Rear bumper misaligned, dealership fault?

[Pahnda]

So I can't think of what else would have caused this, but I noticed when washing my car that my rear bumper is slightly misaligned with the rear left quarter panel seam. I made a thread a while ago about getting scratched on the rear bumper but I highly doubt this is the reason since that was fixed just under a month ago and never had a problem crop up. Plus scratching a bumper REALLY shouldn't make it pop out of a seam anyway!

But well, I've only had this car for just over a month (new B8 A4) and recently the dealership was checking out a problem I was having with the trunk release switch (seems like a transducer fault, the electrical signal isn't always what it should be) and also the side assist system. During this they had to take the rear bumper off, and I'm thinking they may have not put it on 100% perfectly? I would have thought I would have noticed it prior but I usually don't even approach the car from that side and probably noticed it just because I was doing some hands on cleaning to it.

Anyway, check out the pictures, what do you guys think? I'm not 100% sure how this would even happen. The most noticable area is right under the taillight, then it looks aligned in the center and then by the wheel well you can tell it's slightly misaligned. Also, on the right side (perfectly aligned) the bumper seems to rest behind the hind quarter panel, but on the misaligned side, it seems to be resting in front... Any ideas?

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/8291/audibumper1.jpg

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/3589/audibumper2.jpg

[adidas]

Why not just take the bumper off urself and fix it.

Both places will give u a run around about it so no point in messing around with that!

Should be some screws in the wheel wells, some under the bumper and probably a few holding it in under the tail lights(which i think is ur problem). So you will prob have to take off the tail lights in order to get to the screws that are in the bumper holding it from the top!

Best of luck!

[CelicaST-162]

Originally posted by adidas
Why not just take the bumper off urself and fix it.

Both places will give u a run around about it so no point in messing around with that!

Should be some screws in the wheel wells, some under the bumper and probably a few holding it in under the tail lights(which i think is ur problem). So you will prob have to take off the tail lights in order to get to the screws that are in the bumper holding it from the top!

Best of luck!

Not a good idea, at this time anyways.

Present your case NICELY! Maybe it's a retaining clip that's not fitting properly anymore, perhaps at the time of install IF they even did take the bumper off it did fit perfect and now it came loose who knows! Do not tamper with it yourself, it you break something in the process then it will be out of the dealers hands and you wont have any ground to stand on. Another, if you've never taken a bumper off especially on a car like this, yes there's going be screws in the wheel well etc, there will be lots of clips that may get broken. So in hindsight, leave it to the pros if you're not sure what you're doing.

[Drsuce]

may want to try giving it a stiff push, its possible that a retainer is not all the way in and crooked :) or stop by the dealer and have your advisor take a peek :)

[Pahnda]

Thanks for the input guys. I've got an appointment on the 27th to get a new trunk switch put in so I'm thinking I'll phone the service advisor I usually talk to tomorrow and ask them to look at it then, unless he thinks there's any reason to have it looked at earlier. I've had nothing but good experiences with Glenmore Audi's service department thus far so hopefully it's not beyond them to just take a bumper off and check it out and then put it on straight.

I'm just wondering, what would cause it to normally just come loose? I drive pretty normal (like 5~6 over speed limit, don't do crazy turns) and it's confusing why it would pop out like this naturally... Which is why I'm thinking possibly the dealership accidentially did something... Is there naturally a fair amount of tension from the bumper trying to get into a resting position like this and just being held back by clips/screws?

EDIT: Was just driving today and noticed the side assist telling me there is someone on the left side when there isn't. I noticed this happening after the repair at Glenmore, but wanted to reserve judgement until I had a chance to drive without traffic and see it... the sensors are in the rear bumper so I wonder if the sensor is pushing on the bumper and if it came loose or something...

[Pahnda]

Quick update:

May as well put it in here, as I'm consistently happy with the service at Glenmore Audi so far and thought I should share.

Got off the phone with my service representative I usually deal with and he said don't worry about it, they'll recalibrate the side assist system and check out the bumper on the 27th. Now just to wait and see what happens...

EDIT:

So they got the panel aligned again. It looks perfect but I thought it looked a bit weird still right up near the tail light (right where it curves to go along the bottom of the taillight)... It looked like the panels were butted right up against each other, but when I checked out another A4, it looked like it's butted up on there also. Also, they took it to a bodyshop to touch up a couple marks I saw appear when the bumper was last taken off/put on by them.

All in all, Glenmore Audi has been rock solid for me and I could easily recommend them as the support I've been getting is top notch.