[MitchE90sKid]

What would be the cheapest route to buy M-Tech front and rear bumpers and side skirts for my LCI 328i? Also, what would be the total price after installation and painting? Preferably want to buy them new online.

[6ixSpd]

$100000000.

[ipbln]

LTBMW? ECSTuning? Call local bodyshops for paint quotes? I'm sure you can do the research yourself and compare prices..

[hOlykamOtie*]

Check Ebae and also look for those auto paint deals in Groupon/Livingsocial

[feuer]

Cheapest, fastest and best result would be to trade up to M Tech package car at your local car dealer.

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by 6ixSpd

$100000000.

But yours only cost $20. Can I have your carbon stuff for $15?

KTHNXBYE

[.genomer]

Total price is approximately $1800-$2000. If you go front and rear bumper only, it's about $1400.

Search using the genuine part number. Front and rear bumper paint is about $300 each. Sides are around $350 to paint.

[LMB335IS]

It will cost roughly 1/3 of what the car is worth.

[delmarco]

Originally Posted by LMB335IS

It will cost roughly 1/3 of what the car is worth.

this.

I initially also wanted to do a full "cosmetic" M sport package upgrade (front and rear bumpers/rocker panels /18" staggered rims/fog lamps/spoiler) but quickly changed my mind when I saw my options!

Basically there is three main ways to do this but you will want to do it the fourth way…here is why:

1) The first and most recommended for a clean factory look is to just to buy genuine parts (ECS Tuning & Get BMW Parts) and put them on the car with everything painted to match is about $5000 not including the rims and tires.
If you went complete M sport with suspension, rear pipes, tuning, rims/tires, brakes, seats, steering wheel you can be looking at $10,000-average easy using genuine parts with professional installation and paint.


2) The next cheapest route but still a clean and respectable retrofit would be finding used parts from eBay or junk yard sites. Parts that would be already in the color of your car would save you a lot on paint which always ends up costing the most relative to everything else. If you are lucky to have, in order of popularity, a Black, White, Gray/Silver or a Montego/Estoril Blue colored car then it is fairly easy to find used and competitively priced M sport parts.
However if you are like me with a Deep Sea Blue metallic colored car or you have a car in certain colors like Tasmin Green and Vermillion Red then used parted M sport parts for your car come along once a decade with everyone and their mother bidding on the part you need which drives up the price. Still with rims going this route will have you looking at $2000+ spent $800 for rims most likely with old summer tires, $200 to $500 for front bumper and fog lamps and $500 for rear bumper with diffuser and $200 for any clips and brackets or miscellaneous items.


3) The third and cheapest but still practical option is to go for the primed-to-paint grey market M sport parts you get at Alibaba or eBay. They may not fit your car properly and if you are that cheap to begin or at the limit of your budget chances are you won’t be able resist continuing being cheap with the paint work. If done poorly this tends to never looks good (uneven paint matching, spaces between trim, sagging bumpers, condensation in cheap light housings) to anyone else and no longer looks good to you after the initial my-BMW-has-sport-package-appearance wow factor wears off. For argument’s sake we will assume you get a decent paint job and spend the average $150-$200 for front bumper, depo sport fogs $50, rear bumper + diffuser $400, maybe modify your rear pipes. $200 for (recommended) professional installation , $500 for front bumper paint match and $500 for rear bumper paint match you can be looking at $2000 to $2500

FOURTH OPTION: However the best and probably CHEAPEST option is to just get a car with sport package to begin with. Used and CPO M Sport or Basic Sport Packaged BMWs do not cost much more than non sport packaged cars relative to what you would pay to get your non-sport BMW E9x to have any sort of M sport trim. However if you are reading this on your iPhone sitting in your hard flat non-sport E9x seats then I fear that fourth option is too late for all of us.

I should do a video on this. This seems to get asked a lot!

[max_330i]

Originally Posted by feuer

Cheapest, fastest and best result would be to trade up to M Tech package car at your local car dealer.

Originally Posted by delmarco

... However if you are reading this on your iPhone sitting in your hard flat non-sport E9x seats then I fear that fourth option is too late for all of us.

Hahaha this forum cracks me up.

Full disclosure, I don't have any M-Sport bumpers, but I do have the sport seats, and highly recommend finding a car equipped with them!