Rear wheel well question
 

Okay, so the other day I had a momentary lapse in automotive prowess and accidentally backed into one of those cement/concrete parking bars. This resulted in my rear mudflap (I have Rally Armor ones that hang a tad low) getting pinched under the tire as it rolled back and subsequently pulling the plastic liner almost all the way out.

I was able to pull forward, unscrew the destroyed mudflap and sort of scootch the liner back around and "snap" it into place (although I'm almost certain it was ripped from the plastic tree clips).

My question is this: can I simply remove the rear plastic liners, or are there connections and whatnot in there that might become damaged from the weather and environment? Should I just replace it with an OE part? I don't have the time right now to do the work myself, but I don't have the money to take it to a dealer/mechanic either. If I could just jack it up, remove the liners, and reattach my flaps, that would be ideal, assuming the lovely fall/winter/spring weather here in the Pacific Northwest won't wreak havoc on whatever the liner covers up...

Halp please and thank you!

The wheel well liners are easy to replace - and don't cost that much ($40-$50 from online dealers from what I recall). If you didn't shred yours, you may get lucky and simply need to find/replace the 3-5 plastic rivets and 2-3 screws and put it back together. Realoem shows the part numbers.

It does protect parts of the body that aren't expecting to get soaked with water/mud/salt continuously. If you live in somewhere like Arizona, I could see never missing them. Someplace that salts the roads would probably cause all sorts of mischief and long term damage.

P.S. If you are comfortable jacking up the car and removing the rear wheels, it would probably be faster to DIY than a roundtrip visit to the dealer.

Yeah, I live in Portland, Oregon, so we don't salt here. Just A LOT of rain. Not really any dirt or gravel here, so it might be okay. Thanks!

I'd replace it. If you try to claim on your rust warranty in the future around that area they might use the absence of the liner to wriggle out of paying. Also it does protect a lot of areas that weren't designed to get as wet as they will get without the liner in place. I haven't pulled the rear one, but the front one protects the back of the parking / fog lights at least. Why risk damage?

Yeah...
I either patch your old one or replace it.....
Think....a pebble get thrown off you tire (or simply millions of grains of Sand/grit sandblasting the area) .. Hitting the PAINTED sheet metal ....takes out the paint...leaves a ding...now rain...quick way to tons of rust...

Very true. Looks like I'll be going to a Pick 'n' Pull tomorrow to hopefully get it all sorted out, assuming they don't charge an excessive amount for it.

i was at the pick n pull off foster not that long ago and didn't see any gen 1 minis there.

I would just get a new one , you don't want junk flinging up in there and rusting something apart. Here waht the new ones look like.

Rear Fender Liner - Right ( passenger side ) 51711486199

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/51711486199/

http://c1552172.r72.cf0.rackcdn.com/279527_x600.jpg

and

Rear Fender Liner - Left 51711486200

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/51711486200/

http://c1552172.r72.cf0.rackcdn.com/392458_x600.jpg


Just jack it up and replace them,. There are a couple screw and those expanding rivets , those thing are the clips that break from removal or from impact. I would count up the damaged ones and replace them.

Plastic Rivet - Priced Each 07130702966

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/07130702966/

http://c1552172.r72.cf0.rackcdn.com/218421_x600.jpg


http://www.realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/i/q/153.png


One trick on the removal of those is to use a large stubby Philips and hold the base of the expanding rivet with a wedge flat head screw driver, so they just don't keep spinning.

I know this is old but where can i find a complete set of arch attachments for 09 MCS so when i remove the 4 arches and if i brake them i can just replace rite there and then?
Ben