M42club.com - Home of the BMW E30/E36 318i/iS
FAQ / REFERENCE => How-To's => Topic started by: e30Andym42 on April 15, 2008, 02:14:00 PM
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i am currently attempting to remove the front valence on my 318is, and i don't want to take out extra bolts, not to mention the fact that i can't seem to guess my way through it by looking at what bolts seem to need removal to get the thing off. i have the fog lights and brake cooling ducts out, and currently have 4 bolts out:
-the ones that connect the valence to the plastic shield in the wheel well
-the ones behind the brake cooling ducts
where do i go from here?
oh right, the lip was never on...so i dnt need to remove it, even if i didn't have to. the valence is dented and the lip broke off and is in the trunk.
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Looking at this picture (http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=AF93&mospid=47305&btnr=41_0134&hg=41&fg=10), it appears that there are loops of material that go over the bumper mounts...
I realize that's not what you wanted to hear...
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does that mean i have to take the bumper off?.....*sigh*....hmmm i only see 2...screw bolt allan wrench kinda things, is that all thats holding it on? ill try to find some freakin batteries for the only camera i have at the moment and cap some pics.
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these pictures suck and the camera is a piece of worthless plastic crap. it is about 6'' X 5'', and it has no screen. excuse the horrible quality, and one of the pictures looked so bad nobody would understand it, it was the picture of the bolt i removed from the plastic shield in the wheel well, bottom corner of the shield, the corner closest to the exterior of the wheel well.
front view of the valence with the passenger side fog and brake ducts removed
(http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm26/e30Andym42/008.jpg)
view through where the passenger side brake cooling duct would be of a bolt i removed
(http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm26/e30Andym42/009.jpg)
view of under the passenger side of the car, of a bolt i removed, and one i'm not sure about (the one, if you can see it, that is higher up). i took this with my legs pointing towards the front of the car, and my head towards the exhaust
(http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm26/e30Andym42/010.jpg)
same thing on the driver side of the car
(http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm26/e30Andym42/012.jpg)
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Bumper has to come off, as does the grill. There are two large torx bolts that hold the bumper on, they come up from the bottom.
The valance then has 4 bolts that hold it to the radiator surround, two each on the fender corners, then two on each side that hold the bumper end rails in place.
I thought I had a picture of the valance off, showing the mounting points, but I am having a deuce of a time finding it.
(http://lh5.ggpht.com/2006TopBanana/SAUs761IZOI/AAAAAAAADTc/rZQwHrP_W3k/s800/Valance.jpg)
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wow, how unbelievable helpful, thank you soooo much. u've made my day :)
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wait wait wait, is the valence not trapped between two fender connections?
look:
(http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm26/e30Andym42/001.jpg)
(i didn't remove the bolt yet because i wasn't sure if it was pointless)
(http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm26/e30Andym42/002.jpg)
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woops, got it figured out....but how convenient that the last bolt i needed to remove the valence is giving me trouble. also how convenient that I STRIPPED IT!!!! :mad: ^$*&%$%^$&#%$%#^%#%$^ what in the wide world do i do now? WHAT!? i can't get in there with a straight angle to drill it out. i removed the driver side headlights and the plastic cover where the air intake is. i can see the little.....screw BUT I CANT DO ANYTHING TO IT! HELPPPP!
Edit: what i am trying to remove is: (the pictures STILL suck and i'm sry)
(it is a torx screw on the underside of where that bolt is in picture number 2 of my last post)
picture of the one i got out:
(http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm26/e30Andym42/009-1.jpg)
(http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm26/e30Andym42/008-1.jpg)
(http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm26/e30Andym42/007.jpg)
and here it is:
(http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm26/e30Andym42/004.jpg)
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If it's the one in the last picture, just grind the head off and then exercise your vocabulary.
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the head is super thin and i am so screwed. gripping its head from the side seems impossible. i can get at its threads, i tried needle nose gripping them and turning to no avail. what on earth am i supposed to do?
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lol, hehehehe, i'll see what my dad thinks of that when its not 2:28 a.m. is this part replaceable through the local hardware shop, or dealer only?
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isn't there then the problem of still removing it? sure the head will come off, but it would still be screwed into the hole impossibly tight. and if i was able to rip the screw out by grabbing its threads and twisting and pulling, would a new screw even be able to screw in that hole? what i'm saying is wouldn't the threads get trashed?
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Well, I'd try to drill it out and tap new threads. A dremel tool would work great fro grinding off the head, or use a cutoff wheel and slot it so that you can use a flatblade screwdriver to get it out. This is probably the best way. If you have a pair of vice grips, try using those. good ones have an amazing amount of gripping power. If you don't have any, I strongly reccommed buying some. Channel-lock pliers also work pretty well.
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i do have some, but that darn head is so unbelievably flat. i gripped at the head last night with a Craftsman RoboGrip pliers, and a pipe wrench, but both slipped right off the edges of the head. i didn't bother with the vicegrips because i figured it would be the same outcome. in my effort to try everything possible, i will most likely try them anyway. like i said before, drilling is kinda out of the question. the lower valence, the part under the bumper, sticks out and prevents getting a good angle with the drill, so i would end up drilling through some of the screw, and then drilling into the car, YIKES! thanks for the options, ill attempt them all and with any luck, it will come off, ill update later with the results.
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haven't removed the stripped screw yet because i was waiting for an estimate on the dent from a collision place. if they were cheaper than replacing the front valence, then i would either remove the valence to get it immediately repaired, or put the car back together and wait to get it repaired when its legal to drive on the road. and i called and they FINALLY picked up after 2 days, and he said it's hard to tell without looking, but it will probably be in the $150-200 range. so now i dnt know what to do, my car is already disassembled, except for that freakin screw. if i take the valence off now, i will need a new screw, AND i run the risk that it will cost more than he estimated, exceeding the $287 to get a new valence (without paint). but i really want that dent gone NOW. if i get it repaired now though, i'll be down around $200, and come maybe july when i have to pay for those tickets, i'll be down another some odd $200. now that i think about it, if my dad doesn't shoot the idea down, i'm pushing for removing it and dropping it off at the collision place. thats the best choice....right?
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Get a Dremel and cutting wheel. Slice a groove through the head and remove it with a flat-blade screwdriver. This has saved my ass a few times. Worst case, the head breaks off which is part of the other plans anyway.
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Oh, and shoot the bastard with some penetrating oil.
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alright cool, i REALLY CANT WAIT to get that freakin screw out. i'll update in a bit with what i tried and what worked.
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VICTORY!!!! 3 days ago was when i got that freakin screw off. it was EXTREMELY exciting and a very happy experience. i used a metal cut off wheel to make a slot and unscrewed it with a flathead screwdriver. this worked brilliantly. i didn't have a dremel tool or anything of that sort, though. i used a conversion kit for my drill and the kit consisted of a big screw and two washers that held the cutoff wheel on. i also needed to buy another cutoff wheel because the one that was in my basement had a smaller center hole and the conversion kit's screw thing was too wide.
- conversion kit: about $7.00
- metal cut off blade: about $3.00
- getting that goddang screw off: priceless :D
the valence is at the shop, they have it straightened out, and are ready to paint it. they needed the first parts of the brake ducts (the painted part) for driver and passenger, and the fog lights (passenger and driver), so i brought them over there and what could he possibly tell me to make me as shocked as i was when i left there? APPARENTLY, the is a e30 318is in a JUNKYARD near there :mad:. i could've scored the front valence for FORTY DOLLARS!