Got mine installed this weekend. Yaaaay!!!!!

Weird about the bolt retainers - I had to open the ears a little bit with pliers, but my bolts fit inside with no more trouble. The bag of hardware I received was completely sealed, so maybe it was an early version thats been sitting in a corner for a long while.

Wish someone had warned me to buy extra plastic rivets to hold the new steel bumper to the bumper cover - I broke about half removing them and had to make an emergency run to Advance Auto on Sunday around 7pm. After some scrouging, I found some plastic rivets that were close and was able to wrap it up.

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David.X5
2001 X5 4.4i Sport
SOLD! at 160k miles