Front bumper cover removal. X350/8

[J44EAG]

Filled with my usual dread of corroded under-body fixings, I took a quick look at what is required to remove the front bumper cover on my 350R this morning.

I already have the large under engine tray removed from the car. Three clips and bolt fastenings join it along the front edge to the rear edge of a plastic infill panel to the lower front edge of the bumper cover. The front fastenings are small Torx dome head screws. Those are seized solid but can be sorted once the cover is off the car. It would be useful to get that panel off for future work on ARB clamps and parking sensors. When I removed the large under engine tray last year, I found all fastenings seized and unfit for further use. New fastenings have been sourced from ebay. Worth getting a pack if you intend any form of future under tray removal.

So with the rear edge of the bumper cover free, today I moved onto examining the fastenings that secure the front wheel arch liner to the rear of the bumper cover. A PZ2 type Phillips screw is present at the top rear edge of the cover. A lower Torx dome head machine screw secures the arch liner to the bumper cover. Steel to plastic in both cases so the fixings screwed out without issue. The location of these fixings are shown here.

Here is the PZ2 fastening on the upper bumper cover.

Here is the Torx fastening securing the arch liner to the bumper cover.

I understand that the rear edge of the cover must be given a sharp pull to allow it to part company with a clip type fastening fitted to the car. The grill is easily removed having removed the slam panel in front of the engine radiator. Two lift tangs in the headlamp area allow the top edge of the cover to part company from the car. I understand the cover can then slide forward and will separate from the car once various cable plugs have been separated.

Please add further details to this post if you have more detailed knowledge on how to remove the bumper cover.

I`m now awaiting decent weather before going in deep with ARB bush replacement, correcting a park sensor issue, overhauling the air suspension compressor, fitting a large inter-cooler pump and a bigger charge air cooler exchanger. All this work requires the cover to be off the car for a couple of days. Good weather makes the job rather more enjoyable than it would be with the rain going down the back of ones neck!

Mike