Pelican Technical Article: Front Bumper Removal Wayne R. Dempsey
Time: 30 min
Tab: $850
Talent:
Tools:
-
Applicable Models:
986 Boxster (1997-04) 987 Boxster (2005-08)
Parts Required:
Front bumper cover
Hot Tip:
See if a good body shop can repair your front cover
Performance Gain:
Cleaner looking car
Complementary Modification:
Replace shocks, install center radiator
This article is one in a series that have been released in conjunction with Wayne's new book, 101 Performance Projects for Your Porsche Boxster. The book contains 312 pages of full color projects detailing everything from performance mods to changing your brake pads. With more than 950+ full-color glossy photos accompanying extensive step-by-step procedures, this book is required reading in any Boxster owner's collection. The book is currently available and in stock now. See The Official Book Website for more details.
Check out some other sample projects from the book:
Unless your Boxster was stored in a time capsule when it was purchased new, it's highly likely that you will have at least some type of cosmetic damage to your front bumper cover. The amount and depth of the damage is, of course, completely dependent upon the care of the driver. The Boxster that I picked up as the project car for this book was cheap, had been abused, and the front bumper cover wore all the scars of the car's previous life. That said, the inner wheel wells of the car were damaged even further: I was able to save and repair the front bumper cover, but the wheel wells required complete replacement.
The first step is to jack up the front of the car. Loosen the lug nuts on your wheels prior to jacking if you are planning on removing the wheel well liners. The next step in removing the front bumper cover is to remove the screws that attach it to the top of the chassis (see Photo 1 and Figure 2). To remove the trim panel and expose the actual screws holding the top of the bumper to the chassis, turn the plastic screws (Figure 1) ½ turn and remove them. The plastic trim panel can then be removed, exposing the screws securing the bumper (Figure 2). Next, you need to pull out the side marker lamps. Behind the side markers you will see the small screw that needs to be removed (see yellow arrow, inset of Figure 5). There is also another screw that needs to be removed that is located right next to this one, near the edge of the wheel well that screws upwards to the sky (red arrow, Figure 5). Then, disconnect the temperature sensor that sits in a small hole near the front grille on the right side of the car. The temperature sensor is a small device with a wire attached to it that looks a bit like a very short pencil (see Figure 1). Finally, remove the screws that attach the bottom of the bumper cover to the car (Photo 3 and Figure 4). With all of the hardware disconnected, the bumper cover should slide right off with a few strong pulls.
The front bumper cover is an insanely expensive part ($600-$950 depending upon whether you have a regular or ‘S' model). As an additional tip, I found that the Boxster ‘S' bumper was virtually identical to the normal car except for the cutout for the center radiator. If you wish to save several hundred dollars on a replacement bumper cover, see if you can find a non-S version, and then cut out the insert yourself, as I did in Pelican Technical Article: Center Radiator Installation.
Removal of the wheel well liners is not quite as easy as pulling off the front bumper cover. First, remove the two road wheels. The wheel well liners are attached using plastic rivets which must be pried out one-by-one. Photo 4 and Photo 5 show the location of these rivets. It is not necessary to remove the suspension strut in order to replace the liners, but if you're planning on replacing your shocks anyway, then now would be a good time to do it.
When installing your new wheel well liners, be sure to purchase the small little mud flaps that attach to the front ends (1997-04, PN 996-504-503-00 and 996-504-503-00). These are often missing from years of abuse. The 2005 and later Boxsters have a different wheel well design that is actually three pieces instead of two, making for a much easier installation.
Figure 1
Start in the front trunk by removing the black plastic cover piece near the front hood latch. Four small fasteners hold this piece in place. Simply rotate them a half turn or so to loosen them up and remove them. The inset photo shows the temperature sensor that you need to remove from the grille.
This section of our project car was really ugly. It's difficult to tell from this particular photo, but the damaged piece hanging down (yellow arrow) is actually part of the inner wheel well liner (see next photo). A poorly executed paint job resulted in the wheel well liner being painted body color: it's normally black. The bottom left photo shows one of the plastic rivets that are used to attach the wheel well liner to the chassis. The photo in the upper right shows a new wheel well liner with the small rubber lip / flap attached. These flaps typically get a lot of abuse and are often missing entirely from the car.
This photo shows some of the various fasteners that are used to attach the inner wheel well liner. The brakes and shocks have been removed for clarity, but are not required to be removed in order to replace the liner. Some are plastic rivets that are easily removed with a crowbar (green arrow, lower right). Others are plastic nuts that simply require a socket to remove. The photo in the upper right shows the two wheel well liner pieces and their shapes. The photo on the upper left shows the screw behind the side marker that must be removed in order to remove the front bumper cover (yellow arrow), and the receptacle for the screw that must be removed from inside the wheel well (red arrow).
Comments: Wayne, the temp-sensor you spoke about, is this for the temperature reading on the dash, or is this a sensor for some other aspect of the drivetrain?
Reason I ask is, I plan on installing DRLs in front of it and didnt want to cause any misreads by some crucial aspect of the "system".
Thanks for your work, your book is flat-out invaluable.
April 17, 2012
Followup from the Pelican Staff: This front temp sensor is used for the climate control system to figure out what the ambient air temperature is outside. If removed or disabled, it will affect the heating and cooling system for the passenger cabin but should not affect engine performance. - Wayne at Pelican Parts
Alex
Comments: Would these instructions work on a 2011 Boxster?
January 4, 2012
Gary
Comments: I would like to remove the two front grills on my 1997 boxster for cleaning and repainting. Does this require removal of the front bumper cover? How are the grills held in their openings?
June 8, 2011
Followup from the Pelican Staff: I'm pretty sure you need to remove the front bumper to replace and/or clean the two grilles. They snap in from the inside of the bumper, and I don't see how you could remove them from the bumper without breaking them. For reference, these two part numbers are 986-505-552-01-01C (black left) and 986-505-553-01-01C (black right). - Wayne at Pelican Parts
marshinct
Comments: In figure 5, you show a pry type tool that looks like a nail puller being used to remove some fastenrs. Where can I get the tool and do the fasteners pull straight out?
November 16, 2010
Followup from the Pelican Staff: That's a simple pry bar that is available at any tool store or Home Depot. It's quite useful in situations like these. - Wayne at Pelican Parts
Check out some other sample projects from the book:
