Quote:
Originally Posted by wdimagineer
Like most BMW's, they are an absolute pain in the arse. Nonetheless, they are removable with a little bit of work.
Attached is the official removal procedure. Good luck.
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Just wanted to chime in and say these instructions were perfect. I just did this today, and it took me less than 15 min.
For those who've read through this thread, you do
not need to undo the torx screws and mess with dissasembling that entire piece. Just follow these instructions carefully.
Here is all you'll need: a small plastic pry tool so you don't scratch the car when prying off the outer part, and a thin, relatively long flathead screwdriver, which will allow you to reach through the grill and unhook the clips:
Here's a closeup of my particular plastic pry tool, though any similar, sturdy plastic pry tool will do:
Now, you start by sliding in the pry tool in and slowly prying out the outer part of the grill piece:
You ONLY need to pry it open on top, do NOT pry it open on the bottom towards the ground.
Here are a few more shots of me having pried it open, and then pulling it gently away with my fingers (though not too hard):
This is as far/much as you need to pry open:
Then, you take your flathead screw driver, go in between the grills, and unhook the inner part of the grill from the car trim piece.
HERE IS WHAT'S CRITICAL TO KNOW:
There are a total of 6 clips holding the grill in. 2 on top, 2 on bottom, and one on each side. DO NOT attempt to unhook the bottom clips with the screwdriver, since you can't access/see them. They will remain hidden by the bottom part of the grill's outer piece.
You ONLY need to unclip the 2 top clips and the 2 side clips (1 on each side), and as you do so with the screwdriver, gently pull on the grill so that the clips you've unhooked stay out.
In the below photo I've circled the approximate location where each clip will be located on each of the 2 grills, which you'll need to unhook using the long thin flathead:
Here's a work in progress:
Once you're done unhooking the 4 clips for each grill, the entire grill (outer trim piece and inner grill part) is still attached to the bumper with the bottom 2 clips. What you need to do now is to grab the grill piece and slowly, gently, tilt the top of it towards you and pull the whole thing out AND up while tilting more. You're essentially pulling at a 45-degree or maybe 60-degree angle while prying it out, which will eventually cause the bottom clips to release, and voila, the whole kidney grill will just come right out.
The installation of the replacement grills is a no-brainer and takes less than 5 seconds each. Once you've aligned the correct one in the correct place, you just push them in, and you should feel all 6 clips engage on each one. Give them a gentle but firm tap on the edges with your palm if you want to be sure they're in.
Here's the finished product, which I just completed myself about 10 min ago:
Yes, I'm aware these aren't the M performance grills, I just thought the look of the bigger black grills looks cooler myself, so those are the ones I went with. BTW thanks to Ben
r33_RGSport for the grills.
Here's a shot of the whole car with the new black grills:
