Polishing the car today I noticed the bonnet seems slightly askew, is this fairly normal fiat panel fit or is mine an exception? Presumably if I was bothered the hinges could be adjusted?
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General Bonnet shut line
- Thread starter Mercky
- Start date
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General Bonnet shut line
Sorry meant to show the 2 photos but couldn't edit on my phone
Could be the bumper?
You just might be right Maxi but I don't think it explains all of it! If I look at where the front plastic 'bumper' section meets the front wings its not as snug on one side as the other and the gap is wider. I do recall turning in to a driveway to turn on two occasions and hearing the front bottoming out as the footpath was sloped upwards - perhaps this has pulled it out of alignment slightly when I reversed back. Annoying! Alternatively it could always have been like that and I just never noticed. Is the bumper clipped on I wonder?
Well on the worse side the bumper is touching the light cluster and on the better side the gap round the light is more even all the way round
Piccolo Nero e Bella
Prominent member
I wouldn't discount poor assembly. My bonnet was askew from new, with about 10mm gap on the drivers side below the windscreen and only 5mm on the other side. The dealer said they'd had a 'few' like that. It also wouldn't open correctly. After pulling the lever it was necessary prise the front edge up to get ones fingers in to release the catch. You might also want to check the two plastic adjusters under the lid; screw them in or out by small increments to see if they make a difference.
Yeh the car is only 4 months old, I don't think the 'bottoming out' episodes were in any way severe so I'm also inclined to think it was like that from new. I suppose I could get a body shop to realign if I wanted to. These adjusters you mention - do you mean the 4 screw in lugs holding the top of the bumper on?
Piccolo Nero e Bella
Prominent member
No Mercky, they're on the underside of the bonnet itself, two hexagonal plastic things that screw in and out. Scraping noises on steep drives are usually the rubber skirt behind the bumper, I've done that often.
I got my bonnet re-aligned under warranty, can you not do so?
I got my bonnet re-aligned under warranty, can you not do so?
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Ok cheers for that, I've adjusted those and got the front shut line spot on, it's still out a bit against the lights but I reckon that's par for the course. It looks a whole lot better now however I think maxi was right and it's the bumper that's out and I'm just compensating by tweeking the bonnet. If I bring it back to get aligned under warranty then I'll be told I must have given it a nudge, and in fairness, perhaps I did!
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Piccolo Nero e Bella
Prominent member
Pleased that helped - just make sure you can open and close the bonnet properly.
If you did shunt it hard enough to displace the bumper there ought to be evidence such as damage to the underside or to the mountings. If not, then it's odds on it's an assembly issue, but it's your call of course - if you can live with it there's no problem. Actually my bonnet is still not aligned perfectly but it's hard to pick on a black car so I'm not that bothered.
If you did shunt it hard enough to displace the bumper there ought to be evidence such as damage to the underside or to the mountings. If not, then it's odds on it's an assembly issue, but it's your call of course - if you can live with it there's no problem. Actually my bonnet is still not aligned perfectly but it's hard to pick on a black car so I'm not that bothered.
