shorttough

I googled for installation instructions, pretty much all of them said you had to remove the bumper and I wasn't comfortable taking the whole bumper off because i wasn't sure how the bumper would look as far as realignment goes.

I am pretty amateur as far DIY goes. but i just jumped on it after i received the grill from eBay.

I was very suprised to find out, that there are about 10 screws that holds it to the bumper!!! pretty much overkill IMO.

Tools Needed was:
25 Torx
a small rotating ranch
and a bottle of water to get myself going.





my tools. i couldn't see where the screws were, so i used my fingers to feel the center of the screws, and positioned the torx to fit in them with my other hand.





4 screws on left. the top two screws are the most difficult to get to, i spent about 15 mins on the top 4 screws





4 screws on right





2 in the center





prep for spraying the silver plastic





sprayed with Rustoleum Black paint





took it back to Home Depot for a refund.





i jused used 6 screws while installing the mesh. since the top 4 were just too difficult to reach.





the price i paid for being careless while removing the OEM grill. Will have to drive by a bodyshop, see if they can just scrub it and paint it to perfection.

simonaitch

OUCH !!

shorttough

yea...i was trying to wiggle it out hard thinking i've removed all the 8 screws, after some resistance i realized there were some additional screws.and the edge of OEM grill also happened to be little bit inside the bumper. should have been more gentle.

Worldwidebeagle

I strongly disagree, WHAT you should have done is taken the bumper cover off. Its an easy job and there are even youtube videos and ecs has a detailed instruction manual. I have taken over two C7s, easy and gives you a chance to see what's behind there and clean if necessary. And you have no chance to disfigure the front bumper

IMHO you are nuts not to use all the fastener positions. Do you think Audi added them for fun? Do you think Audi would have used all the fasteners if they were not needed? That Audi would spend unnecessary money. I am glad you are more competent that the German Audi engineers to determine what is over kill.

The gouge in your bumper will be a living testament to your ingenuity.

shorttough

To say it was easier for you, hence it should be easy for everyone is an incorrect statement. Like i said amateurs like myself might not be comfortable taking the whole bumper off like you've suggested. In fact there are lots ppl who've done it without taking the bumper off flawlessly.

I agree that scratch would have never happened if i had known there were 10 screws holding a plastic ABS not 6 or 8 like every forums mentioned. I don't think there is any engineering advantage it would have containing 10 or 100 fasteners as opposed to 6.

Kinematic study would yield that, mesh attached to the vehicle's trim would be exerted inward pressure from the air resistance outside and sideways, which is in the same direction that the fasteners are trying to pull. On that basis, i'd say 10 fasteners were just an overkill.

jkwelsh

Hi WWB,

I have looked online for an A7 bumper removal guide, and have never found anything that gives me the confidence to undertake the job. The closest video I have found is a Japanese/Korean example undertaken on a white A7, however its not particularly helpful.

Could you post a link to the videos/instruction manual you mentioned?

Thanks,
JW.

a7ubercoupe

I simply paid $140 for a real body shop to remove the bumper and install. I drive an A7, I can afford a couple hundred extra dollars.

I would be a little concerned with fewer screws on the front grille assembly. Hopefully yours won't rattle..

a7ubercoupe

you're obviously more competent in your mechanical skills than I am. Good luck with the HR springs. Is your A7 stock or sport suspension now?

shorttough

i'm on my non-sports suspension. hopefully with eibach i'll get the 1.2" drop like everyone is saying. keeping fingers crossed.

tph4m86

i tried to follow this writeup, which left out alot of details. There are 2 holes on the top of the grill and 2 on the bottom that also need to be taken out. You can see this when you look at the mounting holes on the aftermarket grill.

Also, I'm not sure if its specific to the grill I bought but I have 3 mounting holes behind the Audi rings. They dont match up to anything... so I can even use them to to tighten down the middle.