M-Sport Bumpers & Wood interior trim
 

Just bought a 2004 ( ie pre- late 06 facelift) X3 3.0i Sport for my wife to supplement my 2006 E53 X5 4.4i Sport, which she does not like driving. A couple of queries about the X3. I want to retro-fit a M-Sport rear bumper. Is this a straightforward job? ( I know I need to paint the second hand bumper I have bought off eBay!). I notice that the factory M-Sport kitted cars have a finisher in body colour on the bottom of the tailgate - it seems much more substantial than the standard black flat plastic version fitted on mine. Anyone know about these? I am not going to fit the M-sport side sills as I have side steps fitted and I haven't looked into the feasibility of fitting an M-Sport front bumper.

My other question is about the "wood" interior trim ( door handles x4, console surround - for auto shifter). Are these easy to retrofit, assuming I can find any second hand parts? New prices from BMW are a little excessive for me.
Thanks in advance for any advice.

Door handle trim pops off but the how is the issue. Some videos (youtube) show leverage from the bottom - this will likely damage the trim - not that it matters in your case I assume but better to use a plastic panel tool and gently insert between the trim and the backing piece midway between the bottom and center support points (so the backing will flex away from the trim - not trying to flex the trim - and the trim will unclip) and start the separation there. It will pop off easily once you start it. New trim will then pop on easily. No chance of damage this way.

The trim around the gear shift takes a direct pull up to unclip. ie grab the boot and pull gently straight upwards. It will unclip.

The trim on the bottom of the tailgate I have but cannot offer any advice there.

I think there is (was?) a DIY on the main page of this forum with an interior trim swap.

http://www.xoutpost.com/articles/x3/...cement-x3.html

I did it a couple years back when I changed out my wood trim for the aluminium. Door pulls are easy. But to change out the centre console around the shifter, you have to pull up on the shifter boot, AND remove the centre stack where the climate control is, which also means removing the centre air vents. Takes patience and care, but I'm not a mechanic and I came out of it alright.

I am in a similar situation since I bought a pre-06 facelift X3 3.0i for my wife and plan to retro-fit a M-Sport rear bumper. This seems to be straightforward, but some additional parts will need to be ordered to mount it (e.g., center bumper mount and loading sill). You can see a parts diagram here:

RealOEM.com * BMW E83 X3 2.5i M REAR BUMPER TRIM

I plan to keep the matte black "trunk lid finisher". Here is the M trunk lid finisher:

RealOEM.com * BMW E83 X3 2.5i M trunk lid cover

The 2007-2010 X3s do not use the larger finisher like on the 2006 model, so it should be fine. I could always paint it to match the body color someday.

Please post an update after you have the new bumper installed - I will do the same. The parts should be arriving within a week or two, so maybe within 2-3 weeks I'll have this completed.

Thanks for the responses, guys. Sorry for the delay in responding but I didn't get any "reply alerts". Just to update ; I managed to buy 4 used "wood" door handle trims ( the seller also had the "wood" shifter console surround but it was a LHD version - slightly different to the RHD one) . Replacement was easy - I used fingernails (mostly intact afterwards!) to remove the silver trims and then the replacements just snap in. Although there is a slight difference in the "grain" , I have ordered a wood-effect dash trim set from www.dash-trim.co.uk ( ref 34180RHD) for about £50 ($75), which seems good value. They also do LHD stuff. The kit consists of stick-on parts for the console and upper dash plus 3 bits round the speedo housing and 4 surrounds for the window switches ( I may not fit the latter if they clash with the door handle trims I fitted). I think these are German-made so should be OK - I fitted similar to my wife's SAAB 9-3 (which the X3 replaced) and they looked good. I haven't received the kit yet ( I think they -strangely - come from Turkey!) but will report back.
With regard to the rear bumper replacement, I have delved a little deeper. The "Aero-kit" versions ( you could have Kit I or Kit II, the difference was you just got the bumpers only or bumpers + side and wheel arch trims) and the "M-Sport" versions are different. I have bought a used rear "Aero" bumper ( not in my colour, unfortunately) but the tailgate side apertures are rounded ( whereas the original bumper has squared side apertures as does the "M-Sport" version) and so I cannot use the current black plastic squared-off tailgate lower trim - hence looking for the rounded version used with the Aero kit and also used on the 2006 facelift cars. I hope this makes sense! I am a little disappointed about having to fit a centre bumper mount,etc as I have already spent out on the replacement bumper which I am also going to have to have resprayed in my Mystic Blue colour, so not keen to fork out more money! Would be interested to know if the proper aftermarket BMW "Kits" contain the necessary mounting parts eg centre bumper mount,etc in addition to the bumpers themselves.
I think I might just get the black plastic part of the front bumper painted in body colour rather than trying to find an Aero or M-Sport version. I have seen cars where this has been done and they looked quite good.
I would be interested to hear/see how you got on with your conversion. Thanks for sharing your info.

According to UPS, the parts should arrive by Tuesday of this week so I'm looking forward to completing the rear bumper swap this week! BTW, I did end up getting an "M-Sport" version.

The rear bumper is installed - just waiting on paint now so the "trunk lid finisher" and tow hook cover can be matched. 100% improvement already.

M-Sport/Aero Bumpers & Wood Trim
 

Good. Can't wait to see photos. I'm still not sure what to do ; rather than change the trunk lid finisher to the curved end type (which I need to do to fit the Aero Package bumper I have) which seem to be difficult to find, I think I will procure an M-Sport bumper (like yours) and retain (but paint to suit) my existing plain-end finisher. I think I will still need to change the bumper reinforcer.
Have received the "Wood" kit from Turkey. Despite being told it was RHD, it IS LHD and I have asked them to re-do the ashtray cover and shifter console surround, which won't fit my car. They said they would do that but I'm still waiting. The other parts do fit & look good. However, they don't do the interior door pull handles and the "wood" on my handles (which I had replaced) is a different type to the kit "wood" ( Walnut). My wife doesn't like the mismatch so I am going to put the silver door pull trims back on again! I will then sell on the wood door pulls ( Light Poplar). Will try to post some photos when it's all done.
At the risk of being thought to be "blinging" the X3 up, I have ordered some chrome outer door handle covers off eBay - coming from China, not surprisingly. Not sure how they'll look but they were quite cheap.

See post # 15 for an updated photo.

If I was in your situation, I'd procure an M-Sport bumper, since you can retain the existing trunk lid finisher. You do not need to change the reinforcer for the M-Sport bumper since the part is the same one used on the base 04-05 bumpers. You only need to change the reinforcer bar for the Aero kit since it is structurally different. You will still need to order some parts to install the M-Sport bumper but the list is short:

51123414406 Loading sill cover
51123416948 Towing eye finisher including fixing clamp
51123414404 Mount, bumper, rear center
51123418499 Support, bumper, rear (Qty 2)
51123414407 Mount, rear bumper left corner
51123414408 Mount, rear bumper right corner

That's it - install was pretty easy - it took less than two hours. The only thing to note is that if your M-Sport bumper does not have the lateral bumper inserts attached, you will need to transfer them from your existing bumper. If you look at the parts diagrams online, you will see what they are. They are not sold separately for the M-Sport bumper so hopefully they will not have been removed by the salvage company when you purchase it.

Hi Chagrin,

Where did you buy the X3 M Sport bumpers, they are really nice!

Thanks! I purchased the bumper on eBay. The rear bumpers seem to be the cheapest and easiest to find. They can be purchased for $300-500USD depending on condition and whether you have them repainted. I purchased this particular one for $300 and it had already been freshly repainted to factory specs. I spent an additional $100 in parts at a BMW dealership for the OEM parts needed to mount it (see list above). So, IMHO, its a fairly inexpensive upgrade that dramatically enhances the look of the 2004-2005 X3's black bumper.

Thanks I will look around Ebay where to look for one.

Our X3 has had the finisher and tow hook cover painted since I last posted. Here's another series of comparison shots. The left most image is before the retrofit, the middle is after the retrofit but before the paint was matched on the trunk lid, and last one on the right is after the final parts were painted and installed. Additionally, the lower red diffusor reflectors found on the 2007+ M-package have been installed. The newly painted parts have not yet been polished or waxed, so they are not yet as shiny as the rest of the X3.

So, any update? It's been a couple of months and curious to see what you've done...

Yes, sorry - I should have posted something earlier. Yours looks really good.
I have made some progress, albeit not as rapidly as you have. I have decided to keep and use the rear Aero bumper which I obtained. I have managed to get the finisher (with curved ends) for the bottom of the tailgate from a BMW dealer in the UK who was reducing stock ( about £40! - c$60, in primer) and the correct bumper reinforcement panel needed for this instal ( same sort of price for a new one from an eBayer in Germany) - as you say, you don't need that for the M-Sport instal. All I need to do now is to get the bumper and tailgate finisher painted in Mystic Blue. I have been a little slow in sorting that, but I will do something about it soon.
I will post an update when I have done that - keep hassling me if you don't see anything from me during the next few weeks! Regards, Alan

Looks great. Some of the pre-facelift X3s really benefit from some aero changes. The early non painted bits are great for off-roaders, but these cars tend to stay on the road.

Mine doesn't :D

I like the black bumpers and the easy-to-clean interior. Last week, a few friends and I shuttled a bike trail in Western NC and after the very fun bike ride, I didn't mind "using" the X3 on the 20min off-road drive back up the mountain, including a point where I floored it up a hill to 90km/h. Deliberately drifting the X3 around is also good fun with DSC off.....really it's the only way to drive the X3 off-road. Mud from our shoes and clothing wipes off easy from the seats and door sills.

Always proud to show that the earlier X3s can be treated like a Jeep (within common sense reason) but then hold its own on the paved roads descending the mountain. No paint chips or messed up alignment. Plus, I've always felt my X3 looked best with mud on it and some spray from the headlamp washers ;pimp;

Awesome! I've been dying to see an X3 totally done up for off-roading.

My X3 isn't physically modified at all except for 18" wheels/tires in the factory size and running on summer performance tires. And what's great is that after all these years, it still doesn't rattle or squeak or make irritating build quality noises off road, even when chattering up rutted gravel and forest roads or over drainage ditches. I try not to look too smug next to all the locally-assembled E70s and F25s here.

Next time I'll get some pictures. My friends proceed to draw/write some.......less-than-appropriate things on the rear windshield with all the dust so I figured that may have not been an opportune photo moment- the rear window washer has its uses too.

Ha, still cool that it sees off-road use. I find X-drive to be amazing if you have appropriate tires for what you're doing.

Hi Alan - any updates?

I recently found a front bumper on craigslist, had it painted last week, and installed it. See the before and after photo comparisons of the front and rear bumpers. Retrofit complete!