[Barry0305]

Hello Bimmerpost,

a few days ago I have noticed a strange gap between the grill of my G22 BMW 4 series and the bumper. The gap is only on one side and looks quite nasty. I have noticed that some cars do have a small gap between the grill and the plastic, but always somewhat smaller than mine.

1) I am from Europe (the car is a European model).
2) The car is a 2023 model (ordered 8/2022).
3) The gap was there when the car was delivered to me by the dealer (I have noticed it in photos from delivery)
4) I have received a confirmation from BMW that the car wasn't damaged during transport.


I have uploaded some pics of similar gaps on other new cars, but they always seem smaller than mine...

What do you guys think? Looks pretty nasty in my opinion. Unacceptable for a new car this expensive. I can't unsee it now either, which makes this really annoying.

[chutoy]

Pull the grill and reinsert it?

Here’s a video on how to do it:
4 Series Grill removal

[Barry0305]

Originally Posted by chutoy

Pull the grill and reinsert it?

Here’s a video on how to do it:
4 Series Grill removal

Thought about doing that, but I'm not sure if I won't make it even worse. I don't even know if I can straighten the plastic from the outside. What caused the gap in your opinion? You think this was caused by the BMW worker pushing the grill in too hard?

[chutoy]

Originally Posted by Barry0305

Thought about doing that, but I'm not sure if I won't make it even worse. I don't even know if I can straighten the plastic from the outside. What caused the gap in your opinion? You think this was caused by the BMW worker pushing the grill in too hard?

Thinking the clip may be off and pushing against the bumper. If you take the grill off and the bumper is warped, you know your next step..

[Barry0305]

Originally Posted by chutoy

Thinking the clip may be off and pushing against the bumper. If you take the grill off and the bumper is warped, you know your next step..

Do you think it could come like this from the factory?

[chutoy]

Originally Posted by Barry0305

Do you think it could come like this from the factory?

I doubt it would pass their quality control inspection

[toddwalton]

The car is still under warranty and you have photographic evidence that it was delivered this way so the service department should pop this back in or replace it at no charge.

[Barry0305]

Originally Posted by chutoy

I doubt it would pass their quality control inspection

So you think this is because of transport damage?

I was sent an email from BMW stating that the car never sustained any damage during transport (and I live about 190 miles from the factory) and the dealer also showed me the production history for the car (the production codes) and there was no code suggesting any repairs were made to the finished vehicle. I don't know...

I went to the dealer. He agreed it looked abnormal and agreed to fix it, but I'm not sure if I want them to mess with the car any more, especially if it involves taking off the bumper.