[FirstSun]

Hello everybody,

I bought this 2011 bmw 335is a while ago and I'm struggling with this gap between the hood and bumper. It seems like it has an m3 style bumper, should I just bring it back to the stock bumper or upgrade the hood and fenders too?



Either option is fine with me, just not sure which one would be less of a headache.

Thank you in advance for your time, and have a great day!

[Fredo]

Hello, fellow Austinite.

I believe your best bet is a stock bumper, but I'm curious to hear what others say.

[lowrydr310]

The bumper and grill combo looks great on that car and the gap isn't even that bad. If you want to tweak it you could try some stacked washers under each of the four upper bumper bolt holes, under the forward edge of the hood. My aftermarket stock-style bumper didn't fit quite right at first but a few washers and some adjustment and holding prior to tightening those four top bumper bolts got it looking perfect.

[StradaRedlands]

Yeah, I see what you're looking at there... for me it's not so much the gap, but the way the pieces go in front of the lights. That looks kinda' weird. Maybe you could shape it with a heat gun? Because it looks awesome otherwise!

[lowrydr310]

Originally Posted by StradaRedlands

Yeah, I see what you're looking at there... for me it's not so much the gap, but the way the pieces go in front of the lights. That looks kinda' weird. Maybe you could shape it with a heat gun? Because it looks awesome otherwise!

StradaRedlands that's how the stock bumpers fit on the E92/93, there's a slight overlap on the inside of the headlight. It annoyed me at first until I realized that's how they are.

Also, FirstSun I just realized you have a LCI. Even on the IS models any aftermarket bumper looks better than the stock bumper, my opinion at least, just something to keep in mind. The LCI coupes and cabrios use different headlights which are fine themselves but the LCI bumpers aren't as nice as the M-sport or M3 replicas.

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by lowrydr310

StradaRedlands that's how the stock bumpers fit on the E92/93, there's a slight overlap on the inside of the headlight. It annoyed me at first until I realized that's how they are.

Also, FirstSun I just realized you have a LCI. Even on the IS models any aftermarket bumper looks better than the stock bumper, my opinion at least, just something to keep in mind. The LCI coupes and cabrios use different headlights which are fine themselves but the LCI bumpers aren't as nice as the M-sport or M3 replicas.

Huh, I never noticed that...

[Jeff S]

I agree with Lowrydr310, it just needs some tweaking.
I would try the washers for sure, but I would also loosen all of the attaching bolts including the belly pan, then move it around to where you like it, then tighten everything back up from top to bottom.
Car looks great otherwise!

[whyzee125]

You've got a few things going on here.

The fender to hood gaps are worse than hood to bumper. I can't tell if it's side to side or just up and down. Your hood can be adjusted down some but your fenders may also need to come in.

You can shim the M3 bumpers upwards but it looks like it's also pushed out in front of the passenger headlight.

The bumper needs to come off and start getting the hood and fenders adjusted right then match the bumper to them.

[FirstSun]

lowrydr310 I'm going to start with the washers for now then figure the other parts out later, I really like how to the front end looks, I'm just annoyed by the gaps and the misalignments.

whyzee125 I just started also noticing that, I know the car was in a crash before and I think they readjusted the hood and put some washers to fit the fenders back on there. I'm going to try my best to fix it myself and if it doesn't work I'm going to take it to a body shop and have them figure it out ��