[esp260]

Last week, I went back down to visit Boston for the weekend and when I walked back to my car in the morning I saw that my tow hook eye cover was missing. Not sure if it fell off on it's own or some college kids thought that it would be funny to take it off.

Anyway, I went to BMW to try and get a replacement. Primed cover itself is only $18 but it'll cost $75 to paint it!!

Anyone ever deal with this before? I know my best bet is to get it painted by a third party, but any idea around how much that would be?

I'm thinking about making a couple extra to lower the cost of each cover and holding on to them just in case this ever happens again. And if any Mineral Grey owners are also having this problem I'd be willing to split costs.

[Tpeterson]

Happened to me also,on a road trip when the car,228i MSport, was three months old. It was on the bumper at a gas stop in Nebraska and it was gone two hours later at a rest stop in Colorado. I brought it to Motorwerks BMW where I bought the car and they replaced it under the factory warranty. They checked the hole in the bumper, and when there was no sign of tampering they ordered the part,painted it,and installed it three weeks later.

[esp260]

Originally Posted by Tpeterson

Happened to me also,on a road trip when the car,228i MSport, was three months old. It was on the bumper at a gas stop in Nebraska and it was gone two hours later at a rest stop in Colorado. I brought it to Motorwerks BMW where I bought the car and they replaced it under the factory warranty. They checked the hole in the bumper, and when there was no sign of tampering they ordered the part,painted it,and installed it three weeks later.

So this piece is replaceable under factory warranty? Or were you lucky with a generous dealership?

[Tpeterson]

The service mgr.walked the SA through the "coding" on the service order so that BMW NA would cover covered it. On my receipt they listed the cover as defective since it fell out with no"outside influence" and charges covered under warranty. After all, it's suppose to over the hole for the life of the car.

[BEMR]

Mine came off for some reason, I remember seeing the front of my car at the store which is close to my house, by the time I got home I noticed it was gone, went back the next day and looked for it along the street or gutter, found it in the center lane nobody hit it. amazing I found out.

[esp260]

Originally Posted by BEMR

Mine came off for some reason, I remember seeing the front of my car at the store which is close to my house, by the time I got home I noticed it was gone, went back the next day and looked for it along the street or gutter, found it in the center lane nobody hit it. amazing I found out.

This seems like such a common problem with BMWs just by searching other bimmer forums. I wonder if this is something BMW intentionally doesn't try to fix to make a couple extra $$...

Hopefully the warranty can be honored and I can get it replaced at no cost.

[BEMR]

Originally Posted by esp260

This seems like such a common problem with BMWs just by searching other bimmer forums. I wonder if this is something BMW intentionally doesn't try to fix to make a couple extra $$...

Hopefully the warranty can be honored and I can get it replaced at no cost.

if anything just offer free or real inexpensive replacements since like anything else if it comes off so easy people are going to steel them off your car. nobody usually commits theft when what they're stealing is free.

[JChristie]

Originally Posted by esp260

I'm thinking about making a couple extra to lower the cost of each cover and holding on to them just in case this ever happens again. And if any Mineral Grey owners are also having this problem I'd be willing to split costs.

If you can’t get it replaced under warranty I’d definitely suggest making a few spares. On my old E46, the small plastic covers for the headlight washer would frequently snap off in cold weather. Painted replacements from the dealership were ridiculously expensive. Simply bought some cheap unpainted ones off ebay and had a bodyshop paint them up nicely for a little bit of cash. Cost about the same as two brand new ones from the dealership so it saved me in the long run.

Plus, having a spare means it’s infinitely less likely that the original part will fall out in the first place.

[Pparana]

Originally Posted by BEMR

if anything just offer free or real inexpensive replacements since like anything else if it comes off so easy people are going to steel them off your car. nobody usually commits theft when what they're stealing is free.

I hope people with 50k cars do not need to steal parts

[BEMR]

Originally Posted by Pparana

I hope people with 50k cars do not need to steal parts

it probably wouldn't be the car owners stealing the parts.

[esp260]

Went to a BMW dealership today and unfortunately they wouldn't honor it under warranty. They stated that they need the old piece in order to prove that it was due to a faulty piece. I bought an unpainted piece and I'm hoping that the unpainted cover won't look that bad... Gonna go to another dealership and see if I get luckier.

[atxlos]

restarting this thread...anyone have any luck buying an OEM piece and getting it painted?

I just called my Dealer in Austin who told me the part would be $45 without paint, and $70 to get painted. Thats $110-$130 for a small plastic cover, thats absurd.

If I can find the oem part online and have a local body shop paint it, that would be better, just need to find where to buy the piece..

[esp260]

Originally Posted by atxlos

restarting this thread...anyone have any luck buying an OEM piece and getting it painted?

I just called my Dealer in Austin who told me the part would be $45 without paint, and $70 to get painted. Thats $110-$130 for a small plastic cover, thats absurd.

If I can find the oem part online and have a local body shop paint it, that would be better, just need to find where to buy the piece..

So I ended up buying 2 pieces from the dealer for $17 a piece and I went to a body shop to get them painted for $60 I believe. Still not a cheap alternative, but better than what the dealer offered. Wish I could buy painted pieces from the factory, I remember Acura sold painted bumper pieces from the factory :/

[atxlos]

im guessing the rear is significantly cheaper since i was quoted $45 for the front, looks like it's a cost i'm gonna have to eat up.

[raleedy]

Originally Posted by esp260

Went to a BMW dealership today and unfortunately they wouldn't honor it under warranty. They stated that they need the old piece in order to prove that it was due to a faulty piece. I bought an unpainted piece and I'm hoping that the unpainted cover won't look that bad... Gonna go to another dealership and see if I get luckier.

Maybe you can unpaint the rest of the car to match?

[esp260]

Originally Posted by atxlos

im guessing the rear is significantly cheaper since i was quoted $45 for the front, looks like it's a cost i'm gonna have to eat up.

How did you lose your tow hook cover btw?

[pz619]

Originally Posted by Pparana

I hope people with 50k cars do not need to steal parts

"Some men, just want to watch the world burn."

[Tpeterson]

I lost mine on a road trip last Summer. It was on at a gas stop. The next stop it was gone! I got it replaced under warranty at the dealer I bought the car from.The service Mgr. checked to make sure there was no damage to the hole ie.someone scratched around it while prying it out and called it a defective part. So you're right to try another dealer.

[atxlos]

Originally Posted by raleedy

Maybe you can unpaint the rest of the car to match?

Originally Posted by esp260

How did you lose your tow hook cover btw?

no clue...one day it was there, the next, gone, this was about 3-4 months into having the car.

[BMWKLR]

I did exactly what your thinking. When I lost my front bumper cover I ordered 3 and had them painted, its the same cost to have 1 or 5 painted. Later on I lost the rear cover and decided to paint the replacement myself with the BAV auto Aerosol and clear. It looks pretty good.

[LimeRockM235]

this happens to ever bmw, 75 bucks is about what most dealer charge your gunna get used to it. i worked in a bmw parts dept. I had a whole file cabinet just for these. probably sold at least 20 a month

[IM2C]

Originally Posted by LimeRockM235

this happens to ever bmw, 75 bucks is about what most dealer charge your gunna get used to it. i worked in a bmw parts dept. I had a whole file cabinet just for these. probably sold at least 20 a month

OMG!!