451 smart fortwo

smart Car

Anybody had to deal with a front fender replacement yet? I hit a BIG dog two days ago and it broke my left front fender. I ordered a fender for $180.00 from the dealer in Birmingham, AL. Wondering if I should attempt to replace or take to body shop? any comments welcomed. Thanks

Views: 234

Comment

You need to be a member of 451 smart fortwo to add comments!

Join 451 smart fortwo

Comment by Bob on February 17, 2009 at 10:58am
Well, the NEW left front fender is installed. I took a lot longer than the 5 mins that John said it would take.... After doing it the first time, I think I could do a good job in about 30-45 mins with not breaking anything. My hardest part was putting the quarter panel back on. I nearly threw it away and would drive without it. man, what a pain in the ass that turned out to be on my car. I would get it slid in place and one of the tabs wouldn't be secured!! Thanks for all the input - I appreciate it.
Comment by Smarts on February 10, 2009 at 10:54pm
As long as nothing's bent behind the plastic covering, you'll be done replacing things in less than 2 hours... As smarttask said above, go to evilution for the pics.
Comment by Bob on February 10, 2009 at 10:34am
Thanks all these areas are very helpful - think I have just saved a LONG drive. Appreciate the feed back. Live long and prosper....
Comment by smarttask on February 10, 2009 at 10:22am
Hi Bob.
Look here. http://evilution.co.uk/index.php and go to "panels"
http://evilution.co.uk/184
Hpoe this is of sum help.
Roger
Comment by John on February 9, 2009 at 11:05pm
I can pull the front end of the car in about 5 mins. And I can take an entire car completly apart in about 30 mins. There are no surprises, it is very simply the fender is held on by plastic push clips
Comment by David B on February 9, 2009 at 9:30pm
Hi, Bob

Here is the site showing the nose panel replacement. www.fq101.co.uk/451front.asp

Don't spend too much time at this site. The nose is so easy, you could end up taking the whole car apart!
Comment by David B on February 9, 2009 at 9:02pm
Change the fender yourself, it's an easy repair.

I hit a truck tire tread at 80mph and broke the lower spoiler and inner core support. It was covered under my insurance. The core support also holds the radiator and I was taking the Smart on a road trip. So I changed the core support (local dealer had it in stock) while I waited for the rest of the parts to be shipped.

Both front fenders and the center grill section come off as one piece. You will need a friend to help but it will only take a couple hours. There are only about a dozen screws holding it on.

I think the other smart site ( Smart Car of America) has a link to a web page in Great Britain with photos and steps for the nose panel replacement. If you search the English site directly it wasn't indexed.

Only warning is it is really easy to break the tabs of the plastic parts. I broke one triangle part, top of the fender in front of the exterior mirror. The directions looked like you rotate it forward and off but I needs to rotate out and down about 45deg and then lift it off.

Have fun!
Comment by Bob on February 9, 2009 at 6:48pm
Yes, that is what I said in my post to Tony - I didn't want to drive that far just to REPLACE a fender - I have already ordered it. I just was wondering if anyone had done a replacement so I could find out if there are any "Surprises" I needed to know about.
Comment by SATO on February 9, 2009 at 6:43pm
what is a body shop going to do as far as fixing a plastic fender??? you cant fix one! just replace it.... yourself!
Comment by Bob on February 9, 2009 at 9:59am
I'm nearly 300 miles from my closest dealer - hate to waste an entire day and put nearly 600 miles on my car to replace a fender.

Members

Latest Activity on 451s

Vasilis Kalianiotis replied to smart's discussion Cyprus smart Car Club in the group Europe smart Car Clubs
"I want the owner of the smart club in cyprus to talk: Find me on facebook :vasilis kalianiotis "
Saturday
Vasilis Kalianiotis shared their group on Facebook
Saturday
Vasilis Kalianiotis posted a group
Saturday
George Oller replied to William Walker's discussion About to be a new owner - 2009 Brabus Coupe on order
"Hi William.  I am glad you are getting your car so soon.   Some people use the…"
Saturday

smartCar on Facebook/Twitter

© 2013    

Badges  |  Bug Report  |  Terms of Service

Disclaimer: This is a user generated "Web 2.0" community, smart GmbH, smart USA and smart Canada are not responsible for the maintenance or creation of this page.
All brand names and/or trademarks used are for reference only and are the property of their respective holders.