Hello everyone, I purchased the same fender flares, by themselves, from ebay from the same manufacturer in Latvia. I purchased them approx. one year ago, and I never got around to installing them because of how they needed to be installed.

I have gone to three body shops all telling me that they won't work on it because the fender flares do not seem to be oem (how much bull is that?). They told to buy some extreme 3M double sided tape and do it myself. I didn't think that with the tape I would get the oem-look I want, for the 3m tape is foam adhesive tape.

So I have been pushing them off and even considered tossing them until I came across this forum. I can't wait to see them installed. Has anyone actually installed them yet? I like the idea of using black windshield adhesive. My only concern is the bottom, where the fender flare is stretched to fit snuggly on the original fender. Would it look bent?

And would the procedure for installing them with the black windshield adhesive be as easy as covering all the edges with the adhesive, pushing the fender flares on, taping them with scotch tape, wiping the excess adhesive off, and wait for it to set?

Cheers from Georgia, USA.

bump

Royawood, without seeing them it is hard to tell, but yes that is probably how you fit them. You could try the thin 3m double sided adhesive first as it is very easy to remove if you don't like the results.

But whatever you do, don't toss them. Someone else might be interested in them.

Yes we need pics

Long awaited pics. Sorry for the delay.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...224_172841.jpg
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...224_172845.jpg
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...224_172852.jpg
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...224_172859.jpg
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...224_172911.jpg
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...224_172928.jpg
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...224_173050.jpg
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...224_173110.jpg

Okay, so here they are. Overall verdict, good from afar, but if you're quite fussy, you won't be happy with the overall outcome. Especially considering how much time you've spent on it.

You'll notice the back spoiler is great. Fits well, went on easily. The front, not so much. You can see in one of the photos the gap between the black plastic and the spoiler where it doesn't fit properly. This was pressed hard up against the plastic, but over the last few months has pulled away. I'll just have to fill the gap with black silicone.

You'll also notice, that on the driver's side (RHD) there's a bump in the fibreglass. This is from too much manipulation trying to get it to fit perfectly onto the car (which is impossible as you can see).

Overall, as you can see from the pics taken a couple meters away, it looks great and really improves the look of the car. Would I do it again? Probably not.

Flares still to come :)

I agree it looks great from a short distance away. I like the look and the color of your X5. I would say it is worth it. Before using black silicone I would ask a body shop what they would do. Your problem is not unusual to them.

I reckon its passable, only because the alternative is a full 4.8is front bar replacement from a wrecker, and they are just rare as hens teeth in Australia - and even if you did find one, the cost would be heavy - I reckon $1500 unpainted.

Unfortunately I don't think the story is going to get any better with the flares. I just can't see how they could be fitted neatly....look forward to seeing your progress though.

I don't know how or when it happened but I found a nice scratch on my tailgate today that is all the way down to bare metal and beyond something I could fix myself. Considering I'd have to get a shop to sand, spray and blend it, I just gave myself another reason to get this kit. My question is what are the differences between the two kits in the links below other than a $75 price? Both are for a pre-facelift.

BMW E53 x5 4 8style Bodykit for All E53 Models Front Bumper Rear Bumper Arches | eBay

BMW E53 x5 4 6IS Body Kit | eBay

I'm also curious is someone w/ Photoshop skills can make me a monochromatic in estoril blue as I'm debating having all the black smoothed and painted, which will not be cheap. I've found facelifted E53's and X5M's with it done in pics, so they're my motivation.

Estoril E53 X5 4.6is Part Out

https://www.flickr.com/photos/83728243@N04/14057383741/

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...like-best.html

If you look at the front spoiler pics, the 4.6is and 4.8is are differernt.
The 4.8is looks a lot better. I will warn you though, there's a fair bit of work involved to get these on. They are pretty poor quality.

Oops, don't ask me how I missed facelift vs pre-facelift. Ironically the pre-facelift is more expensive :-/ I've got a pre-facelift so hopefully my fitment will be better since it doesn't have to follow the curves where you've got fitment issues.