BMW has transitioned to using plastic front quarter panels (fenders) on its 2007 BMW 3 Series Coupe in order to save weight and increase durability. The weight savings is minimal — about 6.6 pounds — but it helps BMW achieve its much-touted 50:50 weight balance more easily. The new material also offers greater freedom in design, being easier to mould and shape than steel – an important factor giving the designer new freedom in the design process. BMW says the fenders are painted with the exact same paint used for the steel unibody and look the same as steel panels. In low-speed collisions, the new panels are also less likely to permanently deform. After the jump we have two images: one illustrating how light the new panels are, and another shows the difference between the sedan and coupe’s fenders (with the latter having a deeper character line)…

I like the idea of plastic. You don't have to worry about paint chipping or going away, there's the weight thing, plus it should be more affordable now. The only downfall could be it cracking. Safety won't be an issue.



Source: LL News

 

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I wish more cars used plastic. I am a door ding lunatic. I have one in my ram right now and it drives me crazy. My friend just got rid of his 6yr old 100k saturn and it didn't have a ding. Give it a good detail and it would look brand new. Im sick of dings

 

i have a friend with a saturn, and it never got a dent, until he got tapped on a very cold day, and the front of the car shattered.

 

I got hit by a deer in my saturn and all it did was crack the door.

 

The problem with plastic is it can oxodize like it did on my black rear-pillar. Plastic might not dent but I have seen where if people hit it hard enough, it will break through. I prefer metal.

 

The paint on my friends saturn was perfect....after 5 years...i would rather take my chances with the plastic. Most new metal dents if you fart too hard!!!

 

True that. New metal is like aluminum foil compared to older cars where you could hit head on with a bus and only bust out a headlamp...

 

i might be off on this, but arent dents in metal easier to fix than dents in plastic? even though it may dent more.....

 

the plastic that saturn uses doesnt dent at all. if something happens that would normally dent or crease metal, it simply pops in, and back out on the plastic. The problem with the plastic saturns (and as a friend of mine loves his saturns, and ive seen this first hand) when its cold out, things that would cause a "bad dent" on a metal car will cause a plastic fender on a saturn to explode, as it is so brittle. Also, in warm weather, when the fender gets hit hard enough that dent normal metal, it instead cracks the plastic fender. So instead of being able to just pop out a dent, you have to replace the fender. Another issue is one that you can see on metal cars with plastic fascias (take my stratus for instance). If youve ever seen a car like that get bumped or bump something at low speed, while the plastic caves in, and often back out, the paint spiderwebs, and looks awful...