Bought a 128i, but just noticed one issue

[kaputt]

Bought a 2012 128i 1 week ago on a private sale. I had been looking for a stripper M Sport with a 6mt. Finally found one, with low mileage and looked super clean. But it was a couple of states away, so it made the logistics a little more challenging.

I got a PPI done on it at a trusted local indy shop that the current owner had not been to, and he was more than willing to take it there. They came back reporting no issues other than it was due for a brake fluid flush. Before exchanging funds, and once I had traveled to where the car was, I took a look at it myself and also took it for an extended drive and noticed no issues.

Well today, I was washing/detailing the car, and noticed something. I have attached pictures as well, but its a dent on the right side of the rear diffuser. Its hard to tell from the photos, but when you look closely you can also tell that there was likely some respray work done to the bumper. For those that are more familiar with the car, how hard of a hit would it take to cause this?

I'm really hoping that its likely just a minor "backed into something" incident, and that it wasn't in a pretty big rear end accident that ended up not getting reported. The car has only been parked at my place since I got it home, and I've really only taken it do drive on back roads, so its doubtful to have happened in the past week. And again, you can tell the bumper was probably resprayed at some point.

For what its worth, the car was bought CPO from BMW back in late summer of 2016. The current owner was not driving it much and wanted to sell. When I spoke with him he said it had no accidents or incidents. The PPI also stated that they saw no symptoms of previous accident damage, and I certainly missed it when I did my examination of the car. CarFax also came back clean.

Just looking for some peace of mind that its NOT left over damage from a bigger collision. While a little frustrating, I would be much more okay with it just being some minor cosmetic damage that went unnoticed.

[asiflicious]

Originally Posted by kaputt

Bought a 2012 128i 1 week ago on a private sale. I had been looking for a stripper M Sport with a 6mt. Finally found one, with low mileage and looked super clean. But it was a couple of states away, so it made the logistics a little more challenging.

I got a PPI done on it at a trusted local indy shop that the current owner had not been to, and he was more than willing to take it there. They came back reporting no issues other than it was due for a brake fluid flush. Before exchanging funds, and once I had traveled to where the car was, I took a look at it myself and also took it for an extended drive and noticed no issues.

Well today, I was washing/detailing the car, and noticed something. I have attached pictures as well, but its a dent on the right side of the rear diffuser. Its hard to tell from the photos, but when you look closely you can also tell that there was likely some respray work done to the bumper. For those that are more familiar with the car, how hard of a hit would it take to cause this?

I'm really hoping that its likely just a minor "backed into something" incident, and that it wasn't in a pretty big rear end accident that ended up not getting reported. The car has only been parked at my place since I got it home, and I've really only taken it do drive on back roads, so its doubtful to have happened in the past week. And again, you can tell the bumper was probably resprayed at some point.

For what its worth, the car was bought CPO from BMW back in late summer of 2016. The current owner was not driving it much and wanted to sell. When I spoke with him he said it had no accidents or incidents. The PPI also stated that they saw no symptoms of previous accident damage, and I certainly missed it when I did my examination of the car. CarFax also came back clean.

Just looking for some peace of mind that its NOT left over damage from a bigger collision. While a little frustrating, I would be much more okay with it just being some minor cosmetic damage that went unnoticed.

Don't worry about, it doesn't look serious at all. You'll be hard pressed to find any used car that hasn't been dinged before. If the car is driving fine, had no issues, no accidents reported, don't go looking for issues

[nachob]

Bumpers get resprayed all the time but when you do private sale they are supposed to tell you. If dishonest then what else? It's pretty common to repaint so it doesn't have to be a big accident. It's a used car, I would enjoy it. M sport strippers are hard to come by!

[Esteban]

Yeah, as said above, I wouldn't worry about it. You probably just missed it when looking it over. It is, after all, a 6 year old car.

Just upgrade to an aftermarket diffuser and enjoy the car... and welcome to our forum and congrats!

[Tommm]

That damage could have been caused by a Pidgeon farting next to the car. The seller would have had to notice the damage before he has the obligation to tell you about it.

[E91WAG3N]

Bumper may have been touched up or resprayed (by the BMW dealer that sold it to him) with damage like that. Or it could have just pinched the diffuser. Either way, 99.9% chance there is no structural damage underneath. You can always pull off the bumper cover to check.

[shawnyeeah]

Very simple to swap out a new diffuser, and maybe even get an aftermarket one while you're at it. The paint is barely noticeable, and certainly no serious collision involved.

[gixracer]

I would take it back to the owner an demand that he fix it or buy the car back immediately! insert snowflake comment

jk

dont worry, its not a concours or collector car that not going to be driven. put an aftermarket one on and enjoy. the chance of any real damage is very slim. I have replaced my whole rear cover and mine hasn't even been hit.

[kaputt]

Thanks for the responses. It’s my first used car purchase, so I have probably been a bit over analytical.

I’ve really been enjoying the car though. It is a freaking blast to drive.

[Olgeezer1]

Great find, enjoy the ride.

[champignon]

The front bumper cover is a relatively cheap part, and they sit low which means that they get damaged all the time in the simple act of parking the vehicle in a parking lot and running into one of those things at the front of parking spaces.

I would doubt that very many forum members own a 1-Series car with an original front bumper cover, whose front bumper would look great on the underside when put up on a lift. The attachment points for the front bumper cover are also easily sheared off if you impact one of those too-high barriers at the front of parking spaces. I'm not talking about accidents, I'm talking about parking your car, head in, in a parking space at 1/2 mph.

After the car has had numerous encounters with those front parking space barriers or curbs one encounters in parking, which is more or less inevitable given the design of these cars, it can get to the point where it just makes more sense to buy a new bumper and have it painted than it does to spend a lot of money fixing the bumper cover that is there.

What would you rather have? A new, BMW plastic bumper cover that has been put on and sprayed, or an old one that someone wasted a lot of money fixing when the thing had seen better days?

I know what I would rather have :-)

[chris_flies]

As said above, likely no structural damage. The PO may have simply bumped a suitcase or something into it and scuffed it. You should be able to just replace the diffuser piece with a new one (you should get a nicer-looking one).

[E91WAG3N]

Originally Posted by champignon

The front bumper cover is a relatively cheap part, and they sit low which means that they get damaged all the time in the simple act of parking the vehicle in a parking lot and running into one of those things at the front of parking spaces.

I would doubt that very many forum members own a 1-Series car with an original front bumper cover, whose front bumper would look great on the underside when put up on a lift. The attachment points for the front bumper cover are also easily sheared off if you impact one of those too-high barriers at the front of parking spaces. I'm not talking about accidents, I'm talking about parking your car, head in, in a parking space at 1/2 mph.

After the car has had numerous encounters with those front parking space barriers or curbs one encounters in parking, which is more or less inevitable given the design of these cars, it can get to the point where it just makes more sense to buy a new bumper and have it painted than it does to spend a lot of money fixing the bumper cover that is there.

What would you rather have? A new, BMW plastic bumper cover that has been put on and sprayed, or an old one that someone wasted a lot of money fixing when the thing had seen better days?

I know what I would rather have :-)

Um, that's a rear bumper.

[champignon]

Originally Posted by ubersteuer

Um, that's a rear bumper.

OK, so he was driving in the wrong direction :-)

[kaputt]

Any recommendations for a replacement diffuser? I like the look of the M Performance one, but hot damn it is expensive! And for only a cosmetic part...

[PDXE82]

Originally Posted by kaputt

Any recommendations for a replacement diffuser? I like the look of the M Performance one, but hot damn it is expensive! And for only a cosmetic part...

I bought an aftermarket from this seller last year. Fit and finish was very acceptable for the price compared to the BMW M diffuser. I only paid $245 shipped though.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Carbon-Fibe...item4658272aca

Here is it mounted.