I need to get mine off for repairs. Any tips for removal?

 

A DIY manual is always helpful with this, just because it will show the location of all the connecting points. Im not too familiar with the X300, but when underneath it should be pretty self-explanatory. Its just helpful sometimes to know how many bolts to look for (Im guilty of spending hours looking for them).

One tip though is since you have a painted bumper, use some masking tape and tape the entire leading edge of the bumper and of the front of the car. This helps when it comes to removing it so you dont scratch your nice paint job

 

Remove the front under tray, if you still got one.

Unplug the 2 electrical connectors at each lower corner of the bumper.

Dislodge the guard lining as best you can, push and shove usually.

Along the lower ebge of the bumper are 2 largish holes with bolts inside, 19mm head size from memory, take these out, they are quite long, and may be seized, so anti seize on refit would be nice. They thread into an aluminium nut arrangement, so be CAREFUL.

Grab your mate, whatever, and slowly withdraw the bumper. I would suggest 2 people since its your first time, coz if it twists, it will crack the paint, and could scratch the car duco, as already stated.

Refit is the same as remove, but obviously in reverse.

 

But, Isuspect he is asking because the bolts are well known to corrode and freeze up. In that case, wiggle them and hope for the best!

 

Thanks for the advice guys. It came off fairly easily, although most of the little undertray bolts were gone and some muppet had gone wild with tiny little self tappers instead. Took me a while to locate all of these under the crud.

The only real problem was the brake cooling ducts.

EDIT:



There were three of the above rivit things connecting each duct to the bumper. Most of them had torn out of the plastic, but I had to cut the remaining ones. I'm going to replace them with a nut and bolt.

God, what a cheap and nasty way to fasten plastic - are those rivits even stock? It's hard to tell (as mentioned above, this bumper has already been 'fixed' by a DIY fiend of limited skill and dangerous enthusiasm...)

 

The rivets are supposedly there to be somewhay "sacrificial". They MIGHT break before the plastic.