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      03-06-2018, 05:42 AM   #1
Pjak
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Replacing lower M Grill on F25

First of all apologies if this has been discussed anywhere else... I did a general search but only found stuff on the kidney grills!

Anyway, I’ve damaged the lower M Grill on my 2017 X3 M Sport. Have located a replacement at a good price but wondering how on earth you fit it. Scoured YouTube and Google for hours but can’t find a definitive answer.

The bloke in BMW told me it should just slot in once the old one is removed. Anyone have any experiences with this that can help me out?

This is what I’m taking about...
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      03-06-2018, 10:19 AM   #2
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Hopefully the new grille will make it clear - i.e. you might find some bolt holes or something. It'd be nice to know ahead of time, but actually getting the new part should really help solve what needs to be done.

If you can get the front of the car off the ground a bit and look at it from behind you should be able to tell as well. You'll probably need to do that when it comes time to replace it anyhow.
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      03-06-2018, 06:28 PM   #3
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Tbh it look like it just slots on. I’ve not been able to find any instructions at all so I’m hoping this is the case. It has wings either side so I’m hoping these slot in and keep it securely in place.
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      04-14-2018, 12:07 AM   #4
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How did you get on with replacing the grille? Where did you get that diagram you posted? I am in the process of replacing my halogen fog lights to LED ones. Need to remove the bumper which is proving to be a bit of a headache
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      04-14-2018, 04:10 PM   #5
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diagrams

some fairly good ones on realoem.com
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      04-17-2018, 04:31 AM   #6
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Thanks I found the above diagram on the said website. Has anyone actually removed a front bumper on a motorsport spec X3? My problem is removing the 5 rivets in the wheel arch WITHOUT destroying them in the process so I can use them again
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      04-17-2018, 08:14 AM   #7
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If they're the plastic rivets, they might push backwards from above. Push the centerpiece through towards the ground first, and then the 2 arms should collapse towards each other so you can push it next.

It makes sense if you see one uninstalled.

And of course that might not work but it's how it works on any other car I've owned, haven't done much w/ the X3 yet.
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      04-17-2018, 11:24 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bambazonke View Post
Thanks I found the above diagram on the said website. Has anyone actually removed a front bumper on a motorsport spec X3? My problem is removing the 5 rivets in the wheel arch WITHOUT destroying them in the process so I can use them again
I just removed/reinstalled my bumper this past weekend and there's no way to reuse the rivets. To remove them, either use a punch and hammer to tap the center piece into the fender or use a drill. I found using the drill fastest and easiest. By nature, a rivet is secured by pulling the center piece toward you for it to fasten, so gripping it (if you could) to pull it out essentially is making it tighter.
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      04-17-2018, 11:26 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by chknlytle View Post
I just removed/reinstalled my bumper this past weekend and there's no way to reuse the rivets. To remove them, either use a punch and hammer to tap the center piece into the fender or use a drill. I found using the drill fastest and easiest. By nature, a rivet is secured by pulling the center piece toward you for it to fasten, so gripping it (if you could) to pull it out essentially is making it tighter.
Yes. They were used many years ago in the aircraft industry and are called "Pop Rivets".
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      04-17-2018, 11:27 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pjak View Post
First of all apologies if this has been discussed anywhere else... I did a general search but only found stuff on the kidney grills!

Anyway, I’ve damaged the lower M Grill on my 2017 X3 M Sport. Have located a replacement at a good price but wondering how on earth you fit it. Scoured YouTube and Google for hours but can’t find a definitive answer.

The bloke in BMW told me it should just slot in once the old one is removed. Anyone have any experiences with this that can help me out?

This is what I’m taking about...
The easiest way (and maybe only way) is to remove the bumper. There's a bunch of clips holding it in. I found out while removing my bumper. I accidentally pushed on it and some clips came undone.
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      04-17-2018, 12:56 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by Peter_R View Post
Yes. They were used many years ago in the aircraft industry and are called "Pop Rivets".
I wonder which way these are. Those are definitely a 1-way trip. A lot of panels seem to have the plastic re-usable ones. Maybe it's just the interior panels that do?

Randomly chosen google image as an example of 1 of many styles. Which we may or not have on our bumpers... but this is what I was thinking about if it helps.

(Thinking more, it's probably not this style, probably not durable enough for a bumper... but maybe)
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      04-29-2018, 04:56 AM   #12
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Started off removing the grille and ended up like this.........
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      05-11-2018, 11:16 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bambazonke View Post
How did you get on with replacing the grille? Where did you get that diagram you posted? I am in the process of replacing my halogen fog lights to LED ones. Need to remove the bumper which is proving to be a bit of a headache

Still haven’t got round to it. Not long after I posted this I *almost* traded it in for a C250 AMG Line Coupé. But the Merc dealer offered me the most insulting price for my X3 so I left it.

Having seen all the posts above, I don’t know if I’ll even bother now, it looks too complicated

The diagram was from a google search btw.
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      05-11-2018, 06:31 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pjak View Post
Still haven't got round to it. Not long after I posted this I *almost* traded it in for a C250 AMG Line Coupé. But the Merc dealer offered me the most insulting price for my X3 so I left it.

Having seen all the posts above, I don't know if I'll even bother now, it looks too complicated

The diagram was from a google search btw.
I reckon in your case you should be able to break out the old damaged grille and push/clip in the replacement unit without removing the bumper
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      03-05-2020, 09:22 PM   #15
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Tried to do this today - Achieved massive success!

Attempted this today and thought I would share the process in hopes that it would help anyone needing to do this in future.

I was able to remove and install everything without removing the front bumper. This was my first time doing this (and hopefully last) so the whole process took about 3 hours lol... 95% of the time was spent actually trying to remove the original damaged grille. Installation of the new one was pretty easy.

New Center Lower Grille (OEM): $126.99 (CDN + Tax)
Part Number: 51-11-8-056-939

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      09-30-2020, 03:38 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by StyleBimma View Post
Attempted this today and thought I would share the process in hopes that it would help anyone needing to do this in future.

I was able to remove and install everything without removing the front bumper. This was my first time doing this (and hopefully last) so the whole process took about 3 hours lol... 95% of the time was spent actually trying to remove the original damaged grille. Installation of the new one was pretty easy.

New Center Lower Grille (OEM): $126.99 (CDN + Tax)
Part Number: 51-11-8-056-939

Cheers
Had an altercation with an owl a couple of months ago eventually got round to replacing the damaged grille. I managed to extract it "as is" like you said bottom tabs were a real PIA.

Replacement grille took a bit of time as well a bit of man handling the bumper edges to get it in. Thanks for the heads up on how to unclip the bumper tabs
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      09-30-2020, 10:17 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pjak View Post
First of all apologies if this has been discussed anywhere else... I did a general search but only found stuff on the kidney grills!

Anyway, I’ve damaged the lower M Grill on my 2017 X3 M Sport. Have located a replacement at a good price but wondering how on earth you fit it. Scoured YouTube and Google for hours but can’t find a definitive answer.

The bloke in BMW told me it should just slot in once the old one is removed. Anyone have any experiences with this that can help me out?

This is what I’m taking about...
You need to remove the bumper. There are tabs on the back of the bumper that slot into the plastic grille. They are very tough and you're probably going to have an easier time breaking the damaged grille to remove it.

Good news is that yes they just pop in and out.
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      09-30-2020, 04:16 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 6MT_Addict View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pjak View Post
First of all apologies if this has been discussed anywhere else... I did a general search but only found stuff on the kidney grills!

Anyway, I've damaged the lower M Grill on my 2017 X3 M Sport. Have located a replacement at a good price but wondering how on earth you fit it. Scoured YouTube and Google for hours but can't find a definitive answer.

The bloke in BMW told me it should just slot in once the old one is removed. Anyone have any experiences with this that can help me out?

This is what I'm taking about...
You need to remove the bumper. There are tabs on the back of the bumper that slot into the plastic grille. They are very tough and you're probably going to have an easier time breaking the damaged grille to remove it.

Good news is that yes they just pop in and out.
You do not need to remove the bumper to replace the lower grille. Believe me, it is a lot easier to pop the damaged one out and slide/wedge the new one in as described above by StyleBimma.
I have already removed my bumper twice once to to replace the halogen foglights with LED foglights as fitted standard in the F15 X5 and secondly a parking sensor that was dislodged when it took a direct hit from a stone i have already posted a photo of my bumper off from replacing the foglights on this thread.
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      09-30-2020, 05:28 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bambazonke View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by 6MT_Addict View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pjak View Post
First of all apologies if this has been discussed anywhere else... I did a general search but only found stuff on the kidney grills!

Anyway, I've damaged the lower M Grill on my 2017 X3 M Sport. Have located a replacement at a good price but wondering how on earth you fit it. Scoured YouTube and Google for hours but can't find a definitive answer.

The bloke in BMW told me it should just slot in once the old one is removed. Anyone have any experiences with this that can help me out?

This is what I'm taking about...
You need to remove the bumper. There are tabs on the back of the bumper that slot into the plastic grille. They are very tough and you're probably going to have an easier time breaking the damaged grille to remove it.

Good news is that yes they just pop in and out.
You do not need to remove the bumper to replace the lower grille. Believe me, it is a lot easier to pop the damaged one out and slide/wedge the new one in as described above by StyleBimma.
I have already removed my bumper twice once to to replace the halogen foglights with LED foglights as fitted standard in the F15 X5 and secondly a parking sensor that was dislodged when it took a direct hit from a stone i have already posted a photo of my bumper off from replacing the foglights on this thread.
Didn't realize this was such an old thread...

No I suppose not. I've had my bumper off and personally, having removed this grille to wrap my bumper, would not remove without taking off the bumper.

I found the clips to be difficult and the grille brittle. Without having rear access I imagine many would have broken.

Just my opinion.
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      10-01-2020, 08:06 AM   #20
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Originally Posted by 6MT_Addict View Post
Didn't realize this was such an old thread...

No I suppose not. I've had my bumper off and personally, having removed this grille to wrap my bumper, would not remove without taking off the bumper.

I found the clips to be difficult and the grille brittle. Without having rear access I imagine many would have broken.

Just my opinion.
I think that's mostly the consensus on removing the grill without first removing the bumper. All examples have been removing and replacing damaged grills.
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      10-01-2020, 08:11 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bambazonke View Post
You do not need to remove the bumper to replace the lower grille. Believe me, it is a lot easier to pop the damaged one out and slide/wedge the new one in as described above by StyleBimma.
I have already removed my bumper twice once to to replace the halogen foglights with LED foglights as fitted standard in the F15 X5 and secondly a parking sensor that was dislodged when it took a direct hit from a stone i have already posted a photo of my bumper off from replacing the foglights on this thread.
Were you successful in removing the front bumper and reusing the clips keeping it in place? I possibly have to replace a control module on one of my headlight and with the headlight in place, can't see anything. Would have to remove to get a better look inside. However, I think there are two clips underneath. Not sure how they're mounted if they're fastened through or slide in, but the bumper would have to be removed to get a better look. Woudl rather get a clear understanding of how things go together than break clips.
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      10-01-2020, 02:05 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mike_MAN View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bambazonke View Post
You do not need to remove the bumper to replace the lower grille. Believe me, it is a lot easier to pop the damaged one out and slide/wedge the new one in as described above by StyleBimma.
I have already removed my bumper twice once to to replace the halogen foglights with LED foglights as fitted standard in the F15 X5 and secondly a parking sensor that was dislodged when it took a direct hit from a stone i have already posted a photo of my bumper off from replacing the foglights on this thread.
Were you successful in removing the front bumper and reusing the clips keeping it in place? I possibly have to replace a control module on one of my headlight and with the headlight in place, can't see anything. Would have to remove to get a better look inside. However, I think there are two clips underneath. Not sure how they're mounted if they're fastened through or slide in, but the bumper would have to be removed to get a better look. Woudl rather get a clear understanding of how things go together than break clips.
To pull a headlight you have to at least loosen the bumper, unless there is some way to get at the bottom of the headlight reaching up through the wheel liner. But if you drop the liner it's only a few more bolts to release the bumper.

There's bolts on the side of the kidney grilles, and some connecting the bumper to fender.

The headlight is held in from the bottom with two bolts. I don't have a photo of the bracket but you can zoom in and should see where they connect.
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