Body Construction And Material Repair Guidelines: BMW/Mini

What is the MPa of the front lower rail? What is the outer uniside made of: steel, aluminum, or composite? Can heat be used to straighten or is it cold straightening only? What are the repair limitations? These are just some of the questions that the RTS team fields on a daily basis.

As we know, today’s vehicles can be constructed from a wide variety of materials. Knowing if the OEM provides information on body construction materials and repair guidelines is a crucial step in providing a complete, safe, and quality repair. Let’s see what BMW/Mini has available to us.

It’s important to note that at this time, BMW/Mini does not specify the MPa or the type of aluminum, steel, and/or plastic that is used in a vehicle’s construction. However, some of the BMW/Mini body repair manuals (BRM) provide a construction breakdown of the outer uniside for 2018 and older vehicles.

Figure 1

The first step to determining the outer uniside construction is to obtain the vehicle development code. This code automatically populates when the VIN is entered into the BMW/Mini Aftersales Information Research (AIR) system. The code shows up at the top of the initial vehicle information page (see Figure 1).

Once you have the development code, click on Repair Instructions located towards the top of the page. Then do the following:

• Expand the Unified Parts Group menu on the left-hand side of the page
• Scroll down to 41 - Body
• Expand this section, then click on 41/00 - Body
• In the search bar at the top of the screen do a search for Use of Materials in Outer Skin or scroll down the list to find it

Collision and service information for both BMW and Mini can be found on the BMW service website.

BMW/Mini vehicle-specific body repair manuals can be found at www.bmwtechinfo.com

For additional BMW/Mini information, check out the following pages:
BMW OEM Information
Mini OEM Information

Additional I-CAR Collision Repair News you may find helpful:

• Additional Reference Information: BMW
• BMW/Mini: Repair Stage 2
• BMW/Mini: Repair Stage 3
• Collision Information Website Access: BMW/Mini
• Step-By-Step: Accessing BMW/Mini Repair Information

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Related I-CAR Courses

Course BMW Collision Repair Overview

Course Vehicle Construction Material Types