Replacing F15/2016 BMW Kidney Grilles

[Carpe_BM]

So I noticed one of my grilles has a cracked blade so I ordered some black gloss kidney grilles. Other than what's on Youtube, is there anyone here who has DIY'd it and can walk me through it?

I am hoping I don't need to take apart those star nuts holding the bumper in place but let me know otherwise...

[JCF15X5]

2-second search and you would have known - https://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...ighlight=grill

[Carpe_BM]

oh fuckin save it..

[jiggz]

All the DIYs I found had those 5 torx screws being removed. You're not going to hurt anything removing them and it'll only take 30 seconds. It's the only way to access the clips that I'm aware of.

[CT335xi]

Originally Posted by Daceptak0n

So I noticed one of my grilles has a cracked blade so I ordered some black gloss kidney grilles. Other than what's on Youtube, is there anyone here who has DIY'd it and can walk me through it?

I am hoping I don't need to take apart those star nuts holding the bumper in place but let me know otherwise...

If you don’t plan on saving your old ones , just grab the old ones and yank they will come out and may break the tabs. Then just install the new ones, I ripped mine right out and though some tabs broke there was no damage to the bumper,
I just threw my old ones out.

[skoold2003]

Originally Posted by Daceptak0n

So I noticed one of my grilles has a cracked blade so I ordered some black gloss kidney grilles. Other than what's on Youtube, is there anyone here who has DIY'd it and can walk me through it?

I am hoping I don't need to take apart those star nuts holding the bumper in place but let me know otherwise...

I just did this and lost some of my skin in the process. You definitely have to take off the torx screws to pull the bumper cover back. Then you can reach down and access the clips. The top and sides were not bad but the bottoms are a bitch. I just squeeeezed my hand in and reached down.. was barely able to get them. Good luck and I hope you have small, trump like hands.

[Carpe_BM]

I have not able to remove it on my own without coming out unscathed. I'm going to visit some local body shops who can hopefully do it inexpensively and without damaging it like I basically could have...

[jiggz]

I'm not a good DIY'er and I figured out how to remove these pretty quickly, once I stopped to review the videos and get familiar with the clip locations (easy to do with your new ones in hand).

Once those torx screws are removed you can pull the bumper piece away from the vehicle and get access to all the clips. The top 2 barely even require you getting your hand behind there, just use a trim removal piece or screw driver to un-clip. The sides are next, and the bottoms are last - those were the hardest and require you to get your entire hand/wrist down inside to release. Once you have the first grill out, access to the 2nd is super easy. Good luck!

[Carpe_BM]

Originally Posted by jiggz

I'm not a good DIY'er and I figured out how to remove these pretty quickly, once I stopped to review the videos and get familiar with the clip locations (easy to do with your new ones in hand).

Once those torx screws are removed you can pull the bumper piece away from the vehicle and get access to all the clips. The top 2 barely even require you getting your hand behind there, just use a trim removal piece or screw driver to un-clip. The sides are next, and the bottoms are last - those were the hardest and require you to get your entire hand/wrist down inside to release. Once you have the first grill out, access to the 2nd is super easy. Good luck!

Interesting! Did you pull the entire bumper away or just give it some room for you to reach your hands in? Did you start with a specific grille first (left vs right)?

[jiggz]

Originally Posted by Daceptak0n

Interesting! Did you pull the entire bumper away or just give it some room for you to reach your hands in? Did you start with a specific grille first (left vs right)?

I only pulled it away enough to get the access I needed. I barely had to pull it away to get the top and side clips released. To get the bottom clips I had to pull it away a bit more to get my entire hand/wrist down inside, but once I did that I just released the bumper and let it press against my wrist, to allow the least amount of pressure on the bumper. Still, it's not going to break (I imagine it would eventually if you pulled hard enough, but no reason to do that).

Start with the left. I don't recall why but I saw that mentioned in several DIY videos/forum posts.

Edit - if you don't care about your stock grills & plan to trash them, you could always go about it like these idiots -

[-c-]

Actually all you need is a trim removal tool and just depress the clips from the outside. No broken tabs and no screw removal. They will just slip out.

[Carpe_BM]

Went to my local Tire Engineers spot where they did it for $20. Came out great and clean fitment...

[skoold2003]

Originally Posted by jiggz

I only pulled it away enough to get the access I needed. I barely had to pull it away to get the top and side clips released. To get the bottom clips I had to pull it away a bit more to get my entire hand/wrist down inside, but once I did that I just released the bumper and let it press against my wrist, to allow the least amount of pressure on the bumper. Still, it's not going to break (I imagine it would eventually if you pulled hard enough, but no reason to do that).

Start with the left. I don't recall why but I saw that mentioned in several DIY videos/forum posts.

Edit - if you don't care about your stock grills & plan to trash them, you could always go about it like these idiots -

If you don't have bolt cutters just use a sledgehammer. Or if that's too much work just run your X5 into a light pole. That will quickly and easily remove your old grills.