Front Bumper Repair
 

A couple weeks ago my car ate a cone tossed into its lane by another vehicle on the 57 north in Cali. Got the car back on Thursday after paying my insurance for comprehensive.

Friday I noticed that the front bumper panel gaps seemed a bit off, it might just be me so I wanted to ask for other people's judgement to see if the shop repair work is botched.

Driver Side:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...727_170411.jpg

Passenger Side:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...727_170341.jpg

I can see what looks like black plastic tabs sitting between the gaps. Guessing these should not be visible as they are meant to support the bumper by hiding under the lip of the panels.

I think thats normal, it always stuck out a bit in that section.

Mine is like that too. One side has bigger gap than another.

Thank you for the replies.

Just to be positive we are seeing the same thing on our cars; do either of you see black plastic in-between the gap? I can understand seeing it behind the gap.

My concern is not so much the gap itself but what I see in it. They look like black plastic tabs. If that is normal then I won't worry. AZ has a habit of turning mis-mounts into larger problems over time so I just have to be sure.

Edit: retook picture, easier to see the plastic now.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...727_192540.jpg

passenger side


http://www.ft86club.com/forums/pictu...pictureid=5682http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13451
driver side

A lot of us have this issue especially after removing the bumper a few times. The tabs that hold the bumper flush wear down and can no longer hold it in place.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

I had this issue after having the bumper replaced. Even replacing the brackets near the headlights to which the bumper affixes did not fix the issue.

Well it makes me feel better that this appears to be normal. Thanks for checking it out. Now I just have to worry about doing this :burnrubber:

I've been working on fixing this issue on my car. I took the bumper off (along with one of the headlight brackets to see how far exactly it is supposed to engage. While doing this, I noticed the key to lining it up right may be making sure the most center piece of the bumper fits inside the bracket channels by the headlights. I'm going to monkey with it some more tonight if it doesn't rain.

Does anyone know of anything we could apply to the clips on the bumper or backet that would help the clips better engage the tabs on the bumper?

Looks like I fixed mine for the most part. I removed the bumper and noticed the tabs had been worn and the insides of the tabs were rough from all the moving around when not being seated correctly.

After noticing this, i removed the headlight brackets as well, and brought the bumper inside and test fit the brackets to the bumper so i could see exactly how they were supposed to line up and if anything was stopping the clips from fully engaging. I noticed the two inside most tabs on the bumper were not engaging the clip properly.

I broke out a file (hand file, not a dremel.) and took off just enough of the inside of the tab to make sure it fit, and also cleaned up the rough areas in all of the other tabs. test fit the brackets again, everything looked good so i went out to the car for a test fit and it seems to have fixed the issue for the most part. Granted, my original issue was much worse than OP's.

This is the worst design ever. After seeing how this thing works, I'm surprised we don't see more of these cars with bumper gaps formed just from normal DD driving. I don't see how these things can stay in place for long.

Well thAt didn't last long. Ugh. Hopefully someone comes up w an aftermarket fix.

ok, so this is odd. I was looking at the Subaru parts site to get the part number for the bumper and found it was: 57702CA150 - They list this same part # for both the Premium and Limited trim models.

From this page: http://www.buysubarupartsnow.com/par...and-components

However, when looking on ebay for BRZ bumpers, i see the part number is: 57704CA020

Did they update the bumper at some point or is there something else I am missing?

Here's the page that I found with the other part #: http://www.ebay.com/itm/2013-Subaru-...a87eb7&vxp=mtr

http://i.imgur.com/Yt6qy9h.jpg

Anyone who has had their bumper off recently (or will be taking it off soon) can you look at the tabs on your bumper that are supposed to engage the clips on the headlight bracket and tell me if the tabs are painted, or maybe take some pics to show how heavily painted they are?

I had my front bumper replaced and the body shop painted the tabs on the bumper, including the inside surface where the clip would contact it. I'm beginning to think that may also have a role in my specific issue as i've got the new bracket part numbers and I can get it to stay in the proper place for a day or so before the clips disengage.