[jdmass]

I wasn't planning on adding mudflaps to my X3, but reading the discussion and looking at some pictures, got me interested. After driving through some very messy winter weather and seeing what it did to the side panels of my car, I decided to give them a try. I ordered some from my dealer and installed them tonight. Below are the details with photos.

This post will cover the front wheel and the next will show the rear wheel. It's also extremely helpful to have the official instructions as while it is not difficult to install the flaps, there are some things that aren't obvious. I've uploaded them here, as well.

Photo 1 is the "before" picture of the front wheel well. The items circled or pointed to in red (2 center pin expanding fasteners and 2 10mm hex nuts) can be discarded as they are replaced by parts included with the flaps.

Photo 2 shows the lower part of the well after their removal.

Photo 3 shows the front mudflap with included fasteners. Note the hole circled in red: this hole will get made by piercing the fabric of the wheel well liner. You will also need to use a razor knife to cut a slit to slide in a fastener to hold the screw (which is a Torx 20).

Photo 4 shows the fastener in place circled in red.

Photos 5 and 6 show the flap installed.

[jdmass]

The rear mudflap install is slightly different than the front, but is equally easy.

Photo one shows the items to be discarded in red (one center pushpin fastener and one 8mm bolt on the underside) and in green an 8mm bolt that you need to keep (this is depicted in the PDF instructions in the previous post, also).

Photo 2 shows the rear flap with fasteners (3 Torx 20 screws and 2 screw receivers). Note that behind the leftmost hole is a plastic flap that will fold around and with one of the screw receivers will connect to the front hole via a screw that will go through the wheel liner fabric. Also one of the screws will fasten to the underside.

Photo 3 shows the wheel well with the fasteners removed. The other screw receiver will go over the top hole.

Photo 4 shows the mud flap in position but only partially attached. Note the red backing for the double sided tape. This gets removed after all the fasteners are attached. You then need to apply some pressure along the edge for tape to adhere.

Photos 5 and 6 show the installed rear mudflap.

[April1]

Could you install them without removing tyres?

[jdmass]

yes, you can turn the front wheels as needed for access. In the rear, I used a torx bit in a socket wrench for a lower profile than a screw driver and it worked well.

[April1]

I was wondering if there is a negative side of mounting mudflaps onto X3? If they are made of hard abs plastic, then they might reduce ground clearance,am I right?

[fedinand]

I have had them on for over 6 months and have had no issues with them - the X3's ground clearance is pretty good as is that these mudflaps aren't going to cause you concern...unless you do a lot of off-roading, maybe.

[BIMMER UK 76]

Fitted front mudflaps an hour ago without instructions and wished I had logged in to read this post first! Fitted rears about 9 months ago.

[April1]

I have bought the front side mud flaps but finding it difficult to take out the expanding pins. How did you do it without damaging the plastic parts? Your picture shows the damaged ceter hole.

[jdmass]

The plastic parts are for one-use only. There is no way that I know of to remove them for reuse. The mudflaps should have come with its own fasteners, including screws, screw retainers, and plastic pins as I showed in the pictures. The official instructions that I attached (PDF file) to my post show which fasteners to throw out and which to keep.

To remove a plastic pin-type fastener, I pried it with a screw driver to get enough of the edge up to be able to grip it with a pair of pliers. In some cases I could yank out the entire pin, in some case, it broke and the remaining end fell into the interior of the wheel well. No real need to worry about it as it wasn't being reused.

You commented that the hole was damaged. Not so. There are some scratches on the plastic from prying up with the screw driver (probably should have been a little more careful), but these are completely hidden by mud flap. The hole itself was not altered one bit. I suspect that this type of effect is pretty normal, even if installed by the dealer, because it is never seen.

[lbjgh]

do the mud flaps fit the m-sport models as well?

[jdmass]

No - they definitely don't fit M models

[April1]

I tried to mount front mud flaps, first one took nearly 50 minutes but the next I could do in just 15 minutes. Marking, slitting ans inserting and aligning the clip took maximum time.

Thanks jdmass for the DIY instructions.

[LEDZEP]

Originally Posted by jdmass

No - they definitely don't fit M models

For the X5, they have separate mudflaps for M and MSport. I should think they would offer the same for X3 M Sport.... hopefully.

[BIMMER UK 76]

Originally Posted by BIMMER UK 76

Fitted front mudflaps an hour ago without instructions and wished I had logged in to read this post first! Fitted rears about 9 months ago.

One of the front flaps seems to have warped afterwards couple of weeks and had removed and re-fitted this afternoon with stronger tape that should do the trick

[April1]

I'm also noticing warping on outer edge.

[empirevalley]

I installed front and rear mud flaps on my 2012 X328i this weekend. The photos and instructions by jdmass are an excellent supplement to the "official" BMW instructions. One additional installation tip for the front mud flaps: use a silver Sharpie or Magic Marker to mark where the hole and the slot need to be cut on the wheel well liner fabric. It's a lot easier to see.

[April1]

Do you really find these mud flaps useful? I did install on my car but I still see mud spray on the sides of X3 when drive thru the rain.

[DavC5000]

Originally Posted by April1

Do you really find these mud flaps useful? I did install on my car but I still see mud spray on the sides of X3 when drive thru the rain.

well its just suppose to decrease the amount of dirt that gets on the car, nothing can eliminate road grime from getting on the car due to manys factors i feel it has helped since ive put them on, side of the car isnt as dirty as before when driving through storms but still gets dirty of course.

[mgoblue62]

Really appreciate the photos and instructions, jdmass!

One additional tip...

I used a piece of masking tape on the inner well wall temporarily to mark the hole and then measure for the slot location. Made it very easy to see and cut the slot. Then pulled off the tape before installing the flap.

[cooldude00]

does anyone with mud flaps feel that the back of the car from the rear windscreen on doesn't get as dirty as before?

i like to keep my car clean and the back of the car always seems filthy... wondering if mud flaps would help

[cadman50]

They definitely keep the sides cleaner and the lower part behind the rear wheels cleaner also. As far as the rear of the X3 I can't remeber what it was like before I put them on.

[idahoakl]

I just put mud flaps on my 2012 X3 a few weeks ago and I thought I would share my experiences to see if they help others. So far the edges of the mud flaps appear to be holding extremely well and look great on the car.

Below are a few points that I learned:

• The silver sharpie works wonders.
• When mounting the back mud flap, step 8 in the instructions tells you to insert the screw through the wheel well liner. Well...given the fact that the screws aren't exactly the sharpest things and the liner is pretty tough this is going to be a challenge. I learned my lesson on the first wheel. I used a drywall screw to start the hole once I had determined where it should be (again silver sharpie works well here). The drywall screw started the hole and then I made it the correct size with the actual screw. After doing this performing step 8 was much simpler.
• I did the install in a shop where the temperature was right at 32 degrees F. The instructions say the temperature should be no lower than 60 degrees F, however I wasn't going to wait until next summer to do this. I combated this by using a shop heater to warm up the entire mud flap. This made the foam adhesive very pliable and willing to stick to just about anything. I also took a heat gun (hair dryer would work to) and carefully heated up the plastic around the wheel well that the mud flap would stick to.
• I did this while leaving the wheels on but I found on the front wheels you get better access if the wheels are turned away from you (left side of car, wheels turned to the right).
• Not sure if this is a huge deal but I let the car sit overnight without turning it on or moving it. I wanted the adhesive to bond as well as it could.