The position statement in question is titled Nissan Position Statement: Blind Spot Warning (BSW) Precautions. We first asked “Can a new un-painted OEM bumper cover be painted to match the vehicle? Per our contact at Nissan “Yes, of course. The main concern is body filler over in the radar area, or increasing the film thickness of the finish or the thickness of bumper cover.’

Our next question was for clarification on the statement from the Nissan Position Statement, which stated, “Nissan DOES NOT support any repair, body filler application, or paint work on the rear bumper cover in the general area of the side radars.” We asked, what is defined as the “general area”? Nissans response was “Nissan has not defined “general area of radar” – shops should use their best judgement.” The I-CAR best practice is to not make any filler or plastic welding repairs that will adversely affect the field of vision of the radar sensor.

Our final question pertained to the part of the position statement that says ”For this reason, in a rear end collision scenario, Nissan DOES NOT support any repair, body filler application, or paint work on the rear bumper cover in the general area of the side radars.” So we asked, does this mean that any bumper cover damage, which would require a repair to occur in the center of the bumper cover, and the entire bumper cover to be clear coated, would require replacement of the bumper cover? Nissan responded with, “As long as the damage is not near the corners by radar, bumper repairs are acceptable – like the center of the bumper for example. However, we want to be careful when going back and painting that the film thickness of the finish does not adversely affect BSW operation. Currently, Nissan does not have a film thickness tolerance range. It needs to be as close to the original film thickness as possible, and BSW should be tested after reassembly.”

The information and procedures for the BSW can be found in the in the model specific Service Manuals located on www.nissan-techinfo.com in “Section O Cruise Control” by selecting “DAS Driver Assistance System”.

This position statement, along with other Nissan position statements, can be found on the Nissan OEM Information page.

Additional I-CAR Collision Repair News you may find helpful:
When ADAS Can't See: Blind Spot Monitoring System