E53 FACELIFT BUMPER REMOVAL

x555 · Post by **x555** » Sat Jul 31, 2010 4:48 pm

Thought i would add a contribution to the new forum so i have re done the bumper removal how too and hopefully i have got all the pics in the right places as it has been a while since i did this now.

E53 facelift front bumper removal.

I had the bumper off again today for the third and hopefully final time. So I thought I would do a how too for others should they need to replace the grilles or pdc sensors etc.
Hope this is of some help to others.

There are two 8mm bolts either side of the fan

And approximately five 8mm bolts underneath IIRC. Then there are two 10mm bolts on the angle just above the lower grill here...

Also two 10mm bolts behind the plastic inserts either side of the number plate. Remove these with a small flat headed screwdriver or better still a plastic trim removal tool.

A further two 10mm bolts are behind the fog light inserts. Remove as above

Place a box or something under the bumper to support it when removing, the bumper can then be eased away from the car by pulling the furthest point of the bumper out from itâ€™s retaining clips on the wing (I eased mine out slowly)

Be careful only to pull the bumper away only three or four inches as you then need to unplug the fog light switches hereâ€¦..

At this point you can remove the grilles or PDC sensor by easing the bumper out and resting it on the support below

If you wish to take the bumper off completely you need to unplug both fog light switches and also the PDC sensor switch located on the left hand side (facing the bonnet)

The last thing to remove is the washer fluid hose from the reservoir to the headlight washer jets *GET A BUCKET* This can be pulled apart here to be drained off enough to stop the washer fluid flowing out

This can obviously be done in a different order to how I did it, just make sure you support the bumper from below when undoing the last bolts. Also donâ€™t pull the washer fluid hose apart whilst holding the bumper without having a bucket to handâ€¦.like I did You tend to get wet feet! Lol!

The grilles, incidentally, slide to one side to be taken out - be careful as they are very brittle when cold, as I found out the hard way L. The plastic hooks on the grilles push into the slots and slide across to lock into place

The top grilles slide apart to be taken off and together, to be put back on. Use the thick plastic end to push/pull them to either side

Just take your time and with limited DIY skills itâ€™s quite possible to do. It took me about 3-4 hours the first time being unsure, but by the third time I had the bumper off, grilles replaced and back on in about an hour

HTH

phiggystardust · Post by **phiggystardust** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 10:10 pm

hi x555 and all
great write up , but can anyone elaborate on what holds the bumper closest to the wheelarch, does it pull out off clips? or slide forward etc?
p.s mine is a pre facelift, reason i ask my bumper is not siting quite right seems to be sitting lower on one side as if it has come away from somewhere
cheers

x555 · Post by **x555** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 10:36 am

Hi mate i'm not sure about the pre facelift but i presume it's the same and the furthest part (pointy bit)of the bumper just pushes in to the wing part and is held by two plastic retaining clips iirc.
So maybe yours has just poped out???

pvw10 · Post by **pvw10** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 5:44 pm

Bloomin brilliant post cheers !

Had mine off today to replace a parking sensor, you made my day so thanks.

You any good with women also as always getting "Ducati or X5 Grief" :O)

X5Sport · Post by **X5Sport** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 6:16 pm

Great write-up..

A couple of questions.

I need to replace the grilles on SWMBO's as it looks like stones have punched holes in them (why, oh why did BMW not use metal!?). Are they expensive and can they be bought separately or is it a set?

Secondly, can you use a petrol pipe clamp off tool to prevent screenwash flooding the workshop?

Finally, do you have to remove the headlight units, or did you remove yours as part of another fix/mod job you were doing?

x555 · Post by **x555** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 8:46 pm

Glad the link is of some use

makes the write up worth while.

@ X5sport.... Q1 ... I bought mine all together from a member on here as they were the 4.8i black ones which i wanted but yes iirc they can be purchased seperately though not cheap for bits of plastic

Q2 i shouldn't see why not as it is only a rubber hose....Why didn't i think of that

Q3 No you don't have to remove the headlight.i can'r remember why i did now but i must have been doing another job....yes another job

Now my question to you sir..... is it only the top grilles? if so then these can be replaced without the need to take the bumper off as they slide to the centre to release.I took the bumper off as i was replacing the lower grill aswell and also a pdc sensor at the same time.

Raj · Post by **Raj** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 9:13 pm

Great write-up. I've had my bumper off about 4 times so far...lol. Always forget to take pics and write it up though.

You forgot to mention the wheel arch retaining screws too.

And yes you can buy the grilles individually.

x555 · Post by **x555** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 7:41 am

[quote=""Raj""]You forgot to mention the wheel arch retaining screws too.

And yes you can buy the grilles individually.[/quote]

I didn't forget fella ....they don't need to be undone to take the bumper off

.....i actually did do this and take pics in my original post on the last forum but later realised that they don't affect the bumper coming off lol so edited the post without the pics.

X5Sport · Post by **X5Sport** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 10:41 am

[quote=""x555""]Now my question to you sir..... is it only the top grilles? if so then these can be replaced without the need to take the bumper off as they slide to the centre to release.I took the bumper off as i was replacing the lower grill aswell and also a pdc sensor at the same time.[/quote]

It is indeed both top grilles. I'll have a closer look to see how easy it is to get my big paws in the hole...

Raj - thanks for the confirmation about not having to buy all of them.

Richard

x555 · Post by **x555** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 5:38 pm

As said i have not taken the top grilles of without removing the bumper myself buy i know it can be done as Alfamale did it on the old forum and also iirc i think Roy2593 did his not long back see here viewtopic.php?f=8&t=923&p=9969#p9969
My advise as i said to Roy was be carefull especially with the cold weather as they are pretty brittle/flimsy things....good luck

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 11:35 am

I need to replace the two top grille sections of the bumper - did you get your replacement parts from BMW or somewhere else? (Mine are the silver/grey ones) I'm struggling to find them online.

x555 · Post by **x555** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 6:07 pm

[quote=""Pete""]I need to replace the two top grille sections of the bumper - did you get your replacement parts from BMW or somewhere else? (Mine are the silver/grey ones) I'm struggling to find them online.[/quote]
I got mine from a member selling some on here and was lucky as i wanted to change to black and thats what he had for sale

Also the black ones are a lot cheaper than the titanium

you can get them from the stealers online such as cooper bmw or cotswalds deliver as well if you don't want a trip to the dealer.

Get the part numbers from real oem example here.... http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=15&hl=28

and then paste and copy into coopers etc to get the price like here..... http://www.cooper-bmw-parts.co.uk/index ... virtuemart

HTH hell of a price for some bits of plastic mind

.

x555 · Post by **x555** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 6:14 pm

[quote=""x555""][quote=""Raj""]You forgot to mention the wheel arch retaining screws too.

And yes you can buy the grilles individually.[/quote]

I didn't forget fella ....they don't need to be undone to take the bumper off

.....i actually did do this and take pics in my original post on the last forum but later realised that they don't affect the bumper coming off lol so edited the post without the pics.[/quote]

My apologies Raj

i took the bumper off again the other night to do a pdc job and realized when i did that you meant the lower 8mm hex head screws (two either side

) which do infact need to come off to release the bumper.

I was on about the two 10mm bolts up behind the wheel arch that i initially took off first time but then realised that i didn't need to.

these two here...

Sanj · Post by **Sanj** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 8:13 pm

[quote=""x555""]My apologies Raj

i took the bumper off again the other night to do a pdc job and realized when i did that you meant the lower 8mm hex head screws (two either side

) which do infact need to come off to release the bumper.[/quote]

Amateur!

jeegnesh · Post by **jeegnesh** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 9:59 pm

Forgot to add a magnifying glass to view pictures. Else very nice I'll make sure I point Sanj to this if my bumper needs to come off for some reason.

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