[rezanourai]

Noob question as I'm new to E39 ownership. I just picked up a 2000 E39 M5 and I don't have the headlight washers. Were these standard in the US and my car has an aftermarket bumper installed? Or was it an option? I'm finding a few surprises/hacks/mods in this car that weren't apparent up front. Wondering if the bumper is one of these

Thanks

 

[flacoramos]

Afaik those are mandatory for xenon equipped cars.

 

[BoDangles]

Afaik those are mandatory for xenon equipped cars.

They were mandatory for the Euro market xenon cars so it appears BMW equipped all M5s with them, but BMW does sell an OEM front bumper (for both PDC and Non-PDC) without the washer nozzle cutouts.

 

[dondar]

Check out this thread - Headlight washer availability on M5 questions

 

[rezanourai]

Thanks, seems like the bumper was replaced with the non-washer version. I like the clean look, so not complaining was just curious to confirm it's a replacement bumper and not original

Thanks all

 

[dondar]

Hey Rezanourai - Curious what color is your car?

I toyed with the idea of deleting the headlight washers. I agree it's a clean look. In the end, I repaired everything (the lines were broken and the washer jets were a mess) and got a new bumper with the washers. My car is black so I don't think it stands out as much.

 

[rezanourai]

Titanium Silver

 

[rezanourai]

maybe a better pic to see the washer-less look:

 

[dondar]

Nice car. I do like the clean look.

 

[ssclassa80]

My jet black is missing its washers. Looks good. There are witness lines of knockouts or possibly filler? It’s a bmw part so I am curious if they come with knockouts for the nozzels


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[dondar]

There are two bumpers listed under RealOEM for the US market - One with PDC/with headlight washers and one without PDC/with headlight washers (no option for without headlight washers). Photo is a brand new in the box US bumper with PDC. Although it looks like a knockout tab remnant on the headlight washer hole I did not knock anything out.

If you look at the European M bumpers there are 4 options: 1) No PDC/No Headlight washers, 2) with PDC. 3) with headlight washers 4) with PDC/with headlight washers. So I think clever folks order the European bumper to get a no headlight washer version.

Based on what you have said, I would make a guess that the previous owner filled the existing holes.

Between the various bumper options, 2 different washer fluid system (one with "intensive") and the double hoses required for intensive, 2 washer bottles and 3 pumps required the BMW engineer kinda went nuts. That should have put that person in charge of cup holders - we would have had more options than a modern minivan.