Adjust gap between front wing and front panel.

[RichardP]

One of the slight irritations I've had with my M5 Touring since having significant restoration work done has been the gap between the front wing and the front panel under the headlight/indicator.  This is especially on the right hand side (passenger side as it's LHD), but it's not fantastic on the left either, on other E34's that I've looked at it's smaller.

This is the right side, the gap is at least 5mm bigger than it should be :

The gap between the wing and the bonnet is not too bad, it could possibly be a little smaller, but only 1 or 2mm, not enough to make up the difference. As the car had two new front wings, I assume that the profile of the wings, maybe just the right wing, is not quite right, but bending it looks almost impossible due to the shape. Ideally the wings need adjusting inwards at the bottom, but not the top to reduce the distance shown by the red line, but not at the top, shown by the green line.

I can't see any easy way to do this.  Looking at the lower fastening point at the front of the wing, there is no adjustment.

I can only think of the following options:

1. Put up with the gap.
2. Try and bend the wing to the correct profile.
3. Get another wing and see if it's a better fit.
4. Bend the vertical mounting, as shown in the picture above, inwards.
5. Reducing the length of the mounting bracket on the wing by cutting and welding it back on.
6. Extend the front panel by cutting it and welding in a small extension.

None of the above seem particularly easy or desirable options.

Does anyone have any experience of improving the fit between the wing and front panel?

[Sandip]

Maybe it's the front panel instead of the wing?

[RichardP]

Pretty sure the front panel is original though.

[Keliuss]

While it may look like there's no adjustment, there is always some play within the holes on the panel. Have you loosened all the screws - especially along the top, to see if you can shift it into a better position?

Keliuss

[Keliuss]

Also, you're bumper hanger doesn't look right at the top. The two plastic lugs are locators I'm pretty sure, and should be sitting flush and go through the panel and the bracket behind. 

Keliuss

[RichardP]

On 08/03/2023 at 00:44, Keliuss said:

While it may look like there's no adjustment, there is always some play within the holes on the panel. Have you loosened all the screws - especially along the top, to see if you can shift it into a better position?

Keliuss

My current theory is that it's to do with the black metal bar that goes under the headlights, that was definitely not centrally aligned.  If that does not work then I'll try loosening the various screws, the problem is that the rest of the alignment looks OK, so it may open up an almost never ending panel alignment iterations!

On 08/03/2023 at 00:56, Keliuss said:

Also, you're bumper hanger doesn't look right at the top. The two plastic lugs are locators I'm pretty sure, and should be sitting flush and go through the panel and the bracket behind. 

Keliuss

Yes, I had noticed this and am yet to investigate.  Although the position of the hanger itself won't change the wing alignment, the fact that the lugs are not going through both the wing lug and bracket indicates something is off, the other side is the same.

[RichardP]

After stripping down most of the front of the car, and replacing or repairing quite a few broken plastic and corroded metal bits along the way, I've significantly improved the gaps.  This is how much of the front end I removed.

 

Actually it was a bit more than that, but I didn't take a picture, because the hydraulic cooling pipe that's in the shape of the kidney grill was corroded and needed some attention, so that came out, and while the system was drained I did the other hydraulic pipes as well.

The main adjustment comes from the single bolt at the side of the wing behind the bumper.  As noted above, the side bumper carrier was not located correctly at the top.  This was because the holes into which the carrier is positioned did not quite line up, the hole in the wing was slightly forward of the hole in the body.  Undoing the bolt allows a small amount of movement backwards and forwards but only be flexing the wing a little.  When you move the wing back, it flexes in such a way that the bottom of the front moves inwards slightly.

The end result is not perfect, but a lot better than it was.

 

 

[Keliuss]

That looks way better. Indicator to wing and front trim to wing much improved. 

Keliuss