E90 LCI Trunk Swap Tips?

[Lorde]

Hey everyone, finally have my LCI trunk and am looking for tips those who have swapped trunks might have as far as the process for pulling off the trunk wiring and getting the damn thing off the hinges. I want to take pictures as I do it to create a full DIY.

Here is what I have come up with so far for the process:

1. Remove trunk lid lining and emergency release handle, bag contents for safekeeping.

2. Remove license plate, pop off LED license plate lights, pop off trunk release handle.

3. Label all wiring before disconnecting wires. (left inner tail light, right inner tail light, trunk release, wiring to license plate lights.

4. Disconnect all wires and pull through the trunk hole (bottom right side near grommet). Best way to get off the little black push fastners that are one directional? What did everyone do with the trunk key hole? Does it need to come off or is there a wire to disconnect and that's it?

5. How the hell do you remove the trunk bumper grommets (left and right of the trunk latch)?

6. Remove the trunk from the brackets. I have the right size TORX driver, but the damn things are torqued down amazingly well. Probably looking at a ratchet for this job + PB Blaster. Anything needed to protect the car? I am assuming loosening the trunk brackets one at a time. I have an idea to "hold up" the trunk as an extra pair of hands while I unscrew the bolts. Probably want to put down plenty of padding on the rear window/below the brackets in case the lid gets away from me.

7. Suspend new trunk for mounting onto trunk hinges. Re-torque, anyone have the spec?

8. Swap all components over to new lid, with correct wiring order on the inner tail lamps. Test lights, replace license plate, and all trunk liner trim.

9. Get lights coded.

[mdefalco25]

Just out of curiosity, don't they make LCI light upgrades without doing the trunk swap anymore or is that just for the e92s?

[THE TECH]

Originally Posted by mdefalco25

Just out of curiosity, don't they make LCI light upgrades without doing the trunk swap anymore or is that just for the e92s?

E90 requires the trunk lid to be changed.

[THE TECH]

Originally Posted by Snig

Hey everyone, finally have my LCI trunk and am looking for tips those who have swapped trunks might have as far as the process for pulling off the trunk wiring and getting the damn thing off the hinges. I want to take pictures as I do it to create a full DIY.

Here is what I have come up with so far for the process:

1. Remove trunk lid lining and emergency release handle, bag contents for safekeeping.

2. Remove license plate, pop off LED license plate lights, pop off trunk release handle.

3. Label all wiring before disconnecting wires. (left inner tail light, right inner tail light, trunk release, wiring to license plate lights.

4. Disconnect all wires and pull through the trunk hole (bottom right side near grommet). Best way to get off the little black push fastners that are one directional? What did everyone do with the trunk key hole? Does it need to come off or is there a wire to disconnect and that's it?

5. How the hell do you remove the trunk bumper grommets (left and right of the trunk latch)?

6. Remove the trunk from the brackets. I have the right size TORX driver, but the damn things are torqued down amazingly well. Probably looking at a ratchet for this job + PB Blaster. Anything needed to protect the car? I am assuming loosening the trunk brackets one at a time. I have an idea to "hold up" the trunk as an extra pair of hands while I unscrew the bolts. Probably want to put down plenty of padding on the rear window/below the brackets in case the lid gets away from me.

7. Suspend new trunk for mounting onto trunk hinges. Re-torque, anyone have the spec?

8. Swap all components over to new lid, with correct wiring order on the inner tail lamps. Test lights, replace license plate, and all trunk liner trim.

9. Get lights coded.

Nicely done.

It's a straightforward swap and just takes some patience.

[mdefalco25]

Thanks for the clarification. That's too bad. Sorry for thread jacking.

[Lorde]

Originally Posted by THE TECH

Nicely done.

It's a straightforward swap and just takes some patience.

Yeah, I actually found an install thread for a Carbon Fiber Trunk install, but was a little short on details.

Just waiting on a few parts then will take pics as I install. Started to gather the correct tools for the job and put a little PB blaster on there to loosen up the trunk bolts. Should be straight forward, looks simple now that i've seen where everything goes and have been practicing removing the license plate lights, trunk release, etc...

[AlteredBe4st]

Been contemplating doing this swap aswell. Where did you buy the trunk lid and LCI lights from?

[Lorde]

Originally Posted by lenzm3edan

Been contemplating doing this swap aswell. Where did you buy the trunk lid and LCI lights from?

Painted Trunk - IND
LCI Lights - Tischer

[nmehta211]

Care to share prices? Good luck in your swap.

[BVL]

looking forward for the DIY with pic

[BIU]

Keep an eye out at the junkyards... you may be lucky finding a salvaged end