dealer broke "center firewall bracket" ??
 

99% the dealer broke the tab of the "center firewall bracket" during the vanos recall repair. anyone have any idea how this could happen, and if this tab even has any function?

only a $50 part, it appears: RealOEM.com * BMW E70N X5 35iX Reinforcement, body

Bumping this I am still wondering how this happened and whether I should replace the broken part..

i can only assume they're kind of a remnant of standardisation. they're not visible in my 4.8 and i'd hazard to guess they're holding the air box on N62s, while being somewhat obsolete on your N55. but that's just a guess.

googling images of E70 engine bays with N55 and N62 engines it appears to be the case. still, i'm really only guessing.

Ahh I think you are exactly right. Looking at photos of the N62 it looks like it supports the left side air filter. Thanks a lot..

Are the N52 engines included in this recall?

My understanding is that the vanos recall [at least the one I was referencing] was only applicable to certain years for the n55.

Actually, it looks like certain N51 and N52 engines were affected, in addition to the N55.

Where did you find this?