Hi all, brand new to the forum, but I thought I would let people know of my own experience of fitting rear mudflaps to the 500, which I fitted during the morning on the day of this post.
My wife and I have only owned our 1.2 POP for two weeks, but I immediately bought a set of genuine rear mud flaps from a dealer on a well known auction site. Our 500 is black, so I have no issues regarding paint/flap colour! I found the instructions supplied personally confusing. Aimed at the 'expert fitter' Mmm! I promptly discarded said instructions, looked at the job properly and sussed it in about 2 minutes.
From getting all my bits and pieces together, socket set, screwdriver, electric drill (yes, an electric or cordless drill is required), the job took me an hour from start to finish and I still managed a couple of cups of coffee! Trust me on this, if you are going to do the job on your drive, you DO need to take the back wheels off, otherwise (in my opinion) it will just be a complete pain in the butt and a total fiddle and therefore unlikely you will achieve a good professional looking fit. Safety first - level ground, chock wheels, put jack in the right place and check/recheck wheel nuts on completion of job! Oh, and any other safety related stuff before, during and after which I may have not mentioned! If in doubt, pay someone to do the job!
It really is only a case of taking out one screw in the plastic under arch protector, un-clipping a plastic retainer and then slotting the flap between the wheel arch protector the unclipped plastic retainer (which is reclipped after slotting in the mudflap) and bottom faring. The top part of the mudflap is secured using the first screw taken out. I then drilled a 0.6mm hole through the pre-drilled hole in the flap and through the plastic faring that the bottom of the flap sits against. I used a 0.3mm drill to create a pilot hole before putting the 0.6mm drill through. Once drilled, I pushed the supplied bolt through the holes ensuring the supplied grip washers were on. TIP: Don't tighten the bottom bolt too tight, otherwise it WILL distort the bottom fit of the flap and make it look a poor fit. You will also need to peel away the tape covering the very sticky glue patch near the tops of both flaps to help present a neat, flush fit to the rear bumper assembly
I am not by any means an expert, but if you have the few tools necessary and the time, it is a very easy job. Not only that, you'll save yourself a few quid! I would like to add, this is the first time I have ever fitted mudflaps to any car I have owned.
Personally, I don't give a monkey's if the car doesn't stay cleaner at the back, if fitting the mudflaps helps other motorists from getting loads of extra spray in the rain and helping them to see my rear lights in the drizzle, then great. I actually think that the new flaps look great and to me, they definitely don't look like elephants ears! For anyone else considering fitting them, it ain't hard, just apply yourself and be proud of your achievement!
My wife and I have only owned our 1.2 POP for two weeks, but I immediately bought a set of genuine rear mud flaps from a dealer on a well known auction site. Our 500 is black, so I have no issues regarding paint/flap colour! I found the instructions supplied personally confusing. Aimed at the 'expert fitter' Mmm! I promptly discarded said instructions, looked at the job properly and sussed it in about 2 minutes.
From getting all my bits and pieces together, socket set, screwdriver, electric drill (yes, an electric or cordless drill is required), the job took me an hour from start to finish and I still managed a couple of cups of coffee! Trust me on this, if you are going to do the job on your drive, you DO need to take the back wheels off, otherwise (in my opinion) it will just be a complete pain in the butt and a total fiddle and therefore unlikely you will achieve a good professional looking fit. Safety first - level ground, chock wheels, put jack in the right place and check/recheck wheel nuts on completion of job! Oh, and any other safety related stuff before, during and after which I may have not mentioned! If in doubt, pay someone to do the job!
It really is only a case of taking out one screw in the plastic under arch protector, un-clipping a plastic retainer and then slotting the flap between the wheel arch protector the unclipped plastic retainer (which is reclipped after slotting in the mudflap) and bottom faring. The top part of the mudflap is secured using the first screw taken out. I then drilled a 0.6mm hole through the pre-drilled hole in the flap and through the plastic faring that the bottom of the flap sits against. I used a 0.3mm drill to create a pilot hole before putting the 0.6mm drill through. Once drilled, I pushed the supplied bolt through the holes ensuring the supplied grip washers were on. TIP: Don't tighten the bottom bolt too tight, otherwise it WILL distort the bottom fit of the flap and make it look a poor fit. You will also need to peel away the tape covering the very sticky glue patch near the tops of both flaps to help present a neat, flush fit to the rear bumper assembly
I am not by any means an expert, but if you have the few tools necessary and the time, it is a very easy job. Not only that, you'll save yourself a few quid! I would like to add, this is the first time I have ever fitted mudflaps to any car I have owned.
Personally, I don't give a monkey's if the car doesn't stay cleaner at the back, if fitting the mudflaps helps other motorists from getting loads of extra spray in the rain and helping them to see my rear lights in the drizzle, then great. I actually think that the new flaps look great and to me, they definitely don't look like elephants ears! For anyone else considering fitting them, it ain't hard, just apply yourself and be proud of your achievement!