Hi again,
Well, if you have good DIY skills, it's feasible. I wouldn't say it's easy, but it's not 'hard'. It only takes time!
The main thing to pay attention, is to protect the main bumper part where this trim is clipped onto to avoid addtional scratches.
I used masking tape normally used for painting (~2" large one) to avoid any scracth upon removal or intallation...
You'll also need Torx T25 screwdriver and a set of plastic tools such as these ones:
Having a close look to the new trim will
help you locating the clipping tabs. Nevertheless, I remember needing to remove several screws to have a better access to the old trim, from the rear side of the bumper.
The screws I removed were :
- On the front lower end of the wheel arch, since they hold it onto the bumper
- On the undertray under the engine
Removing the undertray is necessary to acces the lower part of the trim. But the tabs which really made me sweat were those on the "upper lip" of the trim... That's why I removed partially the wheel arch. Maybe I had to unclip the front grill close to the trim too. I can't remeber precisely. It was in may or june last year.
Once the old trim is off. putting the new trim back in place is not very hard, but it takes time again, because these tabs are quite stiff and it's not easy to clip them. The "C" shape of the trim also makes the operation a bit complexe. It's not: You start on one end, clip one tab one after the other until you reach the other end and that's done... No. The 3D shape of the trim makes it a bit harder.
You have to be patient, moan, scratch your hands, moan, push hard, moan, remove 'cause it's not the right way, moan again, try another way, push hard to clip, scratch your hand again... swear... cause one tab doesn't want to clip and make an awful bump or gap along the bumper or the front grill. Try again, moan, push hard... and... finally you succeed in getting it done and your
Formentor looks as it should!
Note: You'll also moan a lot during removal of the old trim
...
Don't forget to put all screws on the wheel arch and undertray back in place, and to remove marking tape.
The complete operation took me something like 60 to 90mn. Yeah It's long! But it's the price to pay if you don't want to get additional scrates on your bumper...
One last tip would be to do it your garage if you have one, because winter temperatures will make the trim even stiffer. and hence the operation even more harder. I did it with a 20-25°C temp and it was quite hard...
But I'm sure you'll fix it!
Good luck!
seatdirectparts.co.uk
