I just did this, open the hood and in front you will see a black rubber weather strip, if you push back (I think) it comes off. Under the strip there are around 5 bolts that need to be removed, once you have done this you can pull the front bumper away from the car enough to get behind the grill and push the tabs in to remove them from the bumper. I used a long flat head so not to scratch up my arms.

Once you get one of the grills out then you can reach through the opening and push the tabs for the other grill.

Hope that makes sense.

 

It is not always necessary to remove the front bumper slightly, or remove those screws ACG mentioned. I believe the only reason to do so is if you absolutely cannot fit your fingers through the front grills. I have installed and uninstalled a few times and have never removed the screws mentioned above.

Good luck with the install.

 

Front Grills
1. Pop the hood
2. Pull off (remove) the rubber strip that runs across the bottom of the engine bay (closest to the front grills)
3. Unlatch the tabs that you will see after you take off the rubber piece. It should be a total of 3 top clips. Just press them in and push them out a little so they stay depressed. Then depress the bottom clips, there are only two clips on the bottom of the grille. Push them out just a little as well. Now there is 1 clip on the left side and 1 clip left on the right side of the grille, so unlatch them. Once they are unlatched pull the grille out. If it doesn't come out, check the clips and keep trying. You will need to fit your hands in between the fins for the first grille removal. The second grille removal is much easier as you can reach across and see while removing the clips.
4. To reinstall, align the grille properly (align the clips) and then press in until they are all latched.
5. Reinstall the rubber trim piece.

Side Gills
1. Grab a hold of the side gill and push downwards from the top while slightly pulling.. you will be removing the gill at a angle.
2. Reinstall the opposite way. Insert the side gill in a way where the top makes contact then push it in (again it installs at an angle)

Here, in this image you can tell where the clips are. This photo is from RPI's Ram Air Intake Scoop DIY (Race Precision).
TOP = THREE CLIPS
L SIDE = ONE CLIP
R SIDE = ONE CLIP
BOTTOM = TWO CLIPS

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If you search, I am sure you can find more photos. This is the best I can explain it using just words and the above photo showing the clip locations. The front grills are somewhat tricky.. OEM is easy to get off compared to having to remove aftermarket. I always break aftermarket grills when removing them. Unless they are a quality OEM part, then they are rather hard to break when installing/uninstalling. The side gills are much easier to remove and install.

 

True but I could in no way get to the tabs without removing the bolts for the bumper, honestly I did try before ruining my hands and calling it a night the first time ??????

 

Ok thanks guys. My first attempt failed. I gave up when I failed tp remove the front grills. But I'll try again.

 

It really is easy. There is no need to remove the screms that attach the front bumber - you need to do that to get the headlight assembly out, but for the removal and install of the kidneys.

I bought some matte black kidneys from Trinity Autosports (great guys and excellent service) and removed the chrome ones and installed the matte black ones in about 10 minutes.

Side gills are easy - I just inserted a broad knife covered in painters tape between the gill and the car body and then pulled it out. The gills came out easily.

 

I just replaced my kidney grills today and I also had to remove the 5 star bolts under the weather stripping to get the four tabs on the bottom (x2) and side (x2) to unlatch. I could certainly reach them through the grill, but I was unable to put enough pressure on the tabs to get them to unlatch. By removing the 5 star bolts and pulling the front bumper away a few inches, I was able to reach in and use a small/short screwdriver to put enough pressure on the tabs (like you did with the top 3) to unlatch them. Also, in my experience it was much easier to unlatch the side tabs immediately after the top three tabs, then move on to the bottom two tabs last.

 

I also had to remove the bolts and pull the bumper forward. I couldn't get the tabs released without doing that.

 

Blast from the past thread LOL

 

LOL this was eons ago! When I just got my car!

 

Subscribed

 

I found out that the easiest and safest way to remove the kidney grills is to remove the front bumper first:tonquesmilie:. Granted it will take more work to remove the front bumper . Or you can follow what the other guys are suggesting. Regarding the side grills, I used two old credit cards and slide each card in between the grill and fender and then pull the grill straight out.:thumbsup:

 

+1.. on the kidneys. take little more time but the front bumper is very easy to take out. Plus you will not break any clips and you will save your hands. For someone not having pulled a bumper or not comfortable i guess slightly removing the top screws on the bumper to reach in or reach in through the kidneys may work but it is very hard to get at the clips.

 

Posted this a while back...

Made a quick, short vid for you on how I removed them with two ID cards. I had to use two hands to pull up and out, but could not record and do so at the same time as I was alone, but you'll get the picture... Hope it helps and good luck! :M5thumbs:

YouTube - ‪How to remove e60 M5 side vent‬‏

 

Awesome. Adding to DIY sticky.

 

do you push the bottom clips down or pull them up?

 

Pull them up.

 

just removed mine.. managed to break one clip.. oh well, i have black ones on order..

also removed tons of debris from in front of the radiator, old leaves and such

 

I had small enough hands to put it through the grill (I I I) and uncliped it that way.

Tough, but worked out. I would not want to do it again those, cause the new ABS plastic ones seem a lot more stiffer then the OEM clip.

 

Despite the DIY threads, I personally struggled removing the grills without breaking some of the tabs until I tried this tool to push the clips through the grill openings.
I made the job really easy.

 

Taking out the kidneys should not be trivialized. This was not easy and some of these posted instructions are not detailed enough. The weather stripping is attached to a plastic piece that should be pulled up to reveal the screws mentioned. I did this, but it is not an end all to getting the kidneys out. Pulling this part of the bumper away does not really provide much room (maybe 1.5"), but enough to get a long screw driver wedged to pop one or two tabs. I still had to get a finger in the grill to release one of the side tabs. This was a real pain. When I put it back together I may lubricate the tabs in hopes of it being easier next time. I don't want to do the bumper thing again.

I will say that removing the weather stripping and plastic piece allowed me to clean an area that probably never sees soap and water. Also, once you get your kidneys out you have access to the pocket in front of the radiator that collects a ton of debris. I vacuumed this out.

Chris

 

I did the fender grilles last night, and there's no need to mess with getting your hand behind the fender... all you need is one of these:

It's called a "bone tool" or a "trim tool". Wedge that under the fender badging and pry outwards, the piece will come right out, and you won't damage the paint.

and it took me literally 45 seconds to remove the OE ones and install the all black ones.


For the kidney grills, I got the bottom two tabs to release by depressing the tabs, then just pull straight out, the grill comes right out. It seems like you're pulling pretty hard, but I didn't do any damage to the OE grilles or the bumper mounting areas.

and x2 on what Chris said, you'll be amazed how much dust and leaves you can get rid of in front of the radiator.

HTH.

 

Sorry to bring this back form the dead but how do you depress the bottom tabs with a tool like this if your sticking that down but have to pull the bottom up.

 

/\

post link to where you buy such a tool. thnx

 

Crutchfield has one for 5.99

I'm sure there's other places online too, that was the first one I found. It's a great tool to have for removing overhead lights, and other various trim pieces without damaging them.

 

Old credit cards/gift cards do the trick also


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

 

Old credit cards/gift cards do the trick also


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

That worked for me as well.

 

what about for the kidney grill is there any other household tools i can use to take it out? I tried like hell with my hands but cant push the bottom clips up. Once i push them up a little do i pull hard?

 

I used a short stubby flat head screw driver, about 2" long, handle and all. Removed top five bumper screws, bit down and shoved my hand down in there. held the screw driver in my fingers and pulled up towards my thumb which was resting on the top of the tabs. I am referring to the lower and side tabs on the kidneys, seeing as the top tabs are pretty easy. And as stated before, the first grill is the only hard one, once thats out, theres plenty of room to reach behind the the other. My .02

 

wow old thread
anyone want to sell me their oem grills? please message me.