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Front Bumper Removal for Dummies (Warning: Lots of Pictures)

72403 Views 39 Replies 29 Participants Last post by  deuce01
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I know some of you have taken your front bumper off so many times you could do it in your sleep, but for the rest of us it can be pretty daunting the first time around. The first time I pulled mine off about a year ago I had gotten some good descriptions on this forum of how to do it. Since this happened to be the third time I’ve had to pull mine, I'm going to try to return the favor with pictures of the process.

First of all, why would you need to remove your bumper? The reasons that come to mind include:
1) Replacing the bumper with a new OEM one because you tore yours (that’s my story this time)
2) Replacing the OEM bumper with an aftermarket kit
3) Retrofitting xenon headlights

These instructions should be good for 430 and 55’s with the AMG body kits; it may be a little different for 320’s but still should be applicable. By the way, I need to say that I accept no responsibility if your call falls apart, falls on you, or flies to pieces at 120mph.)



1. Raise the car – Put the front of the car up on jack stands. I used a forward suspension joint for jacking up the car and put the stands on the side jack points right below the plastic cover on the side skirt.





2. Remove spoiler divider bar – If you are still lucky enough to still have your divider splitter (also called a bumper joint cover), remove it by pulling straight forward.



Remember to zip-tie it in place once you reinstall it.





3. Remove the external temperature sensor – Push it in while gently twisting.





4. Remove side marker lights – Using a butterknife wrapped in a soft cloth, pry up at the back end while sliding the light forward. If you have painted side lights like mine, make sure you have a Mercedes touch-up paint pen handy as some paint always seems to chip off here. Push the bulb and socket inside the bumper.





5. Remove splash guards - Crawl under the car and unscrew the screws holding the right and left splash shields in place, and remove the shields. I don’t have good pictures of this but if you can’t figure it out, get out from under the car immediately!





6. Remove fender well rivets and screws – The bumper is attached to the fender and fender well guard in two or three places. The first is the bolt; simply remove it. You may have a rotating clip near here as well; if so turn it 90 degrees and pull it out.



The last place is a plastic rivet from the fender well to the bumper. If you can pull the center pin out (or push it out from behind), do it. If not, cut it out and get a new one from the dealer for 50 cents.





7. Disconnect fog lights – Gently prying with a small screwdriver while pulling the plugs apart makes this easier.





8. Remove corner screws – Reach up inside the bumper near the corners and right behind the side marker light you will find a long zinc-colored screw. Remove it. (Be careful when reinserting it as it supposed to cut into the fender sheet metal but yet is itself housed in a brittle plastic mount.)





9. Remove headlight bolts – There are two on each side. Be careful not to over-tighten these on reassembly as you can break the front headlight mounting tabs.





10. Remove the radiator guard – With a Philips screwdriver twist the clips no more than 90 degrees, then pull the guard straight up about an inch, than out towards you.





11. Remove main nuts – These nuts in front of the radiator are all that hold the bumper on now. The one on the right side of the car (your left) is especially tough to get to.



You can make more room by removing the screw holding the cooler conduit, and gently pulling the conduit away from the radiator while working on the nut.





12. Pull off bumper! – Once these nuts are off, pull the bumper straight forward and off the car. Crack open yet another beer.





13. Reassemble in reverse order.


I’ll post some photos of my bumper swap later. Getting the bumper off was easy, getting the new one on was not thanks to the evil mounting brackets...
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Nice writeup Splib.
Same for 320 except for the divider bar. Good thing is after a couple times, you don't even need to jack it up and you can just feel those fender bolts and pull them with a socket extension.
Spoiler Divider Bar or Bumper Joint Cover

Where can you get this replacement part? Please don't tell me you have to order a whole new bumper...I bet thats the case. I can see it snapped in all three places...
mjwaldrop said:
Where can you get this replacement part? Please don't tell me you have to order a whole new bumper...I bet thats the case. I can see it snapped in all three places...
You can get the joint cover bar from the dealer. It's part number A2088850022 and you'll need to get it painted. It's a 10 second job to install it too. But when you say you can "see it snapped" it makes me think that the three vertical support bars on the bumper are broken (as was the case on mine), and if that is the case you are in for a new bumper or at least significant bumper repair.
Awesome write up, great detail!!! nice work.
Step-byStep pix guide

Hi Splib,

I wanted to thank you for the post.

All,

I wanted to invite everyone who does their own repairs to follow Splibs approach. Take pix of "for dummies" topics and post on the forum. For example, can someone post pix on how to tighten the rear view mirror? I still haven't figured it out...
Thanks for taking the time to post this. It's just in time as my front bumper is busted up and I need to change it. As a matter of fact, if anybody has a front OEM bumper for sale (2000 CLK 430), then I'd like to know about it!

I'm also an advocate of plenty of pics 'for dummies'.
Fuck superman, Your may hero!!!! /Q
Wow, that is an AWESOME write up. Good job!

By the way, I can't really see, but where exactly are the points where the jacks go? And you can lift the whole car safely on the control arm?
splib said:
You can get the joint cover bar from the dealer. It's part number A2088850022 and you'll need to get it painted. It's a 10 second job to install it too. But when you say you can "see it snapped" it makes me think that the three vertical support bars on the bumper are broken (as was the case on mine), and if that is the case you are in for a new bumper or at least significant bumper repair.
The center vertical bar is busted on mine... I really want to replace the bumper at this point (there is some serious scratching on the bottom left too), but have no idea where to go to buy one or what part number I should be looking for.

Any pointers? Its a 2002 (W208) CLK55 AMG Cab.

Also, assuming they don't come pre-painted, how do I get one painted in the same color as the car? That is, how do I even know the specific car color besides the fact that it's black, is there a code or something?
lightnng said:
The center vertical bar is busted on mine... I really want to replace the bumper at this point (there is some serious scratching on the bottom left too), but have no idea where to go to buy one or what part number I should be looking for.
Somebody recommended www.jjbumpers.com to me (then somebody else chimed in and verified a good experience with this company). Go there and look for their 2006 Catalog. When you open the catalog, (it's actually an Excel spreadsheet imbedded in a webpage) go to line/cell numbered 5264. 4 choices. AMG, AMG w/headlight holes, OEM, and OEM w/headlight holes. Click on the 'stock' numbers and you'll see pictures. I BELIEVE THE PICTURES ARE BACKWARDS! In other words, the ones that say 'AMG', if you click on the stock number, it shows a pic of an OEM bumper and vice versa. I'm sure a simple phone call would straighten that out. Others...please feel free to go to this site and verify the pictures and the descriptions! I'd like to know if I'm trippin or not!

The AMG ones are $560 and the OEM ones are $320. They list the 'front reinf (crossmember)' for $128. I'm pretty sure this is the horizontal piece in the middle. Mine may be salvagable. Keep me posted because we both have Black Cabs :thumbsup:
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mjwaldrop said:
Where can you get this replacement part? Please don't tell me you have to order a whole new bumper...I bet thats the case. I can see it snapped in all three places...
Maybe you should try jjbumpers.com too (see my previous post). I think you're talking about the crossmember piece? It's $128 @ jj's......
Thanks for the feedback guys. Now seven months after I did that job, my new bumper is cracked up too. Replacing/repairing these AMG bumpers is getting old!:(

str8ridin said:
By the way, I can't really see, but where exactly are the points where the jacks go? And you can lift the whole car safely on the control arm?
I struggled with this for awhile. If you put the jack on the side jack points you have no place to put the jack stands once the car is lifted. The strongest point seemed to be right where the control arms tie into the chassis near the firewall, and I have lifted the car there numerous times, but this is exactly why I put that disclaimer at the front of the write-up about if the car falls on you. :)
Thank you for the excellent work on this post! Saved me hassle of paying someone else to do it.
sweeeeeeeeeeeet!!!! nice.....tuning clks for dummies!
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