# Front Bumper Remove & Replace and Grille Change



## brittan (May 18, 2007)

I decided to change the grille on my RS to the all black version so the bumper had to come off first.

To start the car was jacked up at the front, safely supported and the front wheels removed. It doesn't have to be very high off the ground, just sufficient to get at the fasteners under the lower part of the bumper.

First the panel surrounding the bonnet release handle must be removed. First the handle: press in the tab on the back and it simply pulls off.
WARNING: Do not shut the bonnet after performing this step! Obvious of course but . . . . . 









Remove the locking pins from the 6 fasteners at the front of the plastic panel and then the outer part of the fasteners. A trim tool works ok for this. The panel then lifts straight off noting that it clips into the sloping parts of the bumper just inboard of the headlights. By Audi standards, these clips are weak. At this stage I put the bonnet release back on. Note the top two securing bolts with the green dots.

















Underneath remove 3 torx bolts (centre bolt only shown) securing the rear edge of the central closing panel between the bumper and the undertray. Also remove 2 torx bolts per side where the bumper is secured to the small undertray parts just ahead of the wheels. 
These two pictures were taken with the camera looking straight up.

















Under the wheel arches now to remove the 12 securing screws for the front half of the liner. The object is to access the bolt securing the bumper to wing joint. There's a single bolt at the rear of that joint and it is visible in a small cut out in the liner. You may be able to get away with removing fewer than the 12 screws but make sure you remove the ones attaching the liner to the bumper. If you have headlight washers the hose connection to the bumper is on the LH side; peel back the liner for access. (Sorfry, first pic rotated 90 deg)

















Pull the bumper outwards where it joins the wing so it looks like this. You can see the hole for the single securing bolt.









On the LH side you can find the plug that connects the bumper loom; unplug it. On the RS there's a radiator in the way so that comes later. (Sorry, pic rotated 90 deg)









Now prepare the area to accept the bumper. As the car is raised up a bit I positioned two 125mm high wheel ramps in front of the bumper and covered them with a blanket. Release the top two securing bolts noted earlier and pull the bumper gently forward. Watch out for the prong/spike on the crash sensor at the top of the grille. You need to lift the bumper slightly to let it clear the lip of the aluminium crash bar. Remember that when replacing the bumper too. If you haven't unplugged the bumper loom plug it will appear on the LH side below the headlamp as you remove the bumper. Set the bumper somewhere safe. I put it on another blanket in the garage. 









Once the bumper is off it's clear that when the bumper is pre-assembled at the factory, the grille is the first item to be fitted. I've previously done a grille change on the Mk2 RS and that was quite easy - this was not. 
First remove the crash sensor and its wire at top/centre of the grill. Then remove the small sections of polystyrene, one either side of the lower part of the grille. I found that squeezing the clips with long-nosed pliers worked well. 









Release the pressure tube from the upper polystyrene section and remove the polystyrene. DO NOT disconnect or damage the fluid filled tube. It's the sensor that triggers the bonnet hinge pyrotechnic devices. Also remove the lower section of polystyrene; the clips can be twisted slightly with pliers to remove and reuse them.

















Next remove the two parking sensors and move their wires out of the way. Then remove the upper support section for the grill. The torx screws are obvious, as are the 13 one-way clips on the blank part. I found that with long-nosed pliers I could grip the side of the clips, pull them away from the centre blade and then off quite easily. Just give them a squeeze before re-using them. The upper corners of the grill are behind the bumper support section below the headlamps. That section must be released; one screw and some of those arrow head clips. 









Clearing the lower part of the grille was the bit I found most awkward. First remove all the obvious screws and the remove the centre closing plate on the underside of the bumper. That exposes two hidden bolts (silver heads in the pic) that must also be removed. The centre section including the centre 'splitter' can now be eased over their arrow head clips to provide enough clearance to ease the lower edge of the grille off its own clips. If that sounds awkward that's good - - it was!

















Reassembly is simply the reverse, as per the best workshop manuals. The front got a bit of a clean up to remove the dead insects and the intercooler got a coat of paint. 









From the front the brake calipers look enormous: (Sorry, another rotated pic)









Replace the bumper, it's quite easy without assistance, watch out for the crash sensor, put all the fasteners back in loosely before starting to tighten them, push the bumper/wing joint back into place and secure with that single fastener. Replace the bonnet handle surround and the handle. Check that it still operates the bonnet catches! 
Sort out the wheels arch liners and replace the wheels. Admire handiwork. 8)


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## Cale262 (Aug 18, 2017)

great write up, helped me even with the pictures gone...the only part that threw me for a loop was removing the hood latch handle...so here' a few pictures of that for the next person.










You just push the little button on the backside of the lever and it pulls straight up.










The button was a little sticky so I used a seal pick to push it back and it pushed straight on again with a click.


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## Omychron (Sep 9, 2016)

Thanks for the rehost!


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## rizo9 (Jun 16, 2016)

You don't need to remove the arch liners. You can disconnect the washer hose for the headlights by pulling arch liner away. And when you put t back on you can do it just with the bumper off still slightly.

I took mine off and put on without taking the wheels off which certainly speeds up the job.

I reckon with the right tools it would take 15-20minutes.

The worst bit I'd removing the grille from the bumper. That takes longer than taking the bumper off.


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## brittan (May 18, 2007)

rizo9 said:


> You don't need to remove the arch liners. You can disconnect the washer hose for the headlights by pulling arch liner away. And when you put t back on you can do it just with the bumper off still slightly.
> 
> I took mine off and put on without taking the wheels off which certainly speeds up the job.
> 
> ...


The words say that you only need to remove some of the screws for the arch liners. I did some other work at the same time which needed the liners off completely and hence wheels off. Lifting the car enabled easy identification of the right screws underneath to undo and gave me room to take the pictures.

Removing the bumper was easy but it takes a bit longer when you stop to take pictures at each step. :wink:

I did mention that removing the grille from the bumper was difficult! Absolute pig of a job. Oh for the simple screws on the MK2 grille.


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## Gh0sty (Sep 7, 2017)

Hey gang,

I did this today, got to the point of taking the bumper off to the floor, then got all the internals out - to the point of trying to get the grill off the bumper. I can't for the life of me get the grill out, held fast in the assembly, am I missing something here - any help would be great! I ended up putting it all back together - to have another crack at it tomorrow


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## farazh1985 (Mar 28, 2019)

Great write up, even without the pictures and being a complete car noob having never even taking a wheel off (ha!) I managed to do this, thank you so much.

Just for anyone looking to do this I didn't remove the wheels, didn't even need to disconnect the spike/prong cable or other cables, only the washer hose (and curled it up towards the wing so it didn't leak) and you only need to remove the 3 outermost torx screws from the arch liners to get at everything. The whole bumper must come off to remove the grill and when it does just roll it over onto its front and keep it close to the car, there is enough space to work.

The grill I found comes off easiest from the top corner clips (nearest to the headlights) first, then all the clips on the bottom, then the clips on the side and eventually pops out. When replacing I slotted the new grill in place roughly first, then fastened the clips on the bottom, then the sides and finally the top.

Took me about 2 hours though!


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## deckard242 (May 27, 2019)

Am just looking for a grill to replace mine, on a boggo standard 07 2.0 tfsi.

Did the change the fitting change at all? I'm looking on ebay and don't want to buy the wrong one.

Thanks

Also, I'm really happy to swap the grill I have now, if anyone wants it. it's a black one, no logo, no chrome at all. I don't think it is an Audi oem grill.


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## DPG (Dec 7, 2005)

I think the RS grill only fits the RS bumper on the MK3.

You might be ok as yours is a MK2 and I think they are a straight fit.


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## PJ. (Dec 12, 2018)

I am going to remove the number plate holder off an RS grill this weekend. Any tips on how they are attached other than the 4 bolts I can see ?


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## point7 (Mar 4, 2016)

i was looking for a front bumper removal , but i want to see the pictures , not just the tekst . [smiley=bigcry.gif]


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## Gh0sty (Sep 7, 2017)

i did it with just the text, just take your time, you'll be fine, on every part of the job, just take a quick look at that you need to do first. the hardest part is getting the grill out, if you have trim tools, it'll halve the time - i only had a screwdriver and some pliers


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## point7 (Mar 4, 2016)

yes but im not englisch , and reading it and then do is more difficult for me, because some things i will not understand probably.
im planing to remove it and replace it with a full RS style bumper.


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## Gh0sty (Sep 7, 2017)

Brittan might not be around anymore, and Photobucket trashed all the hosting/ links some time ago - try searching on the other audi platform forums, i've been toying with making a video on it, but havent had the time!


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## czarny666 (Dec 10, 2019)

Can you post photos again?


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## ross_t_boss (Feb 28, 2017)

Gh0sty said:


> Brittan might not be around anymore


But his legacy lives on!! His old Neuspeed wheels are on my car


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## djkoopa (Jun 30, 2016)

Did this recently myself, absolute pig of a job! 2 notes - I couldn't get the bonnet release handle off no matter how hard I tried, ended up just working around it, and the front bumper was a complete pain in the arse to get back on and lined up properly. I ended up just fitting a couple of screws to hold it on, I'll have another go at getting it back on properly when the weather is a bit nicer!


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## kevin#34 (Jan 8, 2019)

going to replace my grill soon, couldn't find any tutorial on the tube, just some hints from this topic since the pics are gone [smiley=bigcry.gif]

any additional suggestion?


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## Erty (Nov 26, 2016)

Send me a PM on Audipassion.


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## kevin#34 (Jan 8, 2019)

ok, thanks


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## Theo (Sep 29, 2020)

Any chance to find the missing photos?


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## dk206 (5 mo ago)

+1 :S


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## Alan W (Oct 8, 2007)

This video may help:

*Audi TT mk3 bumper removal and grill install*

Alan W


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