I had started to gather up parts needed for the exterior. Being an SE model, the bumpers and look of the car is very average. The sport models do tend to look a lot more beefier and complete. For me, they make it look like a proper BMW.
So I got on to sourcing some bumpers a year ago. A lot of the second hand front bumpers tend to have crack damage and even the one I purchased needed some work. It is what I would call as good as it gets although I did pay a fair bit for this and the rear bumper. I did make it up by winning a set of sport side skirts on ebay for cheap so guess it balances out.
From what I read on the subject of fitting bumpers, the problem with platforms like facebook is people tend to say yeah it fits but don't mention there's a whole host of things that need changing or modifying before you can actually fit them on.
So one day I started to get the front bumper prepared. While I was in there, I wanted to remove the flaps that stay closed and open when air hits it as you're driving along. This is located behind the bumper and is known as the air flap control below:
Many years of crud and dirt was stuck to it so gave it a clean after removal of the flaps.
I then trial fitted the front bumper to the car. Despite having heavy wear and tear, it just looks so much nicer:
While I was in there, a controversial mod but I think it looks cool is the coloured V bars. There's a few options you can go down which involves either removing it and powdercoat or paint, wrap or you can plastic push on covers. I opted for the push on covers and they work great. I had to trim them down to size but its pretty self explanatory. I went with orange for a specific reason which will make sense later on.
And with the bumper back on:
Anyone wishing to fit sport bumpers to the E60, here is a breakdown of what you need to do along with the part numbers.
The front bumper itself is straight forward to remove and uses 10MM bolts either side on the inside of the wings. You will need to unbolt the 8mm bolts holding in the arch liner to access them. There is some Torx 25 bolts located at the lower front grill of the bumper, 4 in total. Top of the bumper you have 5 T30 bolts. Once these are all removed, it should come off by simply pulling away.
Now to prepare the Sport bumper to fit on to an SE car you will need the following if your replacement bumper hasn't got it already.
Foam-polystyrene blocks M sport versions.
Part numbers 51117896589 and 51117896590.
Headlight washer covers left and right.
Part numbers 51117897211 and 51117897212.
Lever for headlight washer covers if equipped.
Part numbers 51117896601 and 51117896602.
Spring for the headlight washer x2.
Part number 51117061659.
Dummy lever if your car doesn't have headlight washers.
Part numbers 51117896597 and 51117896598.
Front brake ducts.
Part numbers 51117896587 and 51117896588.
Lower front grill.
Part number 51117896586.
Grill piece either side.
Part numbers 51117897186 and 51117897184.
Support brackets x2. These are screwed to the front crash bar.
Part number 51117896611.
Bumper brackets left and right. You can use your existing ones unless they are broken.
Part numbers 51117033705 and 51117033706.
Front lower covers left and right aka pork chops. The SE ones are not compatible with the sport bumper.
Part numbers 51717896607 and 51717896608.
Front lower duct. The M sport version is shorter. However, you can still retain the SE duct and trim down the front so it doesn't foul the lower grill which is what I did.
Part number 51717897173
Front arch liners are slightly different on the M sport. However you can trim off the lower side of it where it meets the side and bottom of the bumper. A dremel will make quick work of it. Trim until you're happy with the fit.
Fog lights are slightly different. You can reuse the ones off the SE model but would require a little modding. I went for the M sport specific ones but aftermarket.
Part numbers 63177897187 and 63177897188.
Fog light covers left and right.
51117896603 and 51117896604
With that, you will be able to fit this bumper on comfortably without much issue. Ideally if you're doing this upgrade, try and make sure the bumper you buy has as much of the above as possible. I did all the ground work on this in order to make it easier once the bumper was painted. Fitting is straight forward using the same mounting points along with the two additonal ones located under the grill. The parts you can use from your old bumper is the wiring loom and PDC sensors.
Rear bumper is a doddle to remove with 4 torx bolts in the boot area, then its a case of removing the 8mm nuts located the wheel well that hold the bumper in.
Parts wise, its not as involved but you do need a few things as follows.
Rear bumper brackets as the SE ones are not compatible.
Part numbers 51127896615 and 51127896616.
Bottom guide piece. The SE ones protrudes a great deal. You can trim it or remove entirely.
Part number 51127897144.
There is a rear rubber trim piece that needed trimming down as the diffuser fouls it. I would imagine there is a sport version but again not needed.
With these, its simply a case of swapping out the wiring loom and PDC sensors.
The sport sideskirts are the only thing that don't need any additional bits and clip straight on.
Next post, dechrome.