Rust and fender liner adjustment

[ansona]

After repairing the rust spot, I noticed the corner of the fender liner can be maneuvered so it sits in front of the steel fender edge, where it will help prevent chips. Seems like it's meant to be assembled this way, but my 2018 M3 wasn't. See photo.

 

[stopcrazypp]

After repairing the rust spot, I noticed the corner of the fender liner can be maneuvered so it sits in front of the steel fender edge, where it will help prevent chips. Seems like it's meant to be assembled this way, but my 2018 M3 wasn't. See photo.

Nope, the black plastic bit is supposed to go behind the painted panel, not on top.
See diagrams from the Tesla EPC (you can see the edge you are referring to there is a silver lip that is the body panel).

Parts Catalog

The service manual diagram shows the same:
http://178.119.56.105/Tesla/Model 3...tml_GUID-926C5F00-2FC9-42A3-BCF7-1EC78D9B4588

Any plastic bit that lies on top of painted surfaces will wear the paint down eventually. This is because even if the plastic is super soft, sand/dust can get in between the plastic and painted surface and that will wear it down from the rubbing. This is why mud flaps that are installed touching the painted areas get worn down if PPF is not used (in some cases some even wear through it).

Here's an example from another thread:
Mudflap issue/Will cause damage. WARNING!!

 

[ansona]

Makes sense, thanks for the info. It's odd they have that hole there - don't know if related but when I pulled the inner fender about cup of wet dirt fell out so owner beware. I'll see how my hack works. I used undercoat so the plastic is stuck to the metal now.

 

[launchd]

If you're wanting to prevent damage to that area, you should really invest in some mud flaps