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I don't remember where I saw it but there was a diagram showing where the clips were. The main ones are behind the wheel well, after those are off the rest come off pretty easily.
If you are thinking about switching/ordering grills I would avoid Partsgeek.com. They have GS parts that don't match up to pictures, they sent me a lower F Sport Grill instead of the Upper F Sport Grill like shown in their site picture that I used to order. Customer service has been poor, I had to make several attempts just for them to get back with me and the email they replied to me could not be replied back to. First time I called where they do everything they can on the recording to not talk to customers they said supervisor would contact me with a email for pictures they wanted I could reply to, to see what they could do for me, I never got a email. I then sent another email explaining my issue and got a response they would contact me and it may take up to 48hrs, that was 7 days ago. I called them again and again explained I wanted the top F Sport grill and wanted them to make sure it was the top grill before they sent another one out so I did not get another wrong part and they said the picture on the site is a mistake and the top grill would cost about 3 times more then it was listed that I ordered from, then I said instead of returning the lower grill could they just charge me the lower price they have a lower GS grill listed for, they said they would not lower the price for me for the bottom grill they sent even though the bottom GS350 grill is listed on their site for less then I paid on their site because the grill listed on the site was not a F Sport lower grill. They then said they sent a package slip to my email I could print for a return as we were talking but I just checked and they never did that either, never tried to help me or work something out for their mistakes and never sent out emails they promised or got back to me on a timely matter. Won't be doing anymore business with them again.
I ordered from partsgeek before reading this but I agree their pictures are wrong. They list the upper grille with a pic of it, but it's actually the lower grille. Luckily I needed both anyway so it still worked out but customer service was pretty much non-existent.
As far as the install, I couldn't find a DIY but someone posted the instructions below for a different grill but they were perfect. I do recommend taking off the bumper, it's really not that hard and gives you easy access to everything. I used the shipping boxes for the grilles to rest the bumper on so I didn't have to disconnect the washer fluid lines. I just unplugged the 3 harnesses for the washers and fog lights.
I ordered from partsgeek before reading this but I agree their pictures are wrong. They list the upper grille with a pic of it, but it's actually the lower grille. Luckily I needed both anyway so it still worked out but customer service was pretty much non-existent.
As far as the install, I couldn't find a DIY but someone posted the instructions below for a different grill but they were perfect. I do recommend taking off the bumper, it's really not that hard and gives you easy access to everything. I used the shipping boxes for the grilles to rest the bumper on so I didn't have to disconnect the washer fluid lines. I just unplugged the 3 harnesses for the washers and fog lights.
Someone on a GS build thread said he swapped/installed the grills without removing the bumper, said he went in from the top and was not too difficult. My worry about taking the bumper out is alignment issues putting it back in, just needlessly difficult to do a simple grill swap for this car. Did you have to clip some tabs on the F sport grill to get it in?
There are 2 screws that secure the top grille/chrome trim into the bumper that I tried to get to but it was too much of a pain so I opted to remove the bumper. The top grille does not need to be trimmed but there are 4 tabs on the bottom grille that you can cut off with a box cutter. The plastic is soft so you don't need to heat it. I didn't have any alignment issues putting the bumper back on. I didn't have anyone to help me either, it's not hard to do on your own.. Everything just lines up when you put it back on.
You do not need to remove the bumper, I just did upper and lower with bumper in place in about a hour. You can easily acess the screw in the grill by removing the 2 air directing panels behind the bumper, each has 4 plastic clips holding them in. Then use a 1/4 ratchet, 1/4" socket, and a regular 1/4" phillps.
they take some muscle to get out, but doable without removing the bumper as indicated in my pics
Can the chrome surround be removed from the original grill to put on a F Sport grill, is it pretty easy to remove? I have noticed many top F sport grills for sale don't have the chrome surround.
Can the chrome surround be removed from the original grill to put on a F Sport grill, is it pretty easy to remove? I have noticed many top F sport grills for sale don't have the chrome surround.
Very easy to remove...the top grill fits into the chrome surround via tabs/clips. The tabs/clips are the same on the non F sport slats style insert and the F sport mesh insert. You'll just have to carefully push them to separate the grill from the surround.
08-31-18, 03:21 PM
They then said they sent a package slip to my email I could print for a return as we were talking but I just checked and they never did that either
, never tried to help me or work something out for their mistakes and never sent out emails they promised or got back to me on a timely matter. Won't be doing anymore business with them again.
