135i brake duct questions

[Eazy-e]

I ran over something on the freeway a while ago and it messed up one of my brake ducts.

My first question is would this part be all I need?:

http://parts.bmwofsouthatlanta.com/p...wd=&origin=pla

Second question is how hard is the DIY? Do I have to take off the entire bumper?

See picture below:




Thanks

[delta-9-ginseng]

Actually, similar thing happen to me and you would be surprised that if you pull kinda hard on the broken piece it will pop right off and then you can insert the new piece with some tinkering. I didn't have have to pull the bumper off or anything. Just make sure you get the correct part from BMW and play around with it you'll be surprised haha.

[Eazy-e]

It looks like the windows gasket and air duct needs to be replaced.

Window gasket: http://parts.bmwofsouthatlanta.com/p...118045922.html

Air duct: http://parts.bmwofsouthatlanta.com/p...748046300.html

does this look right?

[Pig Farmer]

For peace of mind, I would remove the bumper and get a good look at the oil cooler to make sure it was unharmed. Removing the bumper is fairly easy and only requires a few tools. There are several 8mm bolts/screws that connect the bumper to the under tray of the engine, three 8mm bolts/screws in the front of each wheel well, and four t-30 bolt/screws on the top of the bumper under the hood. There are two tricks to removing... First make sure to remove the headlight washer covers before undoing the bumper. Nothing worse than getting the bumper free and finding out that the headlight washers covers are still connected. Pull the covers up with your fingers, but have a set of needle nose pliers near by. Pull firm but slowly. They will lift as the water pressure is released, but they will want the spring down if you let go. Once they are raised, grab the shaft with the needle nose pliers. Best to brace the pliers against the edge of the bumper cover. This will allow you to hold the washer with one hand, and remove the cover with the other. The cover connects loosely to the shaft by tabs on each side of the shaft. Just pull one of the tabs off the shaft with you free hand. The tabs a pretty flexible so just be firm, but take it slow. Once one of the tabs is free, the cover will come off. This is hard to describe, but it's easy to figure it out once you see it. The next trick deals with seperating the bumper from the fenders (headlight support really, but it's between the fender and the bumper). The bumper has a snap connector that needs to be released. Press a small nylon pry bar between the bumper and the black headlight support. Wiggle and pull on the the bumper until the snap connector releases. After you do this once, it will be second nature. I'm sure you can find a video on the web that walks you through the process. You can do all of this without lifting the car, but you will need to turn the wheels full lock to reach the bolts in the wheel wells.

[highbrowed]

Originally Posted by Pig Farmer

For peace of mind, I would remove the bumper and get a good look at the oil cooler to make sure it was unharmed. Removing the bumper is fairly easy and only requires a few tools. There are several 8mm bolts/screws that connect the bumper to the under tray of the engine, three 8mm bolts/screws in the front of each wheel well, and four t-30 bolt/screws on the top of the bumper under the hood. There are two tricks to removing... First make sure to remove the headlight washer covers before undoing the bumper. Nothing worse than getting the bumper free and finding out that the headlight washers covers are still connected. Pull the covers up with your fingers, but have a set of needle nose pliers near by. Pull firm but slowly. They will lift as the water pressure is released, but they will want the spring down if you let go. Once they are raised, grab the shaft with the needle nose pliers. Best to brace the pliers against the edge of the bumper cover. This will allow you to hold the washer with one hand, and remove the cover with the other. The cover connects loosely to the shaft by tabs on each side of the shaft. Just pull one of the tabs off the shaft with you free hand. The tabs a pretty flexible so just be firm, but take it slow. Once one of the tabs is free, the cover will come off. This is hard to describe, but it's easy to figure it out once you see it. The next trick deals with seperating the bumper from the fenders (headlight support really, but it's between the fender and the bumper). The bumper has a snap connector that needs to be released. Press a small nylon pry bar between the bumper and the black headlight support. Wiggle and pull on the the bumper until the snap connector releases. After you do this once, it will be second nature. I'm sure you can find a video on the web that walks you through the process. You can do all of this without lifting the car, but you will need to turn the wheels full lock to reach the bolts in the wheel wells.

This is the best description of front bumper removal I've ever heard. You explained the bumper-fender fasteners perfectly, something not a lot of the DIYs do.

[litebulb]

I actually cut off the fin. There was a thread about it awhile back, I think the car looks much better without it.