ecrabb
09-09-2015, 08:45 AM
First, I created this DIY based on my 2004 convertible. I assume other coupes and convertibles are the same, but I'm not certain. I do know sedans have the trim strip and some fasteners under the trim strip, and I know there is at least one YouTube video with some info. I couldn't find anything on a coupe/vert, hence this DIY. It would have gone much faster if I'd had this info.
To get started, put the car on stands, or at least some short ramps. I parked the car on some 2x6's on some 1/2" OSB (so 3" total), then layed on a 1/2" workout mat, and just had room to slide under the car. I'm a little bigger than average. Stands would be better. You'll need to remove the front fender liners, and it's extremely difficult without removing a wheel, at least temporarily. You could probably do it by starting the car and turning the wheel back and forth, but I thought it was easier to just remove the wheels. I don't have any stands currently, so I just did it one-by-one. I'll write as though the front-end is on two jack stands.
Bumper Removal
1. Remove the front wheels and put the car on stands. Be safe! Use backup support. - 5-10 minutes.
2. Remove the "engine compartment screening". It's the plastic debris cover directly below the engine. I think it was seven philips-head screws - three along the back edge, and two on each side toward the front. It's a coarse-thread screw, so it only takes a couple of turns. I just dropped it and slid it back under the car. - 2-3 minutes.
3. Remove both of the front/lower wheel well liners. They're called "covering left/right" on RealOEM. There are three screws up high, and a couple down on the bottom of the splitter. Be careful on the driver's side, as you'll need to remove the air temp sensor. Use a regular screwdriver to open the clips, and it should just slide out. Set them aside. 10-15 minutes.
4. Remove the foglight trims. Just grab it toward the inside, and pull it; it'll pop off. It's just a friction/snap fit. - 1 minute.
5. Unscrew the single screw securing each foglight, pull the assembly out, remove the electrical connector, and set them safely aside so you don't break the glass. Pull the foglight wiring/connectors through from the backside and let them dangle. - 5 minutes.
Now, for the fun part—actually removing the bumper. At this point, there are only two bolts holding the bumper on the car. Some write-ups call them "reverse torx". It's apparently just a "male" torx bolt as opposed to the typical female torx screw. I never found any photos, so I was totally unclear what was actually the bumper, and what was fastening it to the front end. I figured it out and took a couple of photos.
6. Get into position under the car. Slide in just far enough that you're looking up between the cooling fan and radiator, then slide over and look into the space on one side of the radiator, up toward the backside of the bumper. You'll see a large male torx bolt protruding from a white plastic guide called the "carrier sleeve". It looks like a little trumpet horn. Those two bolts (one on each side) are all that really hold the bumper to the car. The part I was unclear about was what was coming off the car and what was staying, leading me to remove a couple of fasteners unnecessarily. To clear that up, the aluminum member you can see is called the "carrier". It's what bolts to the front end, while the bumper cover is just attached to that carrier. - 5 minutes to look and understand what you're going to do and relax on your back while you're looking up at the car and scoping things out. ;)
The view:
21528
I took this photo on reinstallation, and hadn't yet installed the bolt, then forgot to take another picture after the bolt was reinstalled. Sorry! Still, you can see the white carrier sleeve where the bolt would be, though. When I'm back in there soon to do belts, I'll snap a few more photos and update the DIY.
7. Remove those two torx bolts. It's tight getting your hand up there, especially with a tool. What I found was easiest was to lay to one side, and work on the opposite side. I just reached up and did it blind. If the car is on stands and up higher than mine was, you may be able to lay directly under the bolt you're working on. I didn't have a torx socket, and I'm not sure I could have even gotten a 1/4" ratchet up there if I did have one. I would guess the pros use a ratchet with like an 18" extension straight up through the bottom of the fascia. Since I don't have that, and since my car wasn't on a hoist or stands, I used a very small "box" or closed-end wrench. I didn't even have a small metric box wrench, and used a fractional wrench, but there was almost no play, and the bolts weren't too tight. I don't recall the size. Loosen the bolt until you can spin it with your fingers, then spin it out until it disengages. It'll fall, but only an inch or two until it hits some small fingers in that plastic guide. From there, you'll have to pull them the rest of the way out past those plastic tabs. 5-10 minutes.
The bumper is now loose, but don't make the mistake I did and just pull it off. There are still two wires connected to the horns mounted to the underside of the aluminum carrier, and from what I could see, it's nearly impossible to do it before the bumper is at least part-way off.
8. If it isn't open already, make sure the hood is open.
9. Pull one side of the bumper away from the car, keeping the other side retained with your knee or a helper. Pull it away far enough to reach in and pull the horn connector off. Like all automotive electrical connectors, it's a little tricky. Once the connector is off, let the wiring drop down and slide the bumper back onto the mount. Now, switch sides and do the same thing to disconnect the horn on the other side of the car. 5 minutes.
10. Remove the bumper by pulling straight out away from the radiator. It could offer a little resistance when the rubber trim strip meets with the headlight trim, but just be gentle yet firm, and wiggle, and it should slide off. The bumper isn't heavy, but it's a little awkward. You may want a blanket or rug or something laying underneath in case you drop it, and at least have a safe place to lay it when you take it off. Lay it face-down. 2-3 minutes.
There. Breathe a sigh of relief. Probably will take you 30-45 minutes or so to get to this point.
Grille Replacement
I didn't take photos of the grill replacement process so I can't do a step-by-step, but it's fairly intuitive. There are two pieces - the "grid" aka grill, and the "adapter". If I'd known in advance, I would have purchased both pieces. Since I didn't have the "adapter" piece, I used plastic paint and painted it. It's a little glossier than the plastic.
If I recall correctly, the grille/grid snaps onto the bumper, then the adapter piece snaps over that. It's a little tricky, and I remember having to remove some of the snaps, and switch to start at the opposite side or something. It's fairly easy to figure out, though.
21529
While I had the front end apart, I also removed the "front air duct" from in front of the radiator, cleaned it up, and cleaned up the radiator. Really dressed up the front of the car and made it look much newer. All the cleaning and detailing I did probably added another couple of hours, but it was worth it to me as this is a weekend/nice weather driver.
Bumper Reinstallation
If your bumper has been sagging at the fender and you have gaps, this would be a good time to readjust the plastic guides. They're held by two bolts, and it looks like they're fairly easy to adjust. I chose not to open this can of worms even though I wouldn't have minded a little less gap between bumper and fender.
To reinstall the bumper, basically just follow the removal in reverse, including the little one-side-on/off jig to reinstall the horn connectors. I found it was easiest to set one end of the bumper into the white plastic guide at the fender, but only a little, then start rotating the other end toward the car, slowly rotating the bumper onto the posts and finally onto the opposite guide, then slide the whole thing in. But, don't do what I did and just climb under the car, pull the bumper all way toward the radiator with your knees, and crank the bolts down. If you do, you'll likely slide out from under the car and find that the bumper isn't at all aligned with the fender. Instead, align the bumper with the fender on both corners, then climb under and tighten the bolts down.
Should take probably 30 minutes or so to put back together.
Wheels
Oh, yeah... Minor detail... Put the wheels back on and torque the lug nuts to 87 ft-lbs (118 Nm) or 88 ft-lbs (120 Nm). I found both specs. They're very close, but if anybody knows which it's supposed to be, let me know and I'll delete the incorrect one.
Part Installed
Center Bumper Grille
Mfg Part #51117893062
ECS Part #ES#74878
http://www.ecstuning.com/ES74878/
Part I Wish I'd Had
Mfg Part #51117893066
ECS Part #ES#74879
http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/51117893066/ES74879/
Feel free to post here if you have questions. I'll try to back-fill with a few additional photos as soon as possible.
Cheers,
SC
To get started, put the car on stands, or at least some short ramps. I parked the car on some 2x6's on some 1/2" OSB (so 3" total), then layed on a 1/2" workout mat, and just had room to slide under the car. I'm a little bigger than average. Stands would be better. You'll need to remove the front fender liners, and it's extremely difficult without removing a wheel, at least temporarily. You could probably do it by starting the car and turning the wheel back and forth, but I thought it was easier to just remove the wheels. I don't have any stands currently, so I just did it one-by-one. I'll write as though the front-end is on two jack stands.
Bumper Removal
1. Remove the front wheels and put the car on stands. Be safe! Use backup support. - 5-10 minutes.
2. Remove the "engine compartment screening". It's the plastic debris cover directly below the engine. I think it was seven philips-head screws - three along the back edge, and two on each side toward the front. It's a coarse-thread screw, so it only takes a couple of turns. I just dropped it and slid it back under the car. - 2-3 minutes.
3. Remove both of the front/lower wheel well liners. They're called "covering left/right" on RealOEM. There are three screws up high, and a couple down on the bottom of the splitter. Be careful on the driver's side, as you'll need to remove the air temp sensor. Use a regular screwdriver to open the clips, and it should just slide out. Set them aside. 10-15 minutes.
4. Remove the foglight trims. Just grab it toward the inside, and pull it; it'll pop off. It's just a friction/snap fit. - 1 minute.
5. Unscrew the single screw securing each foglight, pull the assembly out, remove the electrical connector, and set them safely aside so you don't break the glass. Pull the foglight wiring/connectors through from the backside and let them dangle. - 5 minutes.
Now, for the fun part—actually removing the bumper. At this point, there are only two bolts holding the bumper on the car. Some write-ups call them "reverse torx". It's apparently just a "male" torx bolt as opposed to the typical female torx screw. I never found any photos, so I was totally unclear what was actually the bumper, and what was fastening it to the front end. I figured it out and took a couple of photos.
6. Get into position under the car. Slide in just far enough that you're looking up between the cooling fan and radiator, then slide over and look into the space on one side of the radiator, up toward the backside of the bumper. You'll see a large male torx bolt protruding from a white plastic guide called the "carrier sleeve". It looks like a little trumpet horn. Those two bolts (one on each side) are all that really hold the bumper to the car. The part I was unclear about was what was coming off the car and what was staying, leading me to remove a couple of fasteners unnecessarily. To clear that up, the aluminum member you can see is called the "carrier". It's what bolts to the front end, while the bumper cover is just attached to that carrier. - 5 minutes to look and understand what you're going to do and relax on your back while you're looking up at the car and scoping things out. ;)
The view:
21528
I took this photo on reinstallation, and hadn't yet installed the bolt, then forgot to take another picture after the bolt was reinstalled. Sorry! Still, you can see the white carrier sleeve where the bolt would be, though. When I'm back in there soon to do belts, I'll snap a few more photos and update the DIY.
7. Remove those two torx bolts. It's tight getting your hand up there, especially with a tool. What I found was easiest was to lay to one side, and work on the opposite side. I just reached up and did it blind. If the car is on stands and up higher than mine was, you may be able to lay directly under the bolt you're working on. I didn't have a torx socket, and I'm not sure I could have even gotten a 1/4" ratchet up there if I did have one. I would guess the pros use a ratchet with like an 18" extension straight up through the bottom of the fascia. Since I don't have that, and since my car wasn't on a hoist or stands, I used a very small "box" or closed-end wrench. I didn't even have a small metric box wrench, and used a fractional wrench, but there was almost no play, and the bolts weren't too tight. I don't recall the size. Loosen the bolt until you can spin it with your fingers, then spin it out until it disengages. It'll fall, but only an inch or two until it hits some small fingers in that plastic guide. From there, you'll have to pull them the rest of the way out past those plastic tabs. 5-10 minutes.
The bumper is now loose, but don't make the mistake I did and just pull it off. There are still two wires connected to the horns mounted to the underside of the aluminum carrier, and from what I could see, it's nearly impossible to do it before the bumper is at least part-way off.
8. If it isn't open already, make sure the hood is open.
9. Pull one side of the bumper away from the car, keeping the other side retained with your knee or a helper. Pull it away far enough to reach in and pull the horn connector off. Like all automotive electrical connectors, it's a little tricky. Once the connector is off, let the wiring drop down and slide the bumper back onto the mount. Now, switch sides and do the same thing to disconnect the horn on the other side of the car. 5 minutes.
10. Remove the bumper by pulling straight out away from the radiator. It could offer a little resistance when the rubber trim strip meets with the headlight trim, but just be gentle yet firm, and wiggle, and it should slide off. The bumper isn't heavy, but it's a little awkward. You may want a blanket or rug or something laying underneath in case you drop it, and at least have a safe place to lay it when you take it off. Lay it face-down. 2-3 minutes.
There. Breathe a sigh of relief. Probably will take you 30-45 minutes or so to get to this point.
Grille Replacement
I didn't take photos of the grill replacement process so I can't do a step-by-step, but it's fairly intuitive. There are two pieces - the "grid" aka grill, and the "adapter". If I'd known in advance, I would have purchased both pieces. Since I didn't have the "adapter" piece, I used plastic paint and painted it. It's a little glossier than the plastic.
If I recall correctly, the grille/grid snaps onto the bumper, then the adapter piece snaps over that. It's a little tricky, and I remember having to remove some of the snaps, and switch to start at the opposite side or something. It's fairly easy to figure out, though.
21529
While I had the front end apart, I also removed the "front air duct" from in front of the radiator, cleaned it up, and cleaned up the radiator. Really dressed up the front of the car and made it look much newer. All the cleaning and detailing I did probably added another couple of hours, but it was worth it to me as this is a weekend/nice weather driver.
Bumper Reinstallation
If your bumper has been sagging at the fender and you have gaps, this would be a good time to readjust the plastic guides. They're held by two bolts, and it looks like they're fairly easy to adjust. I chose not to open this can of worms even though I wouldn't have minded a little less gap between bumper and fender.
To reinstall the bumper, basically just follow the removal in reverse, including the little one-side-on/off jig to reinstall the horn connectors. I found it was easiest to set one end of the bumper into the white plastic guide at the fender, but only a little, then start rotating the other end toward the car, slowly rotating the bumper onto the posts and finally onto the opposite guide, then slide the whole thing in. But, don't do what I did and just climb under the car, pull the bumper all way toward the radiator with your knees, and crank the bolts down. If you do, you'll likely slide out from under the car and find that the bumper isn't at all aligned with the fender. Instead, align the bumper with the fender on both corners, then climb under and tighten the bolts down.
Should take probably 30 minutes or so to put back together.
Wheels
Oh, yeah... Minor detail... Put the wheels back on and torque the lug nuts to 87 ft-lbs (118 Nm) or 88 ft-lbs (120 Nm). I found both specs. They're very close, but if anybody knows which it's supposed to be, let me know and I'll delete the incorrect one.
Part Installed
Center Bumper Grille
Mfg Part #51117893062
ECS Part #ES#74878
http://www.ecstuning.com/ES74878/
Part I Wish I'd Had
Mfg Part #51117893066
ECS Part #ES#74879
http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/51117893066/ES74879/
Feel free to post here if you have questions. I'll try to back-fill with a few additional photos as soon as possible.
Cheers,
SC