A few months back I was scanning some saved searches on eBay (as I often do because of my day job) when I ran across a poorly described listing advertising for a BMW diffuser listed as a "Buy It Now" option for $350. From what I could gather from the owner of the listing, the negatives were that the diffuser had some minor cracking and clear coating issues in a few different places. The positives were that this was an OEM BMW Performance piece in full carbon fiber, had all tabs intact, and was cheap. As I usually do on eBay, I offered him lower than he was asking and by the time it was over I was the proud owner of this diffuser for $250 including shipping.
Within a few days, I had the diffuser in hand. Sure enough, the diffuser was indeed authentic.
After seeing the extent of the damage in person and seeing that the majority of the unsightliness was a result of flaking clear coat, I made the decision to try to repair the diffuser, carefully sand down the damaged areas, and reapply another coat of clear. Before attempting to do some of the touch-up work myself, I had a chance encounter with a business acquaintance of mine that does some body work for our company. In between doing small jobs, he managed to squeeze in some time to see what he could do for my diffuser. The finished product looked much better than what I initially received, looks good enough that I'll probably keep the carbon fiber look for the time being, and cost me $0.
This piece definitely sharpens up the view from the rear and for a total of $250 invested, is hard to beat. The OEM E82 diffuser was removed in less than 5 minutes and the OEM BMW Performance diffuser in carbon fiber installed in less than 5 minutes. No fitment issues, no fuss.
