 

That's so true that if your wife is ok then all else is easy (even if it drives us crazy!)

If the bent part is bolt on, I would take it off and try to bend it myself ,or with the help of a friend with a workshop in his garage.
I've heard of people bolting the bent part to a beam in a garage and using crowbars and or jack to straighten it!
Any kind of homemade jig that hold it in place and something to put pressure in the right place!

Good luck with whatever choice you make and I'm glad to hear that your wife wasn't hurt!

Steve

 

Yes indeed, on both counts

She's alright. She freakout when it happened and she was pretty upset. She came from her palate class so she wasn't alone to be comforted.
I don't always help when I get caught by my own disappointment for the car I tend to baby too much

But for the most part she's past it.
I'm still concerned she can't quite explained what happened especially that I don't know if she used her brakes too late or at all.
My best bet is that she didn't realize how close she was to the curb, the car started to go over (I'd have to see it), she panicked and by the time she reacted it was all over. These things go fast in the heat of the moment.

We'll never know for sure but I think the fear is going to make her be more careful now (I hope) so that's a good thing.

 

Your talking about the part I attached my splitter to. It will be easy to replace after you remove your bumper cover. I'd just buy a new one and bolt it on.

 

Do you know of a bumper removal write up?

 

Look at the Helix video. It's a good start. Lots of plastic push pins. Taking them out without breaking them is the hardest part. Probably a good idea to buy a few spares before you start, they are only a few bucks.

 

Here is the link to the Helix intercooler install.

Scroll down to see the Youtube video.

http://store.helix13.com/helix-stepp...r-mini-cooper/

Dave

 

Great, thank you for the video. It's going to be quite handy.

Yes, I'm done getting frustrated with the plastic snaps. They're cheap enough I always order some (and some extras) so I can just cut off the other rather then getting frustrated trying to pull them off. Of of them are really hard to remove. I guess it bad and good.

 

This is going in Saturday or Friday night...

 

Awesome, let us know how it goes.

 

I will and thank you for being so accommodating, it really makes a difference

 

Okay, mission accomplished! I spent the entire evening replacing the bumper inner frame... The car is back to its new self

Replacing the frame itself was pretty easy.
Removing and remounting the bumper wasn't so much fun.
But everything considered it wasn't too bad since I was able to do it in one evening. I was prepared to finish in the morning but that did not happened so over all that was definitely worth doing myself...

Oh, and I could not use the lower crushed tube since for some strange reason the bolts were not threaded :confused5: . . . maybe they are self threading but since I wasn't sure I decided not to take the chance to damage the bolt.
Of course I checked very well the current one and it seemed perfectly fine with no deformation so I feel fine about not having been able to replace it.











The last thing I didn't do tonight is cleanup the garage and put the car back on the ground

A bit tired now

 

Congrats on a job well done.

 

thx!

 

Sweet, someone bough my old subframe
. . . One less thing to have to store somewhere.

I still have the scraped front spoiler. I'm surprise that one didn't go first

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...2759225-a.html


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