[paulfeng]

Hi all.

I just received my 2012 X3 35i order two days ago, and one thing about the car is kind of driving me crazy - there seems to be a huge gap between the hood and the grilles:



I measured the gap, and its fully 0.3". I was at the dealer today, and they had a few new X3 28i's and their gaps were much smaller. Somewhere between 75% and 50% of what my gap is, but they were 28i's. I don't know why that should matter, but I'm wondering... has anyone else noticed a problem like this? Any thoughts on what I ought to do? Thanks!

[Beyu]

Hey Paulfeng, I just measured my X3 35i and the gap is about 0.25 inches.

Perhaps the locking mechanism doesn't tighten all the way, does your X3's hood jiggle if you move it up and down?

[Dr Stig 2]

The whole bumper and grill is adjustable. They fine tuned mine for me on delivery on both the Z4 and the X3 to make the gaps more even.

[Alligator69]

I have a similar issue in the tailgate, where there is a visible difference on the two sides. I'm going to get it adjusted, as I hope the tailgate (manual) can be easily adjusted.

[gareth3685]

Originally Posted by Dr Stig 2

The whole bumper and grill is adjustable. They fine tuned mine for me on delivery on both the Z4 and the X3 to make the gaps more even.

Still, how would the car pass quality control with such a visible gap?!

Quite worrying.

[paulfeng]

Hey everyone, thanks for the replies.

@beyu - The hood jiggles a bit, but not sure it's not standard play.

@drstig - I hope you're right! I'm going to contact the dealer next week. The strange thing is that the hood seems to line up with the quarter panels... so maybe the hood is distorted?

@aligator69 - good luck with your tailgate.

@gareth - I agree completely. Pretty disappointing, actually.

[Nahoa]

Mine looks just like your picture and Beyu's was only 5 hundredths of an inch smaller (and that's not really knowing who measured precisely where to where). I think you may find that the the gap is normal.

[xG35c]

Easy DIY adjustment to the rubber bumpers under the hood to adjust this down slightly!

[tuco44]

Originally Posted by Nahoa

Mine looks just like your picture and Beyu's was only 5 hundredths of an inch smaller (and that's not really knowing who measured precisely where to where). I think you may find that the the gap is normal.

Same with mine, and it looks fine to me. Quit worrying.

[tetten]

Originally Posted by Alligator69

I have a similar issue in the tailgate, where there is a visible difference on the two sides. I'm going to get it adjusted, as I hope the tailgate (manual) can be easily adjusted.

I have the same on mine, the dealer says it is hard to adjust... I tried myself, but the rubber bumpers on the sides does not influence the lower position of the tailgate, only the upper :-(

[Alligator69]

Originally Posted by tetten

I have the same on mine, the dealer says it is hard to adjust... I tried myself, but the rubber bumpers on the sides does not influence the lower position of the tailgate, only the upper :-(

It's a bit difficult to explain, but it seems mine is correctly aligned along the lower side, but the whole gate is slightly too close on the right and makes a very minimal gap, while on the left there's a little bit too much. I'd say it's not perfectly centered.

[LEDZEP]

I guess it depends on what their published tolerances are for this. If the gap is out of tolerance, then they should have to adjust it for you. Hood adjustments are not as easy as you may think, and this would be a job for experienced body shop folks. You could reduce that gap and create a visible change elsewhere that might bother you even more.
You should discuss it with your service advisor and get their opinion and understand the options.

[roundtree]

Originally Posted by Beyu

Hey Paulfeng, I just measured my X3 35i and the gap is about 0.25 inches.

Perhaps the locking mechanism doesn't tighten all the way, does your X3's hood jiggle if you move it up and down?

I measured mine along the gap that extends between the two kidney grills and my measurements were all around .25". Doesn't mean you shouldn't find what options are available, but that seems like a lot of trouble for .05".

Beyond the tolerance mentioned earlier, I think the important thing is that the hood gap width is consistent in other gap widths on the car, so the hood doesn't appear out of place. Of course, I'm giving it the eyeball test for that one. Meh, good enough.

[Dr Stig 2]

Adjust the bumper, not the bonnet (hood).
It can raise the grill up to the bonnet (hood).
The bonnet (hood) is aligned with the front fenders, it is not supposed to move down any further. The bumper / grill can and should move up.

Look no further than the image in this web page's banner image to see what the gap can be.

[torzeck]

My gap is.243 inches.

[Dr Stig 2]

Note though, measurements are measurements, but optics are optics.
Light coloured cars will have a more noticable gap with the same actual measurement, as the dark shadows will highlight the gap between the panels.
On a dark car like the blacks or even the DSB, the gap might be huge but still not very noticeable.

[mvitch]

Consumer Reports "Best Cars SUVs and Trucks, rates the 2011 X3 highly in every area but "body hardware", giving that a solid black dot. Perhaps the first year "made in America"?? My new 2012 X3 35i has 1/4 inch of gap. 249miles on my new baby and love it so far.