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DIY: Rear Bumper Removal Coupe (UK 2000)

97K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  impactblue573 
#1 ·
Car : E46 Coupe (UK)
Year : 2000

Tools/Items Required

Flat head screwdriver
Torx T50 tool
Rag to use with screwdriver
A sheet to place the removed bumper on.
The car was not jacked up and wheels did no have to be removed to take off the bumper.

Figure A


The bumper was held on by two T50 bolts at the rear of the bumper (see fig.B and fig.D).
A clip on each wheel arch (see fig.G and fig.H) and a plug at the bottom of each wheel well (see fig.K).

Figure B


The B1 strip needs to be removed to allow access to the T50 bolts holding the bumper at the rear.
Different methods to get this strip off, but I found it easiest to remove the rectangular plastic cover at the bottom of the car towards the rear see B2. It's held on with 4 plugs (see fig.K). Then I unhooked one side of the strip from the interior of the bumper, by squeezing my hand in and then prized it out from one side to the other. It's not difficult. Some people don't bother removing the plastic cover under the car and magae to prize the strip off using a screwdriver. I guess if your changing bumpers then your not exactly going to be bothered about a few dents or scratches on the old strip as you take it off.
The two T50 bolts are roughly in positions B3 and B4, so once the strip is off (see fig.C), you can use the L shaped Torx tool to unscrew the bolts. Once loosened I managed to unscrew the remainder by hand.
The bolts drop down, but you can't fully take them out, because the bottom of the bumper is in the way.
It's a tight squeeze to pull them out and I had to pull on the bumper where the strip was removed to squeeze the bolts out. The bumper is a little loose now and only held on by a sort of clip on the top of the wheel arch and a plug at the bottom of the wheel arch, so be careful. I did everything on my own, but it's handy having someone else to help.

Figure C


Figure D


Figure E


Figure F


Figure G


Figure H


As you can see in figures G and H, there is a sort of clip holding the bumper at the top corner where it meets the wheel arch (G1 and H1). I firstly removed the plug at the inside bottom of the wheel arch on both sides (G3 and H3). Then I squeezed out the black rubbery wheel arch (G2 and H2) from under the edge of the bumper, where the bumper meets the wheel arch to on top of the bumper edge. Once done, I used the flat head screwdriver with some cloth on the end to try and avoid scratches on the body work to push down and in VERY carefuly to sort of unhook the bumper. Did the same on the other side. This bit is very tricky so be careful. Once unhooked on both sides, I just pulled the bumper off the car from the rear.

The whole process took approximitally 15 minutes.

Figure I


Figure J


Figure K
 
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#7 · (Edited)
#9 ·
Those stupid nuts that are part of the rear support like to break loose and spin in place, then your in trouble. You'll have to remove the rub strip from the bumper, cut a hole underneath and squeeze in a pair of channel locks to hold the nut so the bumper can be removed. You can't see the hole, but it's still a pain. Ask me how I know... Ugh.
 
#10 · (Edited)
#11 ·
Attempted to remove my pre facelift coupe bumper this way and ran into the issue of the bumper getting in the way of the torx bolts coming out. Didnt want to force it and scratch the bumper.

I ended up removing some of the expanding rivets attaching the crash bar to the bumper to allow the bumper to be manouvres enough to slide the torx bolt on the inner side of the bumper.

Hope this helps!
 
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