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Old 02-05-2017, 03:02 PM   #1
Tommywantwingy
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Member#: 431461
Join Date: Oct 2015
Chapter/Region: MWSOC
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Vehicle:
2009 STI
Silver

Default What's behind your front bumper cover

After deciding to replace the broken bumper support brackets 57707FG040, I discovered that I could buy a different bracket 57707FG050 from most other countries.
Before:


After:



(I am aware that the middle bumper cover clip tabs are missing on my bumper and that this would contribute some cover stability.)

It fits like a glove, and it requires three additional shoulder bolts 901060004 and at least 5 push clips 909140007. The mounting holes and weldnuts were in place; they were unused until now.

Am I late to the party, or is there no official reason for a US car having the wimpy braces and the rest of the world getting actual bumper support?
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Old 02-06-2017, 04:53 PM   #2
wrb2013
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Location: Minnesot-ah
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WRB duh

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Subbed for interest
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Old 02-12-2017, 11:27 AM   #3
jteran5
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Chapter/Region: Tri-State
Location: Jersey City, NJ
Vehicle:
2010 WRB STI SE-SOLD
2014 SWP STI Hatchback

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I am interested in this. Did you finish the install? Where did you source bracket 57707FG050?
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Old 02-12-2017, 09:54 PM   #4
Tommywantwingy
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Location: Grand Rapids, MI
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2009 STI
Silver

Default

It is in the car and doing fine; The install completed the day it began, if you don't count me still waiting for the extra fasteners to arrive.

I got the bracket from MRT Performance in Australia. My experience with them constitutes the rest of the post, so read on...

MRT was the only place I could find a new part (the others I found were ebay listings for used pieces in Italy, Poland, and UK), and it was quite possibly the biggest hassle I could have imagined.

They had the part listed both on ebay and on their website. After deciding to go the ebay route as a first shot they soon started sending me emails trying to explain that ebay had calculated the shipping wrong since it was an oversized piece and had to go by freight. They claimed to send multiple paypal invoices for the balance of the shipping, only they weren't arriving - not on paypal, not in email, nowhere. So I figured I'd just cancel the ebay order and order directly from their website. They asked me to send them Paypal money directly to one of their emails, and I wasn't going to have that. Besides, maybe their website had the correct shipping price...

On their site the only option for US buyers for that part was "Send me a quote". Well that's apparently not how it works. I emailed the guy with whom I had been going back and forth over the ebay thing, and he said as much. They knew what the shipping cost was, but they could not figure out how to request it from me in their system.

After a week of emails I decided to call them - in the evening here because of the time difference. After multiple explanations were given of how they might get screwed if they accepted US credit cards over the phone and multiple payment option hassles were presented like bank wires, the final resort appeared to be again the manual paypal method. At this point I'd had enough, so I just sent it. I'm not really sure how paypal protection afforded them a better guarantee against chargebacks, but they were convinced it did.

Three days later the part showed up. Great, only at this point I had paid for the part twice and shipping 1.5 times. After multiple follow up emails they refunded the ebay auction, except only for the part, the shipping was not refunded. I forwarded the "partial refund" paypal email to the guy, and he said he'd take care of it. No dice. After several more emails they refunded the ebay shipping from the additional manual paypal I had sent for the website order.

So if one decides to order from MRT performance I'd suggest they email ahead of placing the order and get a firm shipping price (shipping was 85 AUD to Michigan), find a way to pay exactly the expected total, and pray that they don't need to use their accounting system (which I must conclude they cannot distinguish from a hole in the ground) to modify the order.

And the cherry on top came this week when, buried in the details of an outrageous mobile phone bill, I see a curious line for "Australia - landline" that costs me more than the part and the freight combined.

It is good looking though, and performs its intended function loads better than the stock brackets.
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Old 02-13-2017, 03:49 PM   #5
theoutbackdream
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2013 WRX Limited
SWP

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tommywantwingy View Post
Am I late to the party, or is there no official reason for a US car having the wimpy braces and the rest of the world getting actual bumper support?
Probably because they assume American's drive like idiots all the time.
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Old 02-16-2017, 08:46 AM   #6
Tommywantwingy
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Join Date: Oct 2015
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Location: Grand Rapids, MI
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2009 STI
Silver

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If you folks find other places to source new brackets, here would be a good place to report them, as I found only used parts elsewhere.
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Old 02-18-2017, 10:17 AM   #7
moby4dick
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Member#: 51901
Join Date: Jan 2004
Chapter/Region: Tri-State
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'04 WRX
WRB

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I'm sure you could also contact SOA and have them look into getting info on a local dealer in whatever countries that part is native to. Hopefully one that speaks English...
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Old 04-04-2017, 05:35 AM   #8
CP-28
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anyone ever find this part anywhere else?
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