Plastic bumpers – painted?

[MickyP64]

Sorry if this seems a dumb question but I’ve never owned a car with colour coded plastic bits before…

I’m sure someone here can tell me if the plastic body parts are sprayed the same as the rest of the car paintwork or manufactured as colour coded…I’ll probably want to replace my rear bumper and was wondering if I could pick one up cheap on salvage or eBay and get it re-sprayed.

With the recent hot weather it looks as though the slightly bodged repair by a previous owner of my A200T has finally given up!...It’s always looked a bit iffy ever since I bought the car…looks as if be bumper has had a knock in the past and the little teeth/pegs that hold it in place have all snapped off…It seems to have been fixed back with glue or some kind of silicone sealant.

 

[MickyP64]

Ok…I’ve done a little reading and it looks as if a re-spray of plastic bumpers is possible…I’ve got my eye on a salvage item that will fit my car…anyone recommend a good body shop in SE London/Kent…and an estimation on how much a quality re-spray might cost…

I recon I could refit the finished item myself…

 

[def90cars]

For the A-class the bumpers are assembled in a building adjacent to the assembly shop and sent over on a conveyor system to meet the car they are going on. There were something like 700 different rear bumpers.
They are painted on site but not at the same time as the car.
The main deciding factors for the "correct" bumper were:
Colour: clearly you can paint a second-hand bumper
Trim: Chrome bits or not - can use your own ones
US-Spec: Shouldn't be an issues - just had some markerlamps as part of the trim
Exhaust: Different holes for the shape of the exhaust (I think A200T has a wide half oval to fit the twin pipes??)
Reversing sensors: Some models requires extra holes.
I seem remember 3 and 5 door made no difference - but it was a while ago when I worked at Rastatt.

 

[MickyP64]

Great stuff Tony, thanks for the info…

The item I’m looking at is currently still attached to an A200T front ended write off, the same year as mine…I’m almost certain it’ll fit my car...only my car is black and the wrecked car is silver…If it’s worth the re-spray I’ll probably go for it…

 

[def90cars]

Great stuff Tony, thanks for the info…

The item I’m looking at is currently still attached to an A200T front ended write off, the same year as mine…I’m almost certain it’ll fit my car...only my car is black and the wrecked car is silver…If it’s worth the re-spray I’ll probably go for it…

I'd have it painted "off" the car so all the edges and half-hidden sections are colour changed.
Sounds like a a near perfect swap.