Just found this done to my 135i...

[06wrxtracer]

Two weeks ago I picked up a 135i used from a private seller. The car was purchased what looked to be completely stock, great shape, and from close inspection, not a "Returned to stock" car in the least. I decided to detail the car yesterday and noticed that the fog light inserts on both the left and right side of the bumper had been trimmed. I know in the STi/Evo world this is common to see when installing aftermarket FMICs, but these are so far to the outside of the bumper, I don't see how this would have been for a FMIC. I did a quick search but this doesn't seem to be a common thing to do in the BMW world. Was just curious if anyone on here might know why this would have been done.

[BimmerE82]

Curious as to what this could possibly been from?

[135iam]

big ebay universal intercooler if I had to guess.

I Googled "135i ebay intercooler" and the first picture I saw was a WIDE intercooler

[06wrxtracer]

At first that's what I was thinking too, but these cuts are almost directly in front of the wheels. I don't have enough experience to say for sure, but at a glance, it doesn't even look like you could run the IC pipe to the throttle body without heavy modification of the engine bay.

[135iam]

Yeah, that's unusual. Custom fogs I guess

[06wrxtracer]

I really hope that's all it was. Thanks for the input iam.

[OrangeTea]

Just ask the seller and see if he'll tell you. It can't hurt, right?

[dtwyim]

Laser jammer?

[06wrxtracer]

Orange, He said he's not sure what happened to the car, which was sort of a red flag in my opinion. The carfax came back clean and the local BMW dealership had all service records in tact so I know he was truthful about what was done as far as maintenance. As long as nobody can provide fact that it might be from some sort of performance part, I don't mind so much.

Thanks guys.

[Pig Farmer]

I just took a look at my car. If I push the black grill in, I see the same cut outs. I suggest you pull the grill out toward the front of the car and see if it covers the gap. If my memory serves me, the black grill has two clips on top and two clips on the bottom that snap into the painted bumper. The grill should snap in but still have a bit of play. My guess is that the grill was pushed in when detailing the car. Worse case, the clips broke and the grill no longer snaps into place (but highly doubtful).

[lastMleft]

Take the bumper off and investigate, it's really easy to remove it.

[06wrxtracer]

I just walked out to take a look, it turns out they do pop back in place! It took a good bit of wiggling to get it back in place and they do fall back out super easy, but it's nothing a little creativity wont fix. Thanks for all the help guys, my comfort level in buying a used car is restored. lol

[daflamme]

I would think like Pig Farmer. The air duct plastic feels pretty cheap and one of mine had poped off last summer, so I had to remove the bottom of the wheel well because I couldn't snap one of the clips from the front. I finally broke it from the back... But still its holding on with the others.

Edit: Haha glad you fixed this up!!

[06wrxtracer]

I might just put a small bit of epoxy on it from the inside. This should be enough to hold it in place... I hope.