Hey everyone!

First post woo! I’ve been browsing around trying to find if there are any existing threads similar to this one I’m writing, I did find some but they don’t talk of the exact problem I have; apologies if there are ones identical, perhaps I’m searching with the wrong terminology!

So around two weeks ago my car went into the garage to get a snapped spring replacement (driver’s side had been replaced last year, passenger this year). Whilst the car was in the garage, I received a phone call saying that the wheel arch mount or something had collapsed and needed a rebuild (not replacement).

So a few days ago I noticed that my front bumper isn't connected properly onto my car at all, taking a deeper look at it I’ve noticed that there seem to be missing, snapped or damaged screws half connected! I will link some photos to better explain the problem.

So my main question is, with the images below, can I simply buy some new bolts and screws and connect the bumper correctly myself? Or does it need another visit to the garage? I’m not even sure if they have been damaged over time, or whether the garage employees had accidentally damaged them or forgot to include them all back :S

Also, I’ve noticed that the wheel arch thing that surrounds the wheel was hardly repaired, it has been ‘rebuilt’ (only just) by cable ties! I’ll link some of those photos too so you can see what I’m talking about

Is the arch plastic available to buy, so I can replace the current one? The state of it looks so bad at the moment !

I’m also hoping to start a thread in a few weeks where I’ll be updating it often to show some upgrades and mods, but before I go spending money customizing, I really want to repair this stuff!

Sorry for the novel like post, any advice will be really appreciated, thanks!

Here are the images:

















EDIT: Oh the images don't seem to be showing

I can't get the image to work either - even pasting it into another browser window.

However, from what you describe, it's hard to know for certain what the problem is. How old is the car, and did they say that it needed a rebuild because of rust? or accident damage? or??

I might be speaking prematurely here, but if the bumper was loose it is unlikely to be a case of just having "forgotten" to put the bolts back in (especially if they have used cable ties elsewhere). It might be that after the "rebuild", the mounting holes for the bumper bolts no long er line up, or something like that. Have another go at posting the photos (or a link to them).

Hi please make 5 posts so you can post links to external source.

There are two screws that hold the bumper to the arch either side. One can be got at by turning the wheel out of the way the other is a pain to get to and needs the arch lining removing unless someone can explain another way?
Have a look at the front bumper removal guide here; https://www.fiatforum.com/grande-punto-guides/172501-front-bumper-removal.html

Contact your local fiat dealer, if they have an ounce of creditability they should be able to order you the screws if they don't have them in stock for less than £1 or so.

KBonnie said:

There are two screws that hold the bumper to the arch either side. One can be got at by turning the wheel out of the way the other is a pain to get to and needs the arch lining removing unless someone can explain another way?
Have a look at the front bumper removal guide here; https://www.fiatforum.com/grande-punto-guides/172501-front-bumper-removal.html

Contact your local fiat dealer, if they have an ounce of creditability they should be able to order you the screws if they don't have them in stock for less than £1 or so.

Click to expand...

The other torx screw is accessible from the engine bay. No need to remove arch at all

Avocet said:

I can't get the image to work either - even pasting it into another browser window.

However, from what you describe, it's hard to know for certain what the problem is. How old is the car, and did they say that it needed a rebuild because of rust? or accident damage? or??

I might be speaking prematurely here, but if the bumper was loose it is unlikely to be a case of just having "forgotten" to put the bolts back in (especially if they have used cable ties elsewhere). It might be that after the "rebuild", the mounting holes for the bumper bolts no long er line up, or something like that. Have another go at posting the photos (or a link to them).

Click to expand...

Hey Avocet, thanks for your reply.


When it was in for a spring repair, they had just called and said that the wheel arch liner (I now know what it's called) needed to be rebuilt. That's all they said, didn't give a reason, but by the looks of things it had cracked.


The car is a 56 plate and I'm almost at 5 posts so I will edit my thread to get the photos showing.

cmosfxx said:

The other torx screw is accessible from the engine bay. No need to remove arch at all

Click to expand...

this is great news, thanks cmosfxx

I've tried inserting an image, but when previewing the post it shows up as a black square with an x


Hopefully, you can copy and paste this link into your address bar:


s288.photobucket.com/user/TropiPunto/media/Five_zpszblu8sta.jpg.html

Put a spacer so the torx screw can hold the bumper and your are good to go.

Tropi said:

Hey Avocet, thanks for your reply.


When it was in for a spring repair, they had just called and said that the wheel arch liner (I now know what it's called) needed to be rebuilt. That's all they said, didn't give a reason, but by the looks of things it had cracked.


The car is a 56 plate and I'm almost at 5 posts so I will edit my thread to get the photos showing.

Click to expand...

OK, The liner is just a cheap plastic moulding to keep the worst of the muck and water off.. You can't really "fix" or "rebuild" them, as such because the plastic they're made from doesn't glue well. It sounds like they've just stitched it together with cable ties. If you're bothered about it, I guess a scrapyard would be the best place to try and find a replacement. Failures are common though - either at the bottom here they meet the bumper and someone parks over a high kerb, or maybe a stone thrown up from the road.