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AlterZgo · 05-09-2015, 02:03 PM

OK, I just added the black IND painted grill surrounds last night. I have wrenched on my cars for decades installing full stereo systems, coilovers, intakes, exhausts, etc. This fucking grill removal was one of the biggest PITA installs I've done. Took me 2 hours and bruised the shit out of my hands. BUT, knowing what I know now, it should only take me 15 minutes max. Here are some key points:

1. Use torx 30 and 25. The 27 will work but may strip the 6 main screws. Go with torx 30 on the 6 main screws and 25 on the two smaller screws on the far left and far right. There are 8 total screws that need to be removed, not 6.

2. Unclipping the clips is a PITA. Look at your IND painted surround kit. It came with a set of extra F32 vertical grills. The clips that attach the grill surround to the bumper are actually NOT on the grill surround but on the vertical grill slats. So you need to look at the F32 vertical grill slats to see where the eight clips are that you need to unclip to remove the grill assembly from the bumper. There are 3 clips on top, 3 on bottom and one on each side.

3. The clips/tabs all unlatch by pushing inward towards the center of the grill. If you are looking at the grill surround straight on from the front of the car, the top tab/clips push down, and the bottom clips push up to unclip. The left clip you push in from left to right and the right clip, you push in from the right side towards the left.

4. Again, looking at the F32 vertical grills that came w/ your IND kit, check out the clips/tabs. You will see that you need to push the middle portion of the clip/tab down to release the clip/tab from the bumper.

5. BIGGEST KEY - get comfortable pulling the top of the bumper cover forward. I kept worrying about damaging something so I didn't pull the cover forward enough and that totally jacked my hands up b/c there wasn't enough clearance as I crammed my hand/arm in under the top of the bumper cover. After an hour of struggling, I pulled the top of the bumper cover way forward so my whole arm could fit and that was when I was finally able to access all the clips. Took literally seconds to undo each clip at that point.

6. For the clips on the bottom of the grill, you need to jam your arm all the way down btw the top of the bumper and radiator support. I tried to access it from the sides, through the slats, etc. Just could not unlatch the clip until I crammed my whole arm down the top. Once I did this, which required pulling the top of the unbolted bumper forward for sufficient space, I was able to EASILY unclip the clips along the bottom of the grill.

7. For the clips on the outside or the grill immediately adjacent to the headlights, there are some VERY sharp corners there that will rip your hand up if you're not careful. These side clips are obscured by a rubber flap. Push the flap back towards the middle of the car and you will see the clip right next to the headlights.

8. As others mentioned, once you have one grill out, it is super easy to remove the other grill by reaching through the super big grill opening in the bumper. No need to go through from the top like with the first one.

As I was struggling to get the first grill out, I kept wondering how the hell do people just pop the grill off in seconds? Once I figured out the trick of jamming your whole arm down through the top, it became evidently clear. The bumper is urethane and super flexible. The paint has flex agents added so the paint won't crack or anything. Go ahead and pull on the top of the bumper, jam your arm in there and your grill removal will be SUPER easy.

Finally, when you are reinstalling the grill slats back into the grill surround, make sure you go all the way around to check and see that all the clips are engaged. You need to make sure they are to avoid rattling. When I rechecked, I noticed one of my clips were not engaged and I had to push a bit harder to pop it in. Glad I rechecked first before I reinstalled the grill assembly back into the front bumper.

This is definitely doable for anybody that has some patience. Hope this helps and good luck!

05-09-2015, 02:03 PM	#64
AlterZgo Lieutenant Colonel 1538 Rep 1,665 Posts Drives: 23 X3 M40i, 21 911S, 24 Taycan Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Gilbert, AZ iTrader: (0)	OK, I just added the black IND painted grill surrounds last night. I have wrenched on my cars for decades installing full stereo systems, coilovers, intakes, exhausts, etc. This fucking grill removal was one of the biggest PITA installs I've done. Took me 2 hours and bruised the shit out of my hands. BUT, knowing what I know now, it should only take me 15 minutes max. Here are some key points: 1. Use torx 30 and 25. The 27 will work but may strip the 6 main screws. Go with torx 30 on the 6 main screws and 25 on the two smaller screws on the far left and far right. There are 8 total screws that need to be removed, not 6. 2. Unclipping the clips is a PITA. Look at your IND painted surround kit. It came with a set of extra F32 vertical grills. The clips that attach the grill surround to the bumper are actually NOT on the grill surround but on the vertical grill slats. So you need to look at the F32 vertical grill slats to see where the eight clips are that you need to unclip to remove the grill assembly from the bumper. There are 3 clips on top, 3 on bottom and one on each side. 3. The clips/tabs all unlatch by pushing inward towards the center of the grill. If you are looking at the grill surround straight on from the front of the car, the top tab/clips push down, and the bottom clips push up to unclip. The left clip you push in from left to right and the right clip, you push in from the right side towards the left. 4. Again, looking at the F32 vertical grills that came w/ your IND kit, check out the clips/tabs. You will see that you need to push the middle portion of the clip/tab down to release the clip/tab from the bumper. 5. BIGGEST KEY - get comfortable pulling the top of the bumper cover forward. I kept worrying about damaging something so I didn't pull the cover forward enough and that totally jacked my hands up b/c there wasn't enough clearance as I crammed my hand/arm in under the top of the bumper cover. After an hour of struggling, I pulled the top of the bumper cover way forward so my whole arm could fit and that was when I was finally able to access all the clips. Took literally seconds to undo each clip at that point. 6. For the clips on the bottom of the grill, you need to jam your arm all the way down btw the top of the bumper and radiator support. I tried to access it from the sides, through the slats, etc. Just could not unlatch the clip until I crammed my whole arm down the top. Once I did this, which required pulling the top of the unbolted bumper forward for sufficient space, I was able to EASILY unclip the clips along the bottom of the grill. 7. For the clips on the outside or the grill immediately adjacent to the headlights, there are some VERY sharp corners there that will rip your hand up if you're not careful. These side clips are obscured by a rubber flap. Push the flap back towards the middle of the car and you will see the clip right next to the headlights. 8. As others mentioned, once you have one grill out, it is super easy to remove the other grill by reaching through the super big grill opening in the bumper. No need to go through from the top like with the first one. As I was struggling to get the first grill out, I kept wondering how the hell do people just pop the grill off in seconds? Once I figured out the trick of jamming your whole arm down through the top, it became evidently clear. The bumper is urethane and super flexible. The paint has flex agents added so the paint won't crack or anything. Go ahead and pull on the top of the bumper, jam your arm in there and your grill removal will be SUPER easy. Finally, when you are reinstalling the grill slats back into the grill surround, make sure you go all the way around to check and see that all the clips are engaged. You need to make sure they are to avoid rattling. When I rechecked, I noticed one of my clips were not engaged and I had to push a bit harder to pop it in. Glad I rechecked first before I reinstalled the grill assembly back into the front bumper. This is definitely doable for anybody that has some patience. Hope this helps and good luck!
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