Painted Mud Flaps On M Sport - Function Over Form (Before-After Photos)

[MattBianco]

Wife has consistently complained about how quickly the Mineral White gets dirty, and especially, dirt and mud on the sides. I have noted rain water and mud splash high, and dirty water even seeps through the bottom of the doors, leaving a black streak along the door bottoms, as well as black drip lines at the end of the handle side, bottom.

Those driving an X Line can easily install BMW original mud flaps, and won't have any color clash issues as that line has a matte black plastic trim on the wheel arches. Luxury and M Sport have painted wheel arches and look funny with a matte black flap attached to them, especially in lighter paint colors.

Also, BMW does not list a rear mud flap part number for M Sport. You can order the front and rear flaps for 18"/19" and 20" wheels, and M Sport for front only.

I had read in a UK forum that someone had help up the rear flaps against an M Sport and it looked like it fit. So I gave it a try.

Parts: I ordered 18"/19" from the dealer. They had never seen or ordered them before. When they arrived I noticed not only are they matte black, but they were also textured.

Paint: I contact Miracle Auto Body in San Rafael, CA. They work on classic car restorations mostly, and paint aircraft on occasion. He recommended:

• sanding the parts until smooth
• priming
• painting (white, mineral, clear) the outsides only, but also painting a white permitter in the inside to match the interior fenders as they are. Again, not an issue for dark color X5s
• applying additional glue/tape to better fit the rear. It is not a perfect fit.
• cost, about 200 for the flaps and $550 for painting and install. Paint only would have been $250, but I did not want to install. I was told you get one shot with the adhesive tape.

Below you can see the before and finished work, which was completed just a few hours ago.

Am I thrilled? No. It does not look great. But it does look better than a textured, black plastic on a white car. It also shows the BMW rear flaps fit sufficiently, though the are not listed in the catalog for M Sport rear.

My goal was to provide a function while attempting not to be disruptive to form. It disrupts.

I am also less than thrilled that as designed by BMW, even with 19" wheels, the car gets splashed as much as it does. If you have doubts about splashes visible, then take a look behind the rear wheels in your fenders. They may be packed with dirt and leaves and what have you.

Lastly, it ended up costing more than I envisaged.

What did wife think of this effort intended mostly for her? "It looks the same...what changed".

Parts I used: 82162302409 front. 82162302408 Rear. I also ordered 82162302431 but the parts dept guy and I held it up against the car and decided it was a bit larger than it should be.


Below, for your consumption, starting with before pictures showing where dirt goes, driving on well paved suburban roads.



Typical dirt accumulation before












After

[Wing Co]

I think you have been very capable in transforming the plain mud flaps and if it has stopped the problem - bingo. It does make the wheels look a bit smaller now though from the photos perspective.

[BMW603]

Love the wife's reply.. what changed? (classic)

I'm not a fan of any mud flaps personally- they seem to mar up more than they are worth. I like the clean look without them, I get it they keep the mess down and reduce rock chips. (end of the day- when it's time to trade-- none of the chips matter) =0

[barcelona]

I think your paint mud flaps look great. Your wife confirmed that it is not disruptive.
They are functional. I have flaps on my X3 but not on X5.

[Alan l.]

Great idea.

Personally i think i would leave the front flaps but not the rear. They look too big and strange from the rear view.

The fronts are worth it because they blend in with the body more and its protecting a lot more body than the rears are.

[750IXIndividualGuy]

Originally Posted by Alan l.

Great idea.

Personally i think i would leave the front flaps but not the rear. They look too big and strange from the rear view.

The fronts are worth it because they blend in with the body more and its protecting a lot more body than the rears are.

I second this opinion!

The rears seem to have an "after market body kit" look about them, and "over-power" your 19" rims IMHO!

If you upgraded to wider and/larger rims (especially in the rear) the rear flaps would look more fluid.

[MattBianco]

Originally Posted by Wing Co

I think you have been very capable in transforming the plain mud flaps and if it has stopped the problem - bingo. It does make the wheels look a bit smaller now though from the photos perspective.

Thank you. It is raining this weekend, so I should find out very soon if they actually solve a problem.

Originally Posted by BMW603

Love the wife's reply.. what changed? (classic)
.... =0

Originally Posted by barcelona

I think your paint mud flaps look great. Your wife confirmed that it is not disruptive.
They are functional. I have flaps on my X3 but not on X5.

You make me feel like the $750 experiment was worth it. Good to know that you have found them functional.

Originally Posted by Alan l.

Great idea.

Personally i think i would leave the front flaps but not the rear. They look too big and strange from the rear view.

The fronts are worth it because they blend in with the body more and its protecting a lot more body than the rears are.

That is a great idea. Others contemplating this should take your advice. I noticed the rear bumper gets filled with debris (inside, bottom), but the bumper is plastic and easy to paint and repair.

Originally Posted by 750IXIndividualGuy

I second this opinion!

The rears seem to have an "after market body kit" look about them, and "over-power" your 19" rims IMHO!

If you upgraded to wider and/larger rims (especially in the rear) the rear flaps would look more fluid.

Thanks. So you want me to spend $5k for staggered rims and tires on top of this, only to hear "what changed"? (joke ends)

[opasha]

I agree with all the comments, for and against. If I'm being 100% honest, I think they look aftermarket only because of the smaller wheels compared to the rear flaps. If your wheels were bigger, they would definitely look much nicer/fill in better; however, I'm sure you would not upgrade since it is your wife's car and safety on the road comes first, always.

I think they are quite functional and do have this cool "armored vehicle" look to them. Again, the armored look would blend better with a bigger set of wheels . Either way, good job, my friend .

Haha...wife joke about what changed was great!

[MattBianco]

@opasha, it was not a joke

Let's see how it does for a while. I may take the rear ones off.

[suza]

Originally Posted by Alan l.

Great idea.

Personally i think i would leave the front flaps but not the rear. They look too big and strange from the rear view.

The fronts are worth it because they blend in with the body more and its protecting a lot more body than the rears are.

Glad I read this post. Thanks, MattBianco, for posting the pics. I am going to install just the front flaps. Won't get them painted even though my X5 will be mineral silver with luxury line. The front flaps aren't that conspicuous, but they seem to really help eliminate spray on the body side; Rear flaps, not so much.

[kip1]

If anyone gets front flaps attached with msport, I am interested to see it. The pics above with the rears also have a certain Lamborghini Countach 25th anniversary look to it :-)

Just to clarify, I ment oncolored ones. My Bmw dealer said mud flaps cannot be installed on the msport...

[MattBianco]

Originally Posted by kip1

If anyone gets front flaps attached with msport, I am interested to see it. The pics above with the rears also have a certain Lamborghini Countach 25th anniversary look to it :-)

Just to clarify, I ment oncolored ones. My Bmw dealer said mud flaps cannot be installed on the msport...

LOL.

They sell front flaps for M, which fit (my photos above). And the rear fits as well (photo above), though the parts catalog says no fit. I would advise against the rear due to aesthetics, but fit is no issue.

[kip1]

Do you have a part number?

[MattBianco]

Originally Posted by kip1

Do you have a part number?

Parts: http://www.etk.cc/bmw/EN/search/sele...SA/82/82_1605/

For my rear on m sport I used the 18", which does not indicate a fit, for my 19" set up. And it fit. Front has an m sport part.

I edited post #1 to show the parts as well.

[pdawg]

"A" for effort. I agree with the others, the rear flaps have to go.

[kip1]

THANKS!

[kip1]

Can you pleas post a pic from the front side, just trying to get an idea of how this looks. Please also post pics once you remove the rear ones. Can they be ordered ready painted ot did you have them painted. I have 20 inch so it seems I can only have them in the frontanyway.

[MattBianco]

One last try (6th attemp from mobile app) as a collage vs 4 pics. I think app can't handle more than one and not even that some times.

Originally Posted by kip1

Can you pleas post a pic from the front side, just trying to get an idea of how this looks. Please also post pics once you remove the rear ones. Can they be ordered ready painted ot did you have them painted. I have 20 inch so it seems I can only have them in the frontanyway.

kip1
Here is a try from the mobile app.
View is front looking back.

Please see post #1 re paint.

If you really want them in the rear just order the ones for non M (again, see post #1). They fit. You can return them to parts of they don't.

[Wobbles]

MattBianco - not too shabby at all, although I'd personally do an objective assessment of the usefulness of the rear flaps in keeping the back of the car clean - as others have mentioned, the front flaps are a work of art, blending in nicely with the form of the X5, so much so that the wifey didn't even notice their intrusiveness - well done

The rear ones are a little "fussy" for my personal liking, and unless wifey prefers to be chauffeured in the rear, debris and grim wouldn't really trouble ingress and egress as much so I might consider removing the rear set unless dirt protection is significantly improved, objectively

Just my rapidly depreciating 2 Singaporean Cents worth

[MattBianco]

Wobbles two good cents la! yes, dirt protection is significantly improved in the rear, but there is denial it is an add on piece. And that it is a bit odd, especially as 19" is made to look even smaller with the rear flaps.

[kip1]

I think they look pretty good in black also...

[MattBianco]

Originally Posted by kip1

I think they look pretty good in black also...

If I had a dark color I would not bother with painting.

UPDATE: flaps are off and getting repainted. They did a good job of protecting the car, but the paint was not adhering well to the textured plastic (which was sanded smooth). They are trying agin.