REMOVING REAR BUMPER FASCIA: Instructions w/pics

[underactive]

To read the original full thread and post questions/comments on this topic, please go to HOW-TO: Remove the rear bumper fascia



My right rear bumper cap had to be replaced after gouging it at the stupid dimly-lit and cramped parking garage near my work. I ordered a replacement cap from Matt at trdsource.com (sweet discount!). I was expecting it to be unpainted which would require taking it to the body shop for them to color match and install. I was pleasantly surprised when I received the part to find it pre-painted! Armed with my shiny new painted bumper cap, I decided to do this myself and take pics along the way... Hope this helps others out there who need to do the same. I would rate this a notch above the horn mod as far as difficulty goes. It's way easy.

1. Apply tape to the painted body panels just below the rear taillights. This will protect from any scratches if the side panel goes astray while removing the bumper fascia (called "bumper" from here on).

2. At the bottom of the bumper, remove the 2 screws, found near the splash guards

2a. If you have parking assist, near the screws you just removed, you'll see the connectors for the parking sensors. Press in the tab and pull away to remove them. Mine were kinda crufty with dirt, so this took some effort to remove. Be careful not to pull on the wires themselves.

3. Also at the bottom of the bumper, remove 2 bolts. You'll see more bolts there. The ones you want to remove are the ones that are attached to metal tabs on the (real) metal bumper -- not the bolts holding the silver hitch panel to the bumper fascia.

4. Open the rear door and remove the 5 bolts along the top of the bumper.

5. Remove the push clip on the inside part of the bumper panel. Just pull the inside part of the clip out, and then pull the entire clip out.


6. All that's left is to unsnap each side of the bumper. Each side is held in by 4 clips. 3 along the top edge (type A), and 1 near the wheel well (type B). Pulling from the bottom edge of the bumper (where the bottom screw was) gave enough leverage to pop out the first clip near the wheel well. From here, that opened up a big enough gap to run my fingers up to the top. Just pull the panel out to unseat the clips. There will be a lot of resistance and it might feel like it's going to break, but it won't. Repeat for the other side of the bumper.




7. Carefully remove the bumper and place it on the ground. It is okay to laugh at the piece of styrofoam sitting on top of the real bumper.


8. The bumper cap is held in by 5 clips. Just press in the tabs and pull them out.

8a. If you have parking assist, there will be one more clip you will need to remove. Use pliers to squeeze in the top part of the clip and pull it out from the bottom.


9. The bumper cap is now free to remove and replace

10. Follow these steps in reverse. Once you're complete, admire the work you just did and the money you saved by doing this yourself. Go buy your lady something nice.

[underactive]

My right rear bumper cap had to be replaced after gouging it at the stupid dimly-lit and cramped parking garage near my work. I ordered a replacement cap from Matt at trdsource.com (sweet discount!). I was expecting it to be unpainted which would require taking it to the body shop for them to color match and install. I was pleasantly surprised when I received the part to find it pre-painted! Armed with my shiny new painted bumper cap, I decided to do this myself and take pics along the way... Hope this helps others out there who need to do the same. I would rate this a notch above the horn mod as far as difficulty goes. It's way easy.

1. Apply tape to the painted body panels just below the rear taillights. This will protect from any scratches if the side panel goes astray while removing the bumper fascia (called "bumper" from here on).

2. At the bottom of the bumper, remove the 2 screws, found near the splash guards

2a. If you have parking assist, near the screws you just removed, you'll see the connectors for the parking sensors. Press in the tab and pull away to remove them. Mine were kinda crufty with dirt, so this took some effort to remove. Be careful not to pull on the wires themselves.

3. Also at the bottom of the bumper, remove 2 bolts. You'll see more bolts there. The ones you want to remove are the ones that are attached to metal tabs on the (real) metal bumper -- not the bolts holding the silver hitch panel to the bumper fascia.

4. Open the rear door and remove the 5 bolts along the top of the bumper.

5. Remove the push clip on the inside part of the bumper panel. Just pull the inside part of the clip out, and then pull the entire clip out.


6. All that's left is to unsnap each side of the bumper. Each side is held in by 4 clips. 3 along the top edge (type A), and 1 near the wheel well (type B). Pulling from the bottom edge of the bumper (where the bottom screw was) gave enough leverage to pop out the first clip near the wheel well. From here, that opened up a big enough gap to run my fingers up to the top. Just pull the panel out to unseat the clips. There will be a lot of resistance and it might feel like it's going to break, but it won't. Repeat for the other side of the bumper.




7. Carefully remove the bumper and place it on the ground. It is okay to laugh at the piece of styrofoam sitting on top of the real bumper.


8. The bumper cap is held in by 5 clips. Just press in the tabs and pull them out.

8a. If you have parking assist, there will be one more clip you will need to remove. Use pliers to squeeze in the top part of the clip and pull it out from the bottom.


9. The bumper cap is now free to remove and replace

10. Follow these steps in reverse. Once you're complete, admire the work you just did and the money you saved by doing this yourself. Go buy your lady something nice.

[BMThiker]

I would EMPHASIZE that in step 6, you lift UP first and then away on the fascia of the bumper. If you try to simply pull straight out, you WILL break some of the top row clips (pictured as A in orig post). Lifting up on the fascia helps raise the catches above the retaining clips as you pull away from the body. Once you pop the single button clip from behind the wheel well area (pictured as B in orig post), you should be able to see the top row of clips holding the top edge. You will see what I mean then.

[Swingshiftworker]

I just replaced my rear bumper cover with these instructions and I'd like to point a couple things out:

1) It is not mentioned that the "bracket" holding in the bumper on each side at Point B in the 1st photo in Paragraph 6 of Message #1 in this thread is attached to the bumper cover w/double-sided adhesive tape and needs to be removed and reinstalled, if you are installing a NEW bumper.

This "problem" forced me to run down to the local Ace Hardware to buy some double-sided WATERPROOF exterior mounting tape, that I've used before in an automotive installation, which I used to reinstall the brackets after using WD-40 to scrape off the old tape. I then washed off the WD-40, attached the tape to the brackets and properly repositioned the brackets onto the bumper. After that: I closed the rear door, laid the new bumper on top of the "real" rear bumper and then, starting on the left (driver's) side - slid the left bracket into the button (towards the front of the car) at Point B and then snapped in the 3 clips at Point A above. Then did the same on the right (passenger side) and then reinstalled the 5 bolts across the top and the 2 bolts and 2 screws below.

2) Note that the bracket mentioned above slides HORIZONTALLY into the retaining "button" which is installed in the metal fender under the bumper cover. So, when you are REMOVING the old bumper, you should NOT pull outwards or upwards on Point B. When you do this, it can pull the retaining button out of the fender and/or damage it. What you should do is FIRST lossen the 3 clips each noted as Point A in the same photo mentioned above and then pull straight back towards the rear of the vehicle (not outwards to the side) so that the bumper will side backwards out of the button.

3) If you have backup sensors, also note that there is a sensor clip on each side of the bumper near the mudflap that has to be disconnected (and reconnected) and that: i) there is a senor wire clip attached to the bottom clip of the silver bumper cap on each side of the bumper that has to be removed BEFORE the bumper cap can be removed, ii) that there's another sensor wire clip attached to the reflector on each side that cannot be removed until the reflector is removed and iii) that the sensors themselves can be removed ONLY after sliding out a large HORIZONTALLY mounted clip (outwards towards the side of the bumper cover), which holds each sensor onto the bumper cover -- just use a small screw driver to loosen the clip from the sensor.

4) Lastly, it's a good idea to remove your license plate and license plate cover to avoid it hanging up on the bumper (as happened to me) when you try to remove or reposition the bumper.

None of these things were previously mentioned. It's otherwise an easy installation and, except for the problem w/the brackets, it would have taken me less than an 1 hour to do. As it was, it took me 2 hours and 30-40 mins of that was the time it took me drive to the hardware store to buy the double-sided tape and another 30 minutes to scrape off the old tape and attach the new tape to the brackets. So, you'll save alot of time if you have the double-sided tape on hand before you start.