Hey everyone,

Finally got my car back from VIP Auto Salon on Friday night. R&D is now completed, just waiting on parts fabrication.

My F-Sport grills came in from Sewell Lexus a few days prior so I decided to slap my grilles on before work on Saturday. Here's the install process. The grilles didn't come with any instructions, but I got some tips from cenix and the process was similar to taking off the bumper for the RX350, when I had her last, so I sorta knew what to look for. Hopefully, these instructions help make the process faster. Took the pictures on my iPhone 4, so they aren't the best, and I should have taken more. OOPS.

Total time to take bumper off and replace it back on = ~30 min total.
Getting the stupid Lexus hybrid emblem off the stock grille onto the factory grille = ~1 hour
Slicing my finger open with a screwdriver = Priceless?

Step one, assemble your tools.

1) Dentist tooth pick or awl or some sharp, pointy object.

2) Bucket to catch windshield washer fluid (if you have the LED package w/ headlamp washers).

3) Phillips head screwdriver.

4) 10mm socket + socket wrench + short extension.

5) Flat head screwdriver.

6) Needle-nose pliers

7) A cocktail/vino/beer + a friend to help. + Towels to lay the bumper on once you get it off the car.

Grilles out of the box:



Step 1: Park car, no need to jack up car or use ramps. Please engage the parking brake. Safety first! Pop open the hood.

Step 2: Pop off the front engine compartment shield. There should be 9 plastic retaining pins. To loosen them, push the center of the pin in until you hear a click. Remove the front engine compartment shield and set the pins aside.



Step 3: Please reference the picture below.

Remove the plastic retaining pins as pictured in the squares/rectangles. Use the dental pick to pop up the center of the pin and the pin should pop out. Remember, the larger pins are closer to the sides of the car (you'll see what I mean when you see it on your car) for when you replace the bumper back onto the car.

The arrows point to rubber bushings that need to be removed by twisting them off. The clips underneath come off the same way as previously mentioned.

The circles are 10mm bolts that need to be unscrewed.





Step 4: Remove the 6 underbody screws that are underneath the front bumper. Remember, there are 6.

Step 5: Turn on your car, turn the wheel all the way to the right so you can access the left (driver's side) wheel well. Use the flat head screwdriver + the dental pick to remove the two retaining screws. Turn the screw counterclockwise so that it is parallel to the ground. Then use the dental pick to pop the screw up and out. The picture below is of the left (driver's side) wheel well.




Step 6: Start separating the front bumper (white) from the black wheel well cover by peeling the black wheel well cover apart slightly. You should be able to see a little 10 mm nut in the upper part of the wheel well that secures the front bumper to the body of the car. Use your 10 mm socket + extension to loosen and remove the nut. After, remove the white plastic retaining stud as well and set it aside by pulling down and out. Note: This picture is of the right (passenger's side) wheel well.



Step 7: Do the same on the right side (passenger's side) wheel well. I didn't turn my wheel all the way to the left since I was worried about rubbing the left wheel against the wheel well panel; you should have enough space to work on the right side.

Step 8: Start loosening the front bumper on the sides and start pulling it straight out!

Step 9: Loosen the headlamp washer fluid hose on the right (passenger's side) by pushing the clip and pulling out. Fluid will come out, so have a bucket handy to catch everything. In the picture, I tried to stop it with a mechanical pencil. It didn't work. LOL.



On the left side (driver's side), unplug the fog lamps by pushing in the on the clip and pulling straight out. Set the bumper down on the towels so you don't scratch it. Makes it much faster with help. I had to do it by myself, so it took MUCH longer than I expected. Note: The red arrow points to the fog lamp connection.



Step 10: Remove the styrofoam support (if it hasn't already fallen off) from behind the bumper and set it aside.

Step 11: Remove the bottom grill. The arrows point to clips that hold the bottom grill in. Use the flat head screwdriver to push the clips over to loosen the grille. There are 6 clips. The circles point to areas where the hoses clip into the grille. To remove them, turn the grille over and you'll see the little pins that hold them in. Use needle-nose pliers to GENTLY squeeze the clips as you gently pull on the hose on the other side. There are 7 clips that hold the hose to the bottom grille.







Step 12: Remove the top grille. Start by pushing in the six plastic clips that secure the grille to the actual bumper (same as the first step of the previous step). There are 6 clips. You can actually see the clips securing the upper grille in the previous picture too.

Next, use your flat head again to loosen the clips that secure the top part of the upper grille. The top part clips actually belong to the upper grille surround trim (in chrome). The clips themselves are also chrome colored so it shouldn't be hard to miss. They are like the clips at the beginning of this step, but much more skinnier. There are 6 of these too.

Pull the front grille off, then use the needle nose pliers again to remove the weatherstripping at the top of the grille by squeezing the pins underneath gently and exerting gentle pressure on the other side to pull the pins through the grille and out. There should be 6. You don't have to pull all of them off, just the ones attached to the grille.



Step 13: Remove the emblem from the front grille. The *****y part. The emblem is held in not by double stick tape, but by two plastic pegs that are secured with one-time use star retaining washers, plus a plastic tab at the bottom. The tab is the easy part. The retaining washers, however, are a ***** to remove. If you don't wanna hurt yourself or don't have any luck taking the washers off, do yourself a favor and buy the emblem plus the retaining washers online. It's about $40 and will save you the trouble. I ended up cutting my finger open and stripping some plastic off the pegs, but after an hour of working at it, I got both rings off. WHEW!



Step 14: As the European car manufacturers say in their service manuals, "reassemble removed parts in the reverse order of removal."

It helps to have a friend when you pop the bumper back in. To reset the plastic retaining clips that hold the engine cover panel, you have to gently pop all the four prongs out in order to pop the pin back up. They are a ***** to reset and are expensive if broken ($1-3 a piece).

For the white retaining clip that holds the front bumper to the body of the car, make sure the little white tab on the retaining clip faces in towards the car:




Finished product:



Sorry for the long write-up. I hope I didn't miss anything that shouldn't have been missed!

I think the more you do this, the faster it will be each time. It took about 30 minutes to take the bumper off and put it back on, 1 hour to get the stupid emblem off the stock grille.

And yes, the above pictures were taken after I got the stock grilles off the bumper, so it shows the new grilles.

No plastic retaining clips were harmed in the making of this write-up.

Good luck!

 

Great job - clear and precise!

 

You did well Matt!!!

I normally would try this... but think I'll pass

 

Looks really good Matt. Great job!

 

Very nice, Matt. I'm jeal.
Great detail. You actually make it look and sound easy.

 

Great write-up. Sticky worthy for future use!

 

Thanks everyone! I hope it helps in the future whenever we have to take our bumpers off!

 

hi Matt! (or anyone out there?) good day! im sorry to bother you. anyway, do you still have the box/s of both upper and lower grill? if you still have it, would you mind giving me the dimensions of both boxes? thanks!

i needed the dimension for the shipping all the way here to Manila. thanks for your time

 

This is a wonderful DIY description, thanks for posting & sharing. The way I removed those infernal rosette washers was by using a broad medium sized vise grip, i.e. the kind that got a knurl ratcheted handle so you can adjust and squeeze with controlled pressure. The grip of the rosette washer is intensified if you try to pry it off from the edges. What I did, is to use the vise grip to grab the washer at its edge and apply pressure, so that you create a cone effect; if you do this you will release the pressure from those infernal little knife like prongs, and the washer will simply slide off effortless. I saw the guy from the body shop using a specialized pliers to remove those infernal washers that is how I got the idea of using a vise grip.

 

Thank you Matt for sharing this! I finally replaced my old grilles with the f-sport ones today and they make the front of the CT look so much more aggressive

 

I am super late to the party but I was wondering, would I have to take off the complete front bumper just to replace the top front grille??

Thanks in advance!

 

Never too late to join the CT party. And to answer your question, yes you do (I've have done this upgrade and followed this same DIY guide).

 

I wish I knew about this tutorial before I put mine on two weeks ago! I did it when I got a new bumper but the color is off so they are going to re-paint it tomorrow and I have to take it apart all over again. :/

Does anyone have any hints on how to get the top grill off? I can't even get the old grill off my old bumper....

 

Thanks RonSwanson. Your quick reply is much appreciated!