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      05-02-2012, 08:52 PM   #1
stactum
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Drives: 340i xDrive M-Sport
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Sussex, WI USA

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How to remove kidney grille on F25 for painting

Hi guys,

So after about two weeks with my 2013 X3 I wasn't fully satisfied with black grille they changed for 2013 figured that to buy 2 would cost me about $210 (in US) so I decided to paint it. There are few good guides on how to remove kidney grille, but none for X3 F25 so while I used other guides to remove it I decided to create one.

This is what it looks in black:


Some other guides:
X1 Guide
X3 short overview
Another informative guide

Tools I used:
Angle tool
Multiple small screwdrivers
Torx T30

Paint:
Rust-oleum Universal Metallic Dark Steel (picked from 4 different colors)

Note: I don't have jetwashers so in case you do, please refer to a guide above for X1, but explains what to do with jetwashers.

1. Start by removing rubber that covers screw heads - you just pull it towards the engine and it comes out. It's not glued or anything.
Then use T30 torx to remove 6 screws from the top of the bumper.




2. To remove the grille you have carefully pull the bumper towards you and use long screwdriver to unlock the clips that holding grille. I did it in the order shown on the picture. After you unlocked 1-5 use right angle tool to unlock 6-8. It can be somewhat tricky and it's the hardest part of the whole process, but it took me about 10 minutes to remove both grilles.



3. After you popped them out it's time to take black inserts from the frame. There are few steps I took in order to do that.


Since there are quite a few locks it's been very heplful for me to use small screwdrivers and some tools to keep them unlocked.



After I did that it was easy to unlock it from the bottom and remove black inserts.



4. I tried multiple paints on some ground anchors just to see which one will look better on the grille.



I picked Rust Oleum Universal Metallic Dark Steel



And painted both grilles. I added probably 5 layers or so. I figured, it's easier to add multiple thin layers than one thick. Also, have some Goo Gone and paper towel handy in case you have some places with thicker paint. Just softly remove it from the grille, make sure not to rub too hard, otherwise you'll see imperfections later.



I let it dry for a few hours and after I could touch it I got inserts in the frame (easy, just pop them inside) and insert grilles inside the bumper (just like you saw in Megafactories).

So here are some final results:







Thanks for reading, I hope it was helpful!

Last edited by stactum; 05-02-2012 at 10:22 PM..
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