[BanjoPaterson]

Backing out of a friend's driveway, I scrapped the LHS front of the car on a low rock or something I didn't see...

Going to get the local body works people to have a look, but it does take the "new car" feeling away. *sigh*

BTW - this part looks and feels plastic, as opposed to the composite body panels. Hopefully that means the body shop can reset the plastic or something -- anyone else had experience with this and what the fix was (and even cost)?!

Thank you.

[ChiTownM]

I had a similar incident with my X5M front bumper and we were able to just bump it out and buff. There was no paint damage though.

While this is unfortunate you will pretty quickly forget about it and continue enjoy the car as intended.

Good luck!

[Emon Crew]

Ouch sorry to see that. How much did they charge for the repair? I hope you get it back and it looks new again

[Sophisto]

It doesn't look too dramatic...

The front bumper cover (you are right - it is 100% plastic) is easy to remove:
The screws for the upper side flaps (partly visible on your pic) are accessable after loosen the inner wheel cover. No need to remove the whole cover, just bend it off the way.
Remove the screws underneath and on top of the bumper cover (you need to open the hood).
Pull the side flaps out (already done on the left side of your car...) and pull out the complete bumper cover a bit.
Disconnect the plug for the parking sensors and the front cam (depending if your car came with driving assistance)
Remove the temperature sensor.
Then take off the bumper completely.

Should be done in 30 minutes. Even quicker if you have access to a car lift.
A new (unpainted...) bumper costs you around 1000 AUD.
BMW part no.: 51 11 7 394 392 and 51 11 7 394 390 (for driving assistant = YES)

[BanjoPaterson]

Originally Posted by Sophisto

It doesn't look too dramatic...

The front bumper cover (you are right - it is 100% plastic) is easy to remove:

....

Should be done in 30 minutes. Even quicker if you have access to a car lift.
A new (unpainted...) bumper costs you around 1000 AUD.
BMW part no.: 51 11 7 394 392 and 51 11 7 394 390 (for driving assistant = YES)

Thank you. I hope you're correct. I drove it into the recommended repairer yesterday (and the best reputable repairer locally), and the repairer's assessor recommended going through insurance, which I'd wanted to avoid since, between my wife and I, we've had an annus horribilis regarding our cars beginning with a 90kg big red kangaroo who jumped 3 metres in front of our X5 as we were doing 80km/h in February last year, coupled with total impact of the X5's replacement X3 passenger side door against a post, and now this. After many years of being proud of our no claim bonus. Oh well.

Also on an infamous plus side, the repairer said it was the first i8 he'd heard of going for repairs in Australia and the first one they'd seen.

I'm hoping the quote isn't too bad, but I'll let people know as it progresses.

[Ghetto2315]

A good body shop can take care of that for $500 cash

[BanjoPaterson]

Originally Posted by Ghetto2315

A good body shop can take care of that for $500 cash

Unfortunately in this town, $500 buys one a Dodgy Bros Bodyshop "VIN change while-u-wait".

[Sophisto]

Originally Posted by BanjoPaterson

Thank you. I hope you're correct. ...

No worries.
I did it twice already. Biggest challenge is to keep the front hood open - safely.

If you search the forum for "LumiLor Thread" you will find some pictures which might help you to get an imagination of it.

Further it might be useful if your dealer is registered at the BMW AOS services:
https://aos.bmwgroup.com/start

[BanjoPaterson]

Quote has come back and it's not too bad (less than 3700, provided nothing else creeps up). Seems equally divided between parts and painting.