Is it me, or there's something missing under my front bumper?

Has anyone replaced theirs? Where do you guys suggest to order the parts?
Now I really have to back in to all parking spaces...

Looks like you are missing the lower center grill. i needed to replace mine - and Tischler fixed me up for about $25.

Are those under "grill" category? It's the piece of black plastic that goes from left to right, underneath the front bumper. I don't know if it's 3 separate pieces or 1 long strip, but looks like I only have the right one remain

There are three grills. You have the left and the right. The center one is one big piece.

Originally Posted by Princeton

There are three grills. You have the left and the right. The center one is one big piece.

he's not missing the grills. look lower, right in front of the drivers side wheel.

he's missing the drivers side air diffuser just in front of the wheel.

i believe this is the p/n if you have an lci Msport E92


18 Deflector lip right 1 51757185798 $6.19

www.getbmwparts.com would be my place to get it, but for such a cheap part, local dealer with cca discount might net a lower cost once you factor in shipping,.

Look in here

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/partgrp.d...3&mospid=48840

Originally Posted by Orient330iNYC

he's not missing the grills. look lower, right in front of the drivers side wheel.

he's missing the drivers side air diffuser just in front of the wheel.

i believe this is the p/n if you have an lci Msport E92


18 Deflector lip right 1 51757185798 $6.19

www.getbmwparts.com would be my place to get it, but for such a cheap part, local dealer with cca discount might net a lower cost once you factor in shipping,.

Picture right, car's left! 18 Deflector lip left, 51757185797

We ripped our right one on a cone during an autocross. It's currently held on with black duct tape, but I think it's time to replace it! Thanks for looking up the part for me!

Did you cut your center grill - normally it covers the brake ducts, but your brake ducts are open?

Originally Posted by roadkillrob

Did you cut your center grill - normally it covers the brake ducts, but your brake ducts are open?

No mods on my 328. So hopefully I'm not missing more than those deflectors. Thanks everyone for their input. Gonna check all those websites for best option.

Maybe they changed it - here is mine (and most of have seen look like this), but the center grill covers the brake ducts and on your 2011 it doesn't.

Looked it up on realoem and they changed it to not cover the brake ducts - looks kinda cool, wonder if the grill fits the older m-sport bumper?

Originally Posted by roadkillrob

Maybe they changed it - here is mine (and most of have seen look like this), but the center grill covers the brake ducts and on your 2011 it doesn't.

This is how BMW justifies trimming off parts here and there, while raising prices each year...

Originally Posted by 2011328iE92M

This is how BMW justifies trimming off parts here and there, while raising prices each year...

first the ashtray/lid now this!

Don't forget the seat nets, the 12 volt socket under the ashtray lid, etc... etc...

The only thing I regret joining bimmerfest is obtaining the knowledge of everything that was taken away from my 328i since it's introduction. It's still a beautiful car, so I'll stop complaining now...

Not to take advantage of your misfortune, but this thread has several good websites mentioned. So in the right spirit of the matter, I offer you my thanks.

Back from the dealer...
1. They couldn't figure out which deflector lip I'm talking about on the phone, so had to drive there to show them.
2. They couldn't figure out what it is and why there's one missing. They've debated wether I've installed it myself with aftermarket parts... on one side only...
3. They'll call me back after they figure out what it is... after they find out the part #... then they might know the price...

Originally Posted by 2011328iE92M

Back from the dealer...
1. They couldn't figure out which deflector lip I'm talking about on the phone, so had to drive there to show them.
2. They couldn't figure out what it is and why there's one missing. They've debated wether I've installed it myself with aftermarket parts... on one side only...
3. They'll call me back after they figure out what it is... after they find out the part #... then they might know the price...

I've been meaning to come back to this thread and update it but I didn't get around to looking for it.

I ordered the part # that I listed above for my car from the dealer a day or two after my previous post and this wasn't the part. With the help of the parts guy at the dealer I determined that to replace the front deflector requires replacing the entire front fender liner, part #51718047462. In this diagram it's #8, "Cover wheel housing, bottom right" (click picture for link). The deflector in question is barely visible just above the #5. This diagram shows the left fender liner, mine is the right:



The rubber lip is an integral part of the fender liner. I ordered it from Tischer (getbmwparts.com) and the cost was $48.11 plus their standard $3.95 handling fee and $14.85 shipping. I also ordered a half dozen hex head screws, part #07146976114, because I found a couple missing. I just received the correct part a couple of days ago and plan to install it on Monday. I also ordered part #51627136526, #14 in the diagram, because it was only a few dollars and it looked like it might be a replacement for just the lip, but it doesn't look like this is the case. Hopefully I'll figure out what exactly this part is like when I replace the fender liner, but it's definitely not the deflector in question.

Replacement should be fairly easy after the front wheel is removed. There's several of the hex head screws holding it in place. The oil cooler grill has to be removed from the original part and installed on the new part. A few of the screws from the underbody panel will have to be removed as well. I'll take pictures as I install it and post them next week.

Originally Posted by SD 335is

Replacement should be fairly easy after the front wheel is removed. There's several of the hex head screws holding it in place. The oil cooler grill has to be removed from the original part and installed on the new part. A few of the screws from the underbody panel will have to be removed as well. I'll take pictures as I install it and post them next week.

Was hoping this to be no more than a simple screw and replace work. Waiting for your picture posts and progress
Dealer called back and asked for $78 for parts and $70 for labor...

I replaced the right front lower fender liner this afternoon (or as BMW calls it, the "Lower Wheel Cover Housing") just to replace the ripped front deflector lip. This was done on my 2011 335is Coupe. This should be the same for any other E92/E93 with an M Sport front bumper and may be similar for other E9x models. It was a pretty simple job overall. The hardest part is getting the old liner out and the new liner in.

Inside the wheel housing there are six 8mm hex head screws around the edge of the fender liner. There's also a plastic 10mm nut that screws onto a small fixed stud attached to the chassis that's painted body color. This is on the lower inside corner of the liner. If you have an oil cooler in the right front wheel well there are also four screws holding the plastic grille onto the fender liner. The inside lower corner of the grille is also used as a mounting point for the liner, so while you don't have to remove all four screws before you remove the liner, you do have to remove this screw. Underneath the front bumper there's six screws, three in the bottom of the bumper cover and three that attach the fender liner to the front under body panel. The fender liner comes with all necessary C-clip nuts already attached. There is nothing else that needs to be loosened or removed, except for the tire and wheel.

I started by jacking up the front of the car and putting jack stands under the two front jack points. I then removed the right front wheel. All of the 10mm screws were easily accessible and I used a small electric screwdriver with a 1/4" socket adapter to remove them. Because the 10mm nut was plastic, I used a 1/4" ratchet wrench to loosen it and then removed it by hand. It's probably more important to do this when re-attaching the nut.

Once the nut and all of the screws were removed it was just a matter of prying, twisting and bending the flexible fender liner to get it out. Once it was out I verified the part number that is molded into the inside of the liner was the same as the new liner and then I re-attached the oil cooler grill to the new liner before I fit it into place.

Again, it took a bit of bending, twisting, and force to get the new panel into place. Make sure that everything is correctly in place and all of the screw holes line up before installing any of the screws. There were two areas that gave me trouble. One was the inner edge of the fender lip where the liner slipped under the C-clip that is already there. If it slips under the C-clip you have to pull the liner out again. The other area was where the fender liner attaches to the front under body panel. The liner has to be on top of or behind the under body panel so that the screws go through the holes in the under body panel and screw into the C-clips on the fender liner. Again, if this doesn't line up correctly the first time you have to pull the liner out again.

Once the liner was completely in place and everything lined up correctly it was a simple matter to reinstall all of the screws and the nut and make sure that they were all securely tightened. Job done! All that was left to do was to replace the wheel and tire and take the car off the jack stands.

Front deflector lip with black duct tape used to hold it in place (shows gray in the picture). On the right edge of the picture you can also see the C-clip where one of the 8mm screws was missing:


Front deflector lip after the tape is removed. You can see how much it is torn. We first noticed this after an autocross and was most likely done when running over a cone. (I'm pretty sure that it was done when my wife was driving. ):


Right front fender well after the wheel and tire were removed. You can see the 4 screws that attach the oil cooler grille to the fender liner, and the 10mm plastic nut on the lower left corner of the fender liner:


Close-up of the 10mm plastic nut:


Close-up with the oil cooler grille removed. You can see that the lower inside screw is an attachment point for the fender liner:


Fender well with the fender liner removed. The oil cooler is prominently displayed. You can see the stud where the 10mm nut attaches. The C-clip that looks like it is in between the right side oil cooler mounting bolts is the one that the fender liner wanted to slid underneath. The fender liner has to be on top of this C-clip. You can also see the front under body panel silhouetted in the light. The fender liner has to be behind (on top of) this panel.


The replacement fender liner. You can see the deflector lip on the bottom of the new liner and all of the necessary C-clips already in place.


Close-up of the stickers from getbmwparts.com and BMW showing the part numbers.


Close-up of the part number molded into the part. Fortunately the molded part number on the new liner was the same as the molded part number on the old liner!


The front deflector after the fender liner was replaced. One of the C-clips came off the old liner. The other debris is gravel and various bits of melted rubber from the racing tires that fell out while taking the old liner out.


This is the other piece shown in the diagram above (#14) that I ordered to see if there was any way to replace just this part. I don't know where this is supposed to go but I didn't find anything on my car that looked like this part. It would sure be a lot easier to be able to replace the front deflector lip if it was just this part for about $5.00 instead of replacing the entire front wheel well liner for $48.11 + S&H.


Hope this helps!

Thank you very much for sharing your detailed deflector lip replacement SD 335is. Hope someone put this in the DYI section. Two questions:
1. After the job is done, do you still feel it was necessary to also replace the "Lower Wheel Cover Housing" just to replace the deflector lip?
2. Did you bought a car jack to match your 335is? Or the other way around?

Originally Posted by 2011328iE92M

Thank you very much for sharing your detailed deflector lip replacement SD 335is. Hope someone put this in the DYI section. Two questions:
1. After the job is done, do you still feel it was necessary to also replace the "Lower Wheel Cover Housing" just to replace the deflector lip?
2. Did you bought a car jack to match your 335is? Or the other way around?

1. With our model, the deflector lip is an integral part of the front fender well liner. There is no way to replace it separately without replacing the entire liner. This would probably be the same for any E9x with the M Sport Package. Other models may vary and the parts may be different. The only other alternative to get it to match is to take a utility knife to the existing deflector and cut that one off!

2. Hahaha! Good catch! I've had that jack long before our BMW!