[rastaman777]

I hit a raccoon in the summer, front passenger side. Ripped out the windshield washer reservoir and some other minor damage underneath.
Finally took it in to get repaired - took them 4 weeks!
They told me it was hard to figure out what pieces were missing.

So now I see this flap sticking out on the repaired side, but not on the driver side.

Just wondering if anyone can let me know if they have this flap on one side their car as well. It looks odd, and never noticed it before, but can't say I actually looked before the repair.

Picture of mine is attached. Sorry - I tried and tried and tried and can't for the life of me get the picture to show right side up!

Thanks!

[evanevery]

Originally Posted by rastaman777

Sorry - I tried and tried and tried and can't for the life of me get the picture to show right side up!

Let me guess... Apple User? ;-)

Maybe this will help....

[rastaman777]

lol...thanks for the help with the pic!

I see you have the roadster - congrats!
Any chance you could take a peek to see if you've got the same thing poking out underneath.
Thanks!!

[evanevery]

Originally Posted by rastaman777

lol...thanks for the help with the pic!

I see you have the roadster - congrats!
Any chance you could take a peek to see if you've got the same thing poking out underneath.
Thanks!!

Nah, I just like to make snarky anti-apple remarks!

Sure, I'll try to remember to check tonight after I get home....

[evanevery]

I just looked under my car. Nothing like that sticking down front or rear.

As you have surmised, that just doesn't look right. Way too easy to take damage hanging down like that.

My car is a 2019, so maybe there are some differences. However, that plastic thing hanging down really looks like a liability. My car is almost perfectly flat and even underneath...

[rastaman777]

Thanks for the help.

Yes, it sure doesn't look right.
The body shop (it was a BMW shop) didn't give me any confidence in their work.

Hopefully I can get some input for the 2016 model year, and maybe it is just some oddity with that particular year/model....I hope.

Actually that thing sticking out does explain why it got ripped out when i hit the raccoon though!

[Sophisto]

I checked the parts catalogue.

Seems to be no difference for any wheelhousing or underhood shield parts from 2014 to 2019. All models including the roadster showing the same parts / part numbers.

I also couldn't spot out a part looking similar to yours.

As the part colour varies a bit from the original ones they might have done a kind of "creative repair" e. g. to connect a ripped part hidden underneath the wheelhousing ???

Usually not very BMW like to do so. Where have you been for repair?

[evanevery]

You are right to be concerned. Normally the underside of a vehicle, particularly one designed to be efficient, is pretty flat and smooth to promote airflow. If you have something hanging down under your i8, then something is likely not right...

Bring it to a different dealer and see what they say. BMW (as a company) should stand behind their work even if it wasn't done under warranty (out of pocket). I wouldn't take it back to the same dealer as all you'll likely get is a bunch of excuses and some half-assed re-repair. Take it to another dealer who won't have to defend their prior work (at your expense).

Assuming this is "not right"... If this is the kind of work the original shop does then I wouldn't let them touch any of my cars ever again. ...not even to "fix" their own work.

[rastaman777]

Originally Posted by Sophisto

I checked the parts catalogue.

Seems to be no difference for any wheelhousing or underhood shield parts from 2014 to 2019. All models including the roadster showing the same parts / part numbers.

I also couldn't spot out a part looking similar to yours.

As the part colour varies a bit from the original ones they might have done a kind of "creative repair" e. g. to connect a ripped part hidden underneath the wheelhousing ???

Usually not very BMW like to do so. Where have you been for repair?

Thanks for the reply.
Ah....I just noticed the spelling of colour...greetings my fellow Canuck!
The BMW dealer I took it to is in upstate NY. I don't want to say names, but there is only one dealer up here so not hard to figure it out.

Wow, the feedback I've been getting sure makes me suspicious that they did indeed do some 'creative repair'. I don't get how or why they would do that, it's under warranty, insurance was paying, and it's BMW collision center.
I mentioned earlier they told me they were having problems trying to figure out what parts were needed and how to put it back together. Why should they have problems....shouldn't there just be some schematic to show them?!

Funny thing is there was actually another i8 in the collision center at the same time. Very rare for this shop to have one, let alone two. So surely they could have just popped there head underneath for a visual as well.

I'm going to wait until I also can get visual before I confront them.

[rastaman777]

Originally Posted by evanevery

You are right to be concerned. Normally the underside of a vehicle, particularly one designed to be efficient, is pretty flat and smooth to promote airflow. If you have something hanging down under your i8, then something is likely not right...

Bring it to a different dealer and see what they say. BMW (as a company) should stand behind their work even if it wasn't done under warranty (out of pocket). I wouldn't take it back to the same dealer as all you'll likely get is a bunch of excuses and some half-assed re-repair. Take it to another dealer who won't have to defend their prior work (at your expense).

Assuming this is "not right"... If this is the kind of work the original shop does then I wouldn't let them touch any of my cars ever again. ...not even to "fix" their own work.

Thanks for the reply.
It definitely doesn't look right at all....but it's not the first time I've seen weird things on cars lol.

If I had any other feasible options, I definitely would never ever use this facility. Almost all of my colleagues feel the same way about this place.

Unfortunately it's winter up here, and the next BMW dealership is about 200 miles away. So I won't get a chance for any other dealership to actually see the car until spring - a few months away.
The work was done by an actual BMW dealership collision center through insurance, and the car is still under full warranty.

I'm surprised I can't find any pictures of the underside of an i8 online period.
Been busy with work, but hopefully tomorrow I can reach out to some other dealerships and talk to their collision center about this oddity.

[evanevery]

It would be interesting for them to actually tell you what they did, why your car looks like this, and why THEY think that's OK...

Then I would STILL take it to a different dealer. Make sure BMW knows about this up-front, and that you are so dissatisfied that you will be going 200 miles out of your way to get the job done right. Remember, this is only the part you can SEE that's messed up. Who knows what else these guys have done (or not done)...

Again, this all assumes that its NOT supposed to be the way it appears in your photo. If it IS supposed to be that way, then you have an even better story to tell us...

[rastaman777]

Originally Posted by evanevery

It would be interesting for them to actually tell you what they did, why your car looks like this, and why THEY think that's OK...

Then I would STILL take it to a different dealer. Make sure BMW knows about this up-front, and that you are so dissatisfied that you will be going 200 miles out of your way to get the job done right. Remember, this is only the part you can SEE that's messed up. Who knows what else these guys have done (or not done)...

Again, this all assumes that its NOT supposed to be the way it appears in your photo. If it IS supposed to be that way, then you have an even better story to tell us...

Agreed with all the above. Hopefully we get a few days of mild weather and I can try and make the trip out to another dealer.
I would love to hear what possible BS they could dish out. I was thinking the same thing about what else they could have screwed up that's not visible. Luckily the damage was minimal and the only functional damage (appeared to be) was with the windshield washer fluid.

[fbuzila]

see how it looks like on my car

[rastaman777]

Thanks fbuzila.

So it looks like there is something sticking out there.

I think it's pretty similar to what I have.
My pics make it look a little more prominent, but I think it's because of the angle of the picture, as I intentionally wanted to show as much detail as possible.

I'm going to go and take another look and maybe get another pic that is closer to the pics you gave for comparison.

Thanks again!

[fbuzila]

Originally Posted by rastaman777

Thanks fbuzila.

So it looks like there is something sticking out there.

I think it's pretty similar to what I have.
My pics make it look a little more prominent, but I think it's because of the angle of the picture, as I intentionally wanted to show as much detail as possible.

I'm going to go and take another look and maybe get another pic that is closer to the pics you gave for comparison.

Thanks again!

yes, I think you are right, it looks similar...

[Sophisto]

Just had a look on mine - looking identical.

In comparison to the wheelhouse plastics the flap feels much softer. More like rubber. This is answering the question of the different colours.

I still couldn't figure out any part no. Maybe this was the problem your dealer had with it.
This part seems to be mounted inbetween the wheelhouse cover and the underhood shield.

Long story short: Obviously not a dealers mistake and also no "creative repair". But it still should be there on BOTH sides.

[evanevery]

I'm not seeing any of that on my 2019 Roadster. Perfectly flat as I remember when I specifically looked for this. I can take another look, but I'm pretty confident of what I saw. I'll take/post a photo tonight...

That lip is descending directly in front of your pass front tire, right?

[rastaman777]

Originally Posted by evanevery

I'm not seeing any of that on my 2019 Roadster. Perfectly flat as I remember when I specifically looked for this. I can take another look, but I'm pretty confident of what I saw. I'll take/post a photo tonight...

That lip is descending directly in front of your pass front tire, right?

Yes, directly in front of the passenger tire. I still didn't get a chance to take another look as I want to get another picture which sort of puts it in a more realistic perspective. The picture Sophisto put up I think looks pretty much exactly like mine.
I think the picture I posted makes it look bigger and more obtrusive than it really is.

[rastaman777]

Sophisto - thanks for the help!
Indeed it definitely seems this is part of the normal design.
Definitely explains why it got ripped out with my road kill.
From what evanevery is saying, looks like they may have redesigned and got rid of the protrusion.

[evanevery]

I honestly didn't notice anything sticking down. What would make them do this? I can't see why it would provide any BENEFIT so it must be done to accommodate something. Especially since you only report it to be on the pass side...

I'll see if I can remember to get a photo of the underside of my 2019 tonight. They changed the hood on the 2019's, so maybe this is some sort of a drain for water collected via the center vent on years prior? That might explain a design difference...

What were we talking about again? ;-)

[evanevery]

Nope... Nothing hanging down in front of the front pass wheel (or anywhere under the car) on my 2019 Roadster. There is a little bit of "contouring" (which runs around the entire car) but the underside is otherwise pretty flat.

[rastaman777]

Originally Posted by evanevery

Nope... Nothing hanging down in front of the front pass wheel (or anywhere under the car) on my 2019 Roadster. There is a little bit of "contouring" (which runs around the entire car) but the underside is otherwise pretty flat.

Well that sounds like good news! Seems they realized it's a weird design.

The idea of it being a water drain seems to make sense as well. As i mentioned before, the windshield washer reservoir was definitely there on mine...it was dangling down after my impact.
Maybe if that flap wasn't there, I wouldn't have sustained the damage I had.
I think that's what we were talking about!