DIY: Front Bumper Removal

[THE TECH]

Originally Posted by snowmants

Just a few tips from someone who just removed his bumper and headlights:
-Bumper removal is pretty easy and straight forward if you follow the PDF instructions posted above. Don't be afraid to remove more screws from the fender liner than those instructions tell you to. I found it made things easier.
-Make sure you take the front wheels off first.
-Have a "torx 30" bit that fits on your socket wrench. Craftsman makes them and I got one at sears for my 3/8" drive socket wrench.
-when removing the headlights remove the headlight bracket that each of the headlights sit on. It will allow you to remove the headlights without having to try and remove the one almost impossible to get to screw that is directly under the headlight and connects it to the headlight bracket. It took me 2 hours to get that bolt out on the first headlight I did. On the second one I noticed I could just remove the whole bracket with the headlight and it took like 10 minutes instead!

Nice tips!

[snowmants]

More info on removing headlights can be found here:
http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=453194

[blackmist222777]

awesome tips guys... gunna give it a go on my ride myself.. just bumper replacement. fingers crossed

[whywhys]

Originally Posted by snowmants

Just a few tips from someone who just removed his bumper and headlights:
-Bumper removal is pretty easy and straight forward if you follow the PDF instructions posted above. Don't be afraid to remove more screws from the fender liner than those instructions tell you to. I found it made things easier.
-Make sure you take the front wheels off first.
-Have a "torx 30" bit that fits on your socket wrench. Craftsman makes them and I got one at sears for my 3/8" drive socket wrench.
-when removing the headlights remove the headlight bracket that each of the headlights sit on. It will allow you to remove the headlights without having to try and remove the one almost impossible to get to screw that is directly under the headlight and connects it to the headlight bracket. It took me 2 hours to get that bolt out on the first headlight I did. On the second one I noticed I could just remove the whole bracket with the headlight and it took like 10 minutes instead!

Thanks this helped me a lot!!!!

[snowmants]

Originally Posted by whywhys

Thanks this helped me a lot!!!!

You're welcome!

[AlpineE92M3]

Thanks for the post!

[Lorde]

Originally Posted by mdernst

The same document as above but in English.

Mike

Originally Posted by gatorfast

There is a slight gap between the bumper and headlights as well as where the top of the bumper meets the hood. Any suggestions on how to fix this without removing the whole bumper and putting it back on?

I was looking for a fix for this as well, the PDF attached to mdernst's above post references fixing the bumper height/fitment adjustments in another guide. Were you able to fix the gap between the bumper cover and hood? I have more sag on one side than the other and it's driving me nuts.

[rAdzM]

Originally Posted by snowmants

Just a few tips from someone who just removed his bumper and headlights:
-Bumper removal is pretty easy and straight forward if you follow the PDF instructions posted above. Don't be afraid to remove more screws from the fender liner than those instructions tell you to. I found it made things easier.
-Make sure you take the front wheels off first.
-Have a "torx 30" bit that fits on your socket wrench. Craftsman makes them and I got one at sears for my 3/8" drive socket wrench.
-when removing the headlights remove the headlight bracket that each of the headlights sit on. It will allow you to remove the headlights without having to try and remove the one almost impossible to get to screw that is directly under the headlight and connects it to the headlight bracket. It took me 2 hours to get that bolt out on the first headlight I did. On the second one I noticed I could just remove the whole bracket with the headlight and it took like 10 minutes instead!

thanks to this post! I find everything so much easier when I completely removed the fender liner.

[Wei718]

For those of you that has a front lip installed with their oem screws covered by the lip and want to remove the bumper without removing the lip there is a way. You remove the bumper with the lip and whole undertray altogether that way you don't need to detach your lip and having have to get it installed again. I find this method much easier rather than removing everything piece by piece.

Remove both wheels
Remove both fender liners
Remove 4 8mm screws 2 on each end of bumper
Remove the 3 10mm bolts on the undertray
Unhook both cable supporting the undertray
Remove 4 torx screws on top of bumper

[phrozen06]

nice

[tkordy]

Helped me get a stuck screw driver out