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      09-18-2014, 03:06 PM   #1
disco4me
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How Protect Underside of Front Spoiler?

Any thoughts on how to protect the underside of the front spoiler from being scraped besides not hitting anything? I already christened it coming out of a steep downward driveway onto a street. Nothing noticeable from the front, but scraped underneath. I'm certain to do this again somewhere, sometime. Especially of concern are parking lot stops/bumpers.
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      09-18-2014, 03:55 PM   #2
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Get an M Performance front lip.

Then you just trash the lip, not the car itself...
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      09-18-2014, 04:33 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hyperzulu View Post
Get an M Performance front lip.

Then you just trash the lip, not the car itself...
I wonder how many of those I'd trash?
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      09-18-2014, 04:37 PM   #4
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Luckily all the driveways I've gone over have been okay, although the front end barely clears it.

Besides approaching the driveway at an angle, there is not much you can do
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      09-18-2014, 04:39 PM   #5
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Bag the car and add a switch to lift the suspension when approaching bumps.
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      09-18-2014, 05:24 PM   #6
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Surprised nobody has said this yet: Just be careful. If you scrape occasionally, that's okay. On cars with low(ish) right heights, the underside of the front splitter bumper might as well be categorized as a wear item. I rarely see 1-series (as an example) without at least a scratch or two down there.
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      09-19-2014, 12:05 PM   #7
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My weekend car is a Porsche 997S with the factory aerokit. That car is REALLY susceptible to scraping. A trick that I've learned is to switch on the sport suspension, just before the obstacle, so that it not as compliant as it inches over the curb.
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      09-19-2014, 12:17 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hyperzulu View Post
Get an M Performance front lip.

Then you just trash the lip, not the car itself...
+1
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      09-19-2014, 12:33 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by disco4me
Any thoughts on how to protect the underside of the front spoiler from being scraped besides not hitting anything? I already christened it coming out of a steep downward driveway onto a street. Nothing noticeable from the front, but scraped underneath. I'm certain to do this again somewhere, sometime. Especially of concern are parking lot stops/bumpers.
What a coincidence , just scraped mine for first time about a hour ago. Oh well, at least it's not visible
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      09-20-2014, 09:11 PM   #10
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Get a strip of the thick clear 3M film sold to protect headlights and stick it on under there. That stuff is TOUGH. No idea where you would get a piece that long, but where there is a will there is a way.
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      10-01-2014, 07:57 PM   #11
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I've been experimenting with the Park Distance Control as a means of protecting the front spoiler. If I turn it on just as I am entering a parking space with a curb/cement bumper ahead, the sensor will start beeping well in advance. If I turn on the Park Distance Control while I am very close to the curb/cement bumper, it will not start beeping. So if you turn it on well in advance, it helps by telling you the curb/cement bumper is ahead.

Try it and let me know what you think.
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      10-01-2014, 08:17 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by disco4me View Post
I've been experimenting with the Park Distance Control as a means of protecting the front spoiler. If I turn it on just as I am entering a parking space with a curb/cement bumper ahead, the sensor will start beeping well in advance. If I turn on the Park Distance Control while I am very close to the curb/cement bumper, it will not start beeping. So if you turn it on well in advance, it helps by telling you the curb/cement bumper is ahead.

Try it and let me know what you think.
I use the Park Distance control with perfect results. But if I didn't have that feature I would layer on 3M or X-Pel thick and on the underside and exposed lower front.
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      10-01-2014, 09:53 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by disco4me View Post
I've been experimenting with the Park Distance Control as a means of protecting the front spoiler. If I turn it on just as I am entering a parking space with a curb/cement bumper ahead, the sensor will start beeping well in advance. If I turn on the Park Distance Control while I am very close to the curb/cement bumper, it will not start beeping. So if you turn it on well in advance, it helps by telling you the curb/cement bumper is ahead.

Try it and let me know what you think.
That is effin brilliant. Thanks, will try this.
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      10-02-2014, 10:56 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ScottSinger View Post
I use the Park Distance control with perfect results. But if I didn't have that feature I would layer on 3M or X-Pel thick and on the underside and exposed lower front.
Would have suggested this. After 5 years lowered on my A4, my front lip has plenty of scratches. It just takes time to get used to how to maneuver the car and how far to park away.

Of course, when parking, could just get in the habit of backing into spots :P
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      10-03-2014, 08:49 AM   #15
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You think that's low? My Corvette had 1.5" of ground clearance between the air dam and the floor.

A lot of scraping can be avoided by driving habits. It will happen on occasion, not much you can do. Most of them won't be visible to anyone looking at the car unless they get underneath or it's extremely bad.

-When you see a driveway that is steep, pull in at a very shallow angle and as slow as possible. This way the suspension doesn't load up and push the front end down further. Hard braking coming into a steep driveway will push the nose down and then with a sharp turn you aren't giving the suspension any angle to take the turn. Shallower the angle of entry, the less steep and less chances of scraping.

-When pulling into spots you can use the PDC, but your better habit to form is remembering the front end of your car is fairly long in comparison to others. Don't feel like you need to pull up so far. The 2 series is a small car, chances are higher you'll hit the curb pulling way in than giving yourself an extra foot. Your car is still shorter than the lady next to you in the Expedition. Also just use other cars for reference. Remember FWD cars have shorter front ends so don't try pulling up to their mirrors, leave yourself a foot or so.

-When exiting steep driveways same rules - pull out at a shallow angle. Sometimes this isn't possible (you'll block all the traffic) so in that case just go as slow as you can when pulling out.

My 3 Msport bumper is fairly low and it's stayed in pretty good shape by following the above rules. Sometimes you can't get around it though and you'll scrape. I had a driveway in Miami that was so narrow you couldn't take it at an angle (otherwise you'd drop it off the curb) so the only option was to go super slow. It was so angled that even my exhaust would have hit if it weren't for the hitch installed.
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      10-03-2014, 03:01 PM   #16
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Darn, scraped again today. I never had this issue with my 128 sport. Maybe I should have gotten sportline instead of MSport. Guess I should just consider it a sacrificial part.
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