big thanks to cantcope for letting me use his car for this diy....:rock:



here are the tools used for this diy.

hair dryer, box cutter, and a pry tool of some sort. ( flathead screw driver should be fine)

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I'm doing mine this weekend. Thanks for all the advises.

just did this today...wow, came out better and easier than expected. The double sided tape gets very easy to get off once it gets hot enough. Thanks for the awesome write up!

Be very careful with the heat i.e. make sure you dont overheat. I used too much heat and learned the hard way that the bumper can become quite pliable, and i ended up with an indentation from the tool I was using to pry the reflector out. Its my own stupidity, but just thought I'd throw this caution out there.

Other than that, it worked fine. Wasnt as quick or easy as some say, but it was my first time attempting this, and I was quite nervous - its so flimsy/delicate in that area!!

great DIY LT, just put swapped mine out.

I cheated and used a bit of "Motsenbocker's Lift Off 2" adhesive remover

the end result is a big difference

you don't have to bother replacing the tape.
it still sticks like new. its a lot easier to leave the tape on.

used a knife & a flathead screw driver to pry it open. found it best to swipe the knife around the outer edge; top & bottom edges. pry the outter fragile area first and then put my force into it after its bent towards the car. took no more than 20 minutes. here's a pic of the finished mod.

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I completed this mod a few weeks ago very successfully. ~20 minutes. The only tools were a hair dryer (not too high powered), a mirror and most importantly - an old hotel room key (credit card would work, but it's easier without the embossed numbers).

I tried it at first using a screw driver and left a very small dent in the bumper, then switched to the room key which applies lighter and more dispersed pressure while also flexible.

Start at the lower/ front part of the reflector and push the card further and further under the refector as you heat things up, from both the inside and outside. Mine took about 3 minutes of heat (constantly moving the hair dryer) to get the refelector a little loose. Push a little from the outside while prying and sliding the credit card under...works like a charm. Once you get about and inch under the relector it should come off very easily with a little more heat and pressure.

Where is the cheapest place to purchase these? Thanks.

thanks for the DIY. use longer heat, will need less prying. thanks to E92-Lighting for reflectors

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Going to definitely get this done when I get the M-Sport bumper put on!

cant wait to do this as well, thanks for showing the relative ease

I have an 09 E90 - the pics in Longs tutorial do not match the sedan's bumper. Has anyone done this with the sedan?

WOW!!!! You have the Frozen Black Conair 1875!!!!

I just put my smoked reflectors on today. It was about 100 degrees in SoCal today and I had just come back from driving. It was a piece of cake. I took a club card from a supermarket, used it to get between the reflector and bumper on the inside of the bumper, starting at bottom, once you get in there you can carefully push and pull and get it out. Hardest part is getting the adhesive off your bumper. I bought the smoked reflectors for ~$12 shipped from ECS Tuning, they weren't perfect--a little scratched, one fit better than the other--but for $12 they def work. Excuse the dirty car--not washing it in 100 degrees. I feel like opting for body matched would be better for a black car, but in the shade/dark they look body matched. I went with smoked to still have a bit of reflection.

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Followed this DIY with great success and wanted to share some trial and error results I successfully achieved finding a non-BMW match to their A52 space gray metallic. The Dupli-Color charcoal gray metallic (BCC0331) is near identical if layers are applied lightly and patiently. Sprayed thin layers maybe 2-3 quick passes x 4 times allowing each layer to dry for approximately 10-15 minutes. Did one layer of thin clear coat and will be posting pictures tomorrow. No more reflectors, perfect color match, and spent $15 (paint $6, clear coat $6, 3M tape $3.

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thanks for this!

Is it harder to swap the reflector on lowered e92's?

i tried this method and it felt like i was going to snap the fender.

Help!

i did this to my 335 and it looks great. very simple, fast and i just pried them off with my hands, no blow dryer

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Seriously, you didn't scratch or bend the bumper by doing so?? I'm planning to do mine when I visit my sister's place for Thanksgiving coz I can't get a hair dryer close to the car in my apartment complex. ARGH!

I'm gonna try "Goo-gone" first like I saw in another forum, but i'll surely try this if I have no success at first...