cleaning our 500s yesterday I found that one of the two access covers in the wheel arch was missing on the drivers side. being an "s" model this has a different front bumper and each side has two of these covers. after touring local breakers today I had no joy, the one local dealer I tried can only get the full arch with the covers, not the covers on their own.
the ones on eBay are not the ones for the "s". I'm starting to think someone else had found these are hard to get hold of and nicked ours.
does anyone know the part number for it?

We bought our 500TA in October secondhand and it wasn't long before I realised that one of ours was missing. It had been missing quite some time because I could see the build-up of dust and muck inside. She had done 13,500miles when we bought her.

I tried making a new one from an old thick plastic bucket and stuck it on with silicone sealant. It lasted less than a week!

I went to our local Fiat dealer and bought a new one instead. They had to oder it as it wasn't regular stock. I know yours will be different to ours, but ours cost £9.68 including VAT.

Good luck,
Mick.

I might be wrong but wont that panel be part of the wheel arch liner rather than the bumper? In which case is the wheel arch liner common to all the 500 models?

The OP says his has two covers on each side inside the wheelarch.

Ours has only one each side, therefore there must be at least two sorts of 500 wheelarch inners.

Mick.

One of mine is missing too, but mine only has one cover in each wheel arch.

I like the plastic bucket idea. I have some wheel arch liners from another vehicle which might provide the right-shaped piece. I also think a suitable design printed with a 3D printer would be effective - if one has the time to spend - quicker than trying to order the right part and waiting weeks for it to arrive, anyway

This one is the one I need:
http://m.ebay.com/itm/231073708977?nav=SEARCH
Quite pricey and delivery by the end of June - two months!

-Alex

Local Fiat dealer had one delivered to them in only a couple of days after I ordered it. Same basic price as the eBay one but without the wait.

The cover is flat despite it fitting in an arch. The plastic I cut out fitted snuggly, so I cleaned the arch and pre-loaded the silicone on the plastic piece and offered it up. I took it away again and loaded more silicone and pressed it home plus wiping the excess silicone over the join. It looked good and solid and I left it a day or so before driving.

Less than a week later, I heard a clunk, and lo and behold it had disappeared along with all the silicone.

Regards,
Mick.

Contact Club500Italia on this forum. He breaks 500s. He's helped me out several times on my projects. He's sure to have one. I bought one from him, brand new for a Lounge for £10.

Maybe different to your one by the sound of it, but he's very helpful.

A tenner?
Brand new from Fiat it's only £9.68.

Or are you meaning a pair?

Mick.

Mick F said:

I tried making a new one from an old thick plastic bucket and stuck it on with silicone sealant.

Click to expand...

Lateral thinking, but I don't see the point of having an access panel which is permanently sealed shut .

jrkitching said:

Lateral thinking, but I don't see the point of having an access panel which is permanently sealed shut .

Click to expand...

Mine might as well be for all the use they are. I've tried and tried to access the bulbs through them, even taken the wheels off, but no joy. Might be as well to seal 'em off before they go awol.

jrkitching said:

Lateral thinking, but I don't see the point of having an access panel which is permanently sealed shut .

Click to expand...

Silicone sealant isn't a permanent fixative plastic-to-plastic. You can peel it off ............. or at least that was my idea. It fell off on its own accord!

It was worth £9.68 to get the correct cover.

As for getting in there and doing the lights, yes it's an absolute pain. I jacked the front up and took the wheel off and even then needed very thin long fingers and a double-jointed elbow to have done it easily.

I replaced the full beam bulbs with much brighter Osram thingies as the original ones left a bit to be desired.

Anyway, it was the very devil of a job to do.

Regards,
Mick.

Mick F said:

I replaced the full beam bulbs with much brighter Osram thingies as the original ones left a bit to be desired.

Click to expand...

Nightbreakers? I was tempted to pick some up. Are they any good?

Yes it was a tenner including postage. He didn't have any used ones, so it was a new one. No waiting for Fiat to get in stock and didn't have to go to the dealers and then back again when they had one.

He's also given me bits for free!!!

Noxide, I put Nightbreaker bulbs in my high beams about 3 years ago, and they do give a noticeably better light. They have a reputation for short life, but mine are still going after about 20,000 miles of driving over 3 years. Would probably be a different story on the dipped beam ones, though.

TrevC said:

Noxide, I put Nightbreaker bulbs in my high beams about 3 years ago, and they do give a noticeably better light. They have a reputation for short life, but mine are still going after about 20,000 miles of driving over 3 years. Would probably be a different story on the dipped beam ones, though.

Click to expand...

Oh that's awesome, thanks. I rarely drive at night, but when I do it's down unlit country roads, always. Might look at getting a set!

Noxide said:

Nightbreakers? I was tempted to pick some up. Are they any good?

Click to expand...

Sorry, my mistake, I just went and looked in the shed. I still have the wrappings that I put the originals back into.

They were Ring Ultima.
http://www.ringautomotive.co.uk/uk/...nce+Bulbs/01+Performance+-+XenonUltima/RW1248

VERY much better.

Regards,
Mick.

Mick F said:

Sorry, my mistake, I just went and looked in the shed. I still have the wrappings that I put the originals back into.

They were Ring Ultima.
http://www.ringautomotive.co.uk/uk/...nce+Bulbs/01+Performance+-+XenonUltima/RW1248

VERY much better.

Regards,
Mick.

Click to expand...

Ah thank you! I'll have a look at those then. I just feel the lil 500 lights could use a bit more "umph"!

I bought the full beams from a local discount store. £18.09 for the pair.

I was so pleased with them, I went back a week or so later and bought the dipped beams too. £15.63 the pair.

Cheers,
Mick.

going back to the thread, this is what one of the four panels looks like on the S

Well ..................... here we are over a year later, and the one I bought from Fiat has gone AWOL.

The original on the other side is still fine, just the replacement that's gone. It's another trip to Fiat for yet another new one now.

I recently replaced a DRL on the LH side, but it's the RH side that keeps disappearing.

I wonder if I can make some sort of wire lock to hold them on, or maybe nylon tie-wraps. Easy to cut the lock off if and when I need to get back in there. Just a couple of drilled holes in the plastic wheel arch and cover.

A tenner a time is a bit expensive. Lock 'em on is the way forward.

Attached picture.
No 12 is the cover.

Cheers,
Mick.