Refitting bumper after cleaning radiators
 

Yesterday I pulled my front bumper and cleaned the radiators(so glad I finally did, there was a large amount of debris there) one issue I had was putting the bumper back on, all the holes seemed to line up fine and all the screws went back in but there is a noticeably larger gap between the bumper and trunk lid and I can now see a small part of some cutouts under the headlights ill post pics later but wondering If anyone knows what I'm talking about and how to get it to fit better.

I just went through the same thing!

Remove your headlights (very simple) and you will see some alignment tabs where the top of bumper slides into. You are likely not getting top lip of bumper into these tabs. This is easy to miss as the tabs cannot be seen without removing the headlights - and is frustrating because everything seems to be lined up just right.

When I discovered this the bumper mounted perfectly. Good luck hope this helps.

Thanks! Glad to know someone else knows about this, I'm going to go fix it right now

Thanks for the tip! I was wondering about any problems refitting once I pulled mine the first time, as well. Great to know!

Reiver,

It will be easier to put back on if you have someone help.

I did it by myself and found it was easier to have something to rest ends onto as the bumper cover is floppy. I would get one end on, then the other would pop off - frustrating and funny at the same time - I should have had Benny Hill music playing in the background!

Heyman, just pulled my headlights and sure enough the bumper was not under the tabs just removed the top 2 screws by the latch and pushed the bumper under the 3 black tabs on each side-much better now! Thanks. Glad I know how to remove and replace headlights now-much easier than I thought.

Yes, I have experienced the fun of this on my E46 front bumper cover that generally pops off if you breathe on it as there are 2 slivers of plastic that go over tabs on either side. I've replaced that bumper so many times due to the the plastic edge coming off where you can't put it back on the tabs....sigh

Thanks!