If you’re a bit of a do-it-yourselfer, you’re probably willing to take care of almost all of the maintenance to be done on your BMW 3 Series, but some are more difficult than others and require the removal of body parts or elements to access the part you want to work on. We would really like to help you in this process. That’s why today we are going to discover how to remove the bumper from a BMW 3 Series. This operation is not very difficult and you should have the ability to do it with few equipment. To accomplish this, first we will see how to remove the front bumper of your BMW 3 Series, then how to remove the rear bumper of this one.

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How to remove the front bumper from a BMW 3 Series

So let’s commence our content with the front bumper of your BMW 3 Series. To take it off, you will just require a set of ratchet wrenches, some screwdrivers and torx bits. Here are the guidelines you will have to stick to to be able to disassemble the bumper of your BMW 3 Series in good conditions:

  • If you want to be more relaxed, we recommend you to put your BMW 3 Series on stands and to remove the front wheels to have a perfect access to the whole front bumper.
  • Open the bonnet of your vehicle: Seems evident, but you will need to have access to the bumper attachment in your engine compartment.
  • Take off the wheel arches: They’re also referred to as fenders, but they’ll get in the way and stop you from accessing all the screws on the front bumper of your BMW 3 Series. According to your car features and the year of your model, you will also be able to find staples, to get this done, you will just have to use a staple extractor or to do it carefully with a big flat screwdriver, and use a lever to open the staple.
  • Then you will have to unscrew the screws that is from behind your mudguard and that seals the front bumper of your BMW 3 Series on the sides.
  • Unscrew the screws or remove the clips on the upper part of the bumper in the engine bay.
  • Now it’s time to go underneath your BMW 3 Series to unscrew the bolts that are on the chassis of the car, you will find some in the middle of the bumper and on the sides.
  • Remember to unplug the connection of the plate lighting and the distance control sensor if you have it.
  • Carefully remove the front bumper by first unclipping the sides. If it doesn’t come off, you perhaps forgot a screw or a clip. Think of employing a carpet or other to prevent that it gets scratched by touching the ground.

That’s it, you’ve seen all the steps of how to remove the front bumper from your BMW 3 Series, to reassemble it stick to the steps in the opposite way.

How to remove the rear bumper from a BMW 3 Series

And to finish, regardless if the operation is quite equivalent, we will take a look at the case of removing the rear bumper from your BMW 3 Series. For each step to avoid repeating ourselves we will just give you the broad outlines, refer to part 1 if you have any concerns or questions for more details.

  • Start by performing the same first step, that is, lift your BMW 3 Series and take off your rear wheels to be able to have an ideal working area to remove the bumper of your BMW 3 Series serenely
  • Remove the rear wheel arches of your BMW 3 Series to access the side bumper side brackets
  • Open your trunk
  • Take off the side brackets in your wheel arches to make it less complicated to remove the bumper from your BMW 3 Series.
  • Take out the lower bindings underneath your BMW 3 Series.
  • At the same time, make sure to disconnect the rear license plate light and the reverse radar sensors if you are equipped with them.
  • Unscrew the top brackets from the top of the trunk.
  • Now all you have to do is remove the rear bumper from your BMW 3 Series, stick to the same operation as for the front bumper

Here, you have learned through these two parts, how to remove the bumper from a BMW 3 Series whether it is the front one or the rear one the methods are more or less the same and it is enough to be meticulous to make everything go well.

Whenever you have any additional questions about the BMW 3 Series, do not hesitate to consult our BMW 3 Series category.