Previous owner drilled holes in the bumper :( What to do?

[laotzu]

This is my first post to this forum as an owner of a 135i.

My new ride

Unfortunately, the previous owner of my car drilled holes in the bumper of the car to hold the license plate. I live in a state where a front plate is not required. So now there are 4 ugly plastic holes on the bumper where the plate used to be.

Besides putting the license plate holder back on the car and getting a vanity plate, is there anything that can be done that doesn't involve replacing the whole bumper?

[Yearofthe1]

Bondo?

Seriously tho, I think the bumper would need replacing.

[brandon @ eas]

it sucks, big time, but there is no legit fix for this without having the entire bumper re-painted. It will need to be sanded down, filled, re-sanded etc several times to be extra sure that there is no distortion in the bumper where those holes were drilled. Depending on the color of the car, the distortion wont be as visible as it is on others, but on my silver car, not only do you see the hole that was drilled, but about 1" around each hole you can see where the bumper has been distorted or warped around that hole.

you can use bumper plugs, to basically cover the holes, but if you have the distortion issue, then they wont be enough to satisfy your needs of having a perfect bumper.

Here is my car with bumper plugs. notice how you can still see the warped bumper around each plug:

[laotzu]

That sucks. It actually looks BETTER with the plastic front license plate holder with nothing on it than it does with the holey bumper because they are both black.

[laotzu]

That's a gorgeous M3 by the way!

[rsjean]

Maybe a nice tasteful and small tuner decal or plate mounted there would get you by until you bit the new bumper bullet?

[Jcrewsn]

hope this helps... I had the same situation (dealer drilled holes) and so i purchased bumper plugs. I think it looks great and they are bigger than the one's shown above on the M3. Sorry about the grill color difference i would take a better pic but its raining right now

[laotzu]

I assume you're talking about the $24.95 pair of bumper plugs from bumperplugs.com?

I'm extra screwed because not only did the original owner drill holes but CarMax drilled different holes to put their stupid vanity plate on. Looks like I'd need two pairs.

[fatjoez]

bumper plugs look fine in my opinion. looks like a normal parking sensor. no biggy

[Jaguar66]

!

[Jayock]

I have bumperplugs too. I think they look great.

[HIPSI]

Originally Posted by laotzu

That sucks. It actually looks BETTER with the plastic front license plate holder with nothing on it than it does with the holey bumper because they are both black.

Something like these automotive plastic "push pins" are a much cheaper alternative available at your local Auto Parts for less than a buck a piece. Especially on black vehicles as that's the color they come in, though they could be painted...
I used something just like these (single head) on my FX and am well pleased... FWIW

http://www.auveco.com/product/xmas.html