[teaston]

*EDIT*

The paint on these grilles has peeled on both mine and another members! I would not now recommend buying these grilles!



I have just ordered these for £42 with free postage from Taiwan!

Thought i'd share incase anyone else is looking for a set but not prepared to pay the price of BMW ones. This is by far the best price i have seen!

They appear to be the Euro style ones with 8 fins, not the less attractive (imo) USA spec ones:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Front-Kidn...item2a367aeb47

[M4dski11z]

Looks like they also have the carbon boot spoiler for £109 delivered, bargain!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Carbon-Pro...item27cee5816a

[PurpleTT]

Nice. Just be warned, when I bought my rear spoiler from Taiwan (for £67 IIRC) I had to pay about about £20 import duty.

I bought a set of chrome grills off ebay for £10.50 and have sprayed them (using etching primer, black, then lacquer). Currently sitting on the dining room table waiting to be fitted. Total cost about £30

[DazC]

I bought the painted spoiler from another post on here yesterday too.

£79 painted and delivered. If it's as good as the OP suggests I'll be very happy.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by PurpleTT

Nice. Just be warned, when I bought my rear spoiler from Taiwan (for 67 IIRC) I had to pay about about 20 import duty.

I bought a set of chrome grills off ebay for 10.50 and have sprayed them (using etching primer, black, then lacquer). Currently sitting on the dining room table waiting to be fitted. Total cost about 30

Even with about £15 import duty & admin fee they're still cheaper than any available from EU.

Although if the paperwork on the package somehow said that the item value was under £18 (under £18 is exempt from import duty) then that would be a big bonus! Not that i'm suggesting you should ask the seller to do that of course!

I sprayed an E46 boot handle and it looked awful, and it was a pain in the ar$e to do, so i swore to never try spraying anything again. But if you can do it well yourself then that's awesome work!

[teaston]

Originally Posted by DazC

I bought the painted spoiler from another post on here yesterday too.

£79 painted and delivered. If it's as good as the OP suggests I'll be very happy.

I bought the painted spoiler a while ago for £72 and it looks awesome quality! Had to pay about £15 import duty though! Bought this one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3212555631...84.m1439.l2649

[BMWSKI]

Originally Posted by teaston

I bought the painted spoiler a while ago for £72 and it looks awesome quality! Had to pay about £15 import duty though! Bought this one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3212555631...84.m1439.l2649

So what did you tell your insurance company about making these mods?
Cheers...

[teaston]

Originally Posted by BMWSKI

So what did you tell your insurance company about making these mods?
Cheers...

There is no need to tell them about small mods like these imo. I have had cars repaired under insurance before with far more extensive mods than these on it.

[BMWSKI]

Hmmmm, not sure it's worth the risk though. They will try anything not to pay out...

[teaston]

Originally Posted by BMWSKI

Hmmmm, not sure it's worth the risk though. They will try anything not to pay out...

How/why would they prove that they were not there from factory or dealer? They'd have to take the spoiler off and analyse it etc, and even then there is no way they could say a tiny spoiler or different colour grill would make any difference to whether an accident happens or not!

Performance parts, remaps, aftermarket suspension etc would/could be a different matter.

[BMWSKI]

Originally Posted by teaston

How/why would they prove that they were not there from factory or dealer? They'd have to take the spoiler off and analyse it etc, and even then there is no way they could say a tiny spoiler or different colour grill would make any difference to whether an accident happens or not!

Performance parts, remaps, aftermarket suspension etc would/could be a different matter.

Yeah, see your point

[PurpleTT]

Originally Posted by teaston

How/why would they prove that they were not there from factory or dealer? They'd have to take the spoiler off and analyse it etc, and even then there is no way they could say a tiny spoiler or different colour grill would make any difference to whether an accident happens or not!

Performance parts, remaps, aftermarket suspension etc would/could be a different matter.

Donkeys years ago, on the TT Forum I think it was, I recall someone stating that every mod needs to be reported to your insurance company. The reason was that it made the car more desirable to thieves.

The example in question was a case of painting callipers which could tempt a car thief more than one without painted callipers. Logic being that a spoiler, black grille etc has the same effect.

As with all these situations, a cautious person would pick up the phone a notify. A more relaxed person won't. We're all different!

[teaston]

Originally Posted by PurpleTT

Donkeys years ago, on the TT Forum I think it was, I recall someone stating that every mod needs to be reported to your insurance company. The reason was that it made the car more desirable to thieves.

The example in question was a case of painting callipers which could tempt a car thief more than one without painted callipers. Logic being that a spoiler, black grille etc has the same effect.

As with all these situations, a cautious person would pick up the phone a notify. A more relaxed person won't. We're all different!

If the car is stolen and not recovered, it would not be a problem as they wouldn't know it's modified.

If the car is stolen, and recovered some time later you could say that the thieves have put the parts on the car.

If the car is stolen and recovered very quickly, then the car will be returned to you, again no problem.

The only possible scenario where it could possibly be a problem is if the car is stolen and crashed by the thieves, and recovered quickly. Then the car would have to go to the repair shop, and the insurance company will see the pictures of the car (the last time my car went to the BMW bodyshop they told me that the insurers no longer have a person go out to see the car to assess it but just look at photos the bodyshop provide nowadays) then if that person is a BMW expert and knows that your car doesn't come with a spoiler or black grills from the factory!!!

Even then they still couldn't prove that they weren't fitted by the dealer prior to delivery!

[BMWSKI]

Originally Posted by teaston

If the car is stolen and not recovered, it would not be a problem as they wouldn't know it's modified.

If the car is stolen, and recovered some time later you could say that the thieves have put the parts on the car.

If the car is stolen and recovered very quickly, then the car will be returned to you, again no problem.

The only possible scenario where it could possibly be a problem is if the car is stolen and crashed by the thieves, and recovered quickly. Then the car would have to go to the repair shop, and the insurance company will see the pictures of the car (the last time my car went to the BMW bodyshop they told me that the insurers no longer have a person go out to see the car to assess it but just look at photos the bodyshop provide nowadays) then if that person is a BMW expert and knows that your car doesn't come with a spoiler or black grills from the factory!!!

Even then they still couldn't prove that they weren't fitted by the dealer prior to delivery!

Obviously we are very different people then.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by BMWSKI

Obviously we are very different people then.

In what way?

[Paulvr6]

Duly ordered as well - in advance of my March delivery! Great find OP.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by Paulvr6

Duly ordered as well - in advance of my March delivery! Great find OP.

No problem mate. I hope they're decent quality! They should be though, they're other items look good and they've got a lot of good feedback! Mine have been dispatched already!!

[BMWSKI]

You're a risk taker...I'm not. When it comes to insurance anyway

[teaston]

Originally Posted by BMWSKI

You're a risk taker...I'm not. When it comes to insurance anyway

I used to be many years ago! I didn't used to tell them about speeding points!! (also had a few insurance repairs while doing that which all went through no problem!)

But I am very different now, I always disclose points, claims etc. And I believe in June the paper driving license is being ditched and replaced with online database which insurers can access! So definitely do not lie about points now!!

Anyway, I digress!

My point is I can see no way that these mods would ever cause a problem. Anyway I think most of the reason of them being told about them is so that they can insure those items i.e. if you add aftermarket wheels & have a crash damaging one of them, the insurer would need to take into account the different cost of replacing that wheel compared to the oem one.

But in our case if we have a crash and smash the front end up, the car will be repaired to factory spec, and we will be an extra £42 out of pocket by having to buy another black grill

Your insurer may add little or nothing to your premium if you tell them about the mods, but the problem will come when you renew next year on confused/go compare/compare the meerkat, and say the car's modified, many insurers will not even quote, because they can't be bothered to work out what difference every single mod would make, which could cost you a lot of money!

[Waitey]

Originally Posted by BMWSKI

You're a risk taker...I'm not. When it comes to insurance anyway

Have you told your insurer about every optional extra you specc'd?

Even extended storage etc.

No!? Then don't bother telling them about some black paint and a strip of plastic!

[DazC]

Absolutely no need to declare this spoiler IMO and IME.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by Waitey

Have you told your insurer about every optional extra you specc'd?

Even extended storage etc.

No!? Then don't bother telling them about some black paint and a strip of plastic!

This is what i was trying to say, before i started waffling on!