[RyBMW]

How much impact can the front bumper absorb? Sometimes when I'm parallel parked I'm afraid of cars backing up into me.

One reason I like the front plates is because if someone backs up into you, they will usually hit the plates. Is this the case with the E90 also?

If it's a painted rubber/plastic bumper that hits your front bumper lightly, will there be damage?

[LEDZEP]

I doubt it would take much to cause some damage. It would also depend what hit you and at what angle. If someone backed into you, it's likely that their exhaust pipes would badly scrape or puncture the material. Let's just not think about it....

[afocoryw20]

If a car touched it.......it would probably be a disaster. Even as small as a nic you know it would be there

[RyBMW]

Painted bumper touching painted bumper?

Everytime I go to Chinatown, I see these nice cars parked on the street with scratches, nicks, etc on the bumpers.

[indianboy821]

My sister's black sapph. 330i was backed into (while she was in the car) an it caused a good amount of damage. Its borderline to replace or repair. It is definetly very noticeable and doesnt take much to crack it.
On the same note my Spark. Graph 330i was backed into right after i purchased it as well which did enough damage to require the bumper and foam support under to be replaced.
In a nutshell it doesnt seem hard to damage the bumpers!