For reasons I'd rather not elaborate on, I need to replace my rear bumper cover. I looked at my Bentley Service Manual and it doesn't seem to address this (only removal of the entire bumper.) Is it possible to remove just the cover without removing the entire bumper? Thanks in advance for your advice.
I just had mine off, the whole bumper that is. The car is a '99 Sport Wagon. The whole thing is pretty light. It looks like removal of the entire bumper is required to separate the cover from the other pieces. I was installing a trailer hitch so I didn't look closely at what would be involved in taking things apart. Hope this helps.
Bumper Cover - response Thanks for your reply. This confirms what I heard from another source. Thanks for your input. - John Huddy
Yes, you have to remove the whole bumper assembly(front or rear for that matter) to R&R the cover. But it's EASY! First remove all the "push pin" plastic rivets (There may be a couple of screws too. Can't remember.) that secure the front portions of the cover to the rear of the rear wheel well. Then inside the trunk(boot) on each side are 3 nuts that secure the bumper "shock absorbers". Remove all six. The entire bumper assembly with cover attached will then slide back and off the car. Then there are a TON of the push pin rivets to remove to detach the cover from the bumper itself. Easy, one person job. Get a few rivets with the new cover 'cause you'll probably break a couple. Besides, they don't cost much and are used in other places around the car.
Remove Rear Bumper - Mission Accomplished Thanks for the advice. Did the job this weekend and it was a snap. Remove 3 push pins at the rear wheel wells, remove the plastic panel at the rear of the trunk (4 push pins, 2 plastic nuts) to allow access to the six nuts that mount the bumper, and pull straight back. The cover is attached to the aluminium bumper with about a dozen push pins across the top and bottom. The styrofoam filler at the top of the bumper had to be pulled out for access. Half of push pins were destroyed in the process, but NAPA sells them by the bag pretty cheap. I got a refurbished bumper cover from http://www.jjbumpers.com/ in Pawtucket RI for $200 primed and ready for paint. A new cover from my local dealer was well over $500. I was amazed how light the assembly was. It's a one man job, although another set of hands was helpful in reinstalling as everything had to line up just right.
