Woke up to this

I don't know when it happened - there was no remnants near the car so it must've happened yesterday and I didn't notice it.

Is this an easy, DIY, cheap(ish) fix?

Looking under the bonnet the black grill appears to be attached to just about everything else under there - is the black part available seperately? If so how much?

Or should I bite the bullet and let my dealer sort it?

Any advice appreciated.

Bird strike

It's an easy change, 5 screws along the bottom and 1 torx bolt iirc at the top middle.

Edit - Then there's a few positioning post which just slide out of the holes that they're in easy enough and a few little tabbed connectors which you need to squeeze together and slide out of the wholes that they sit in.

Judging by the white marks on the black slats and the painted metal behind the grill I'd put it down to a piece of debris blown around by the strong winds.

I'm suprised you didn't see/feel/hear anything though

I think I've read on here that the black plastic can be removed from the chrome section somehow but it may be easier just to replace the whole grill as detailed above...

The grill can be seperated from the surround but I think it's plastic welded in so not as easy, I've also amended my 1st post as there are a few thigs ai forgot

The inside black part is NOT plastic-welded onto the chrome surround. As Mr. E said, there are 5 small torx screws and 1 larger torx screw holding the entire grille assembly onto the bonnet, plus 4 (or maybe 5) small plastic tabs that you need to squeeze together to make the grille assembly come out of the bonnet.

Once out the chrome and the black bits are FAIRLY easy to seperate - they are held together faifrly tightly by some plastic tabs and from experience it is quite easy to break these unless you take your time. Refitting is just the opposite of removal. Half an hour for the whole thing, max.

I know you can purchase the chrome surround separately so I would therefore assume you can purchase the inner black plastic bit on it's own too.

http://octavia-vrs.com/cms/content/coloured-grille

not plastic welded just very fiddlerly to get apart, prepare to get a few sore fingers (or maybe I'm a sissy).

Had the same with mine when someone reversed into me at 2 weeks old!

£34 for grill and you wont need a new badge. Peel off the old one (plastic welded) and superglue or use plastic weld glue back on (superglue has worked fine on mine).

Grill and chrome are a PITA to seperate though so just take your time and go carefully. Also be sure to feed the bonnet catch back through when putting it back on....I didn't and got it stuck in the hollow behind one of the fins so then couldn't open the bonnet

Every cloud has a silver lining, when you take it off, get it colour coded.

Is it necessary to look for radiator damage in such cases ??

This is quite a common occurrence here ... On the highways there are trucks plying at unbelievable speeds with debris at the back which isn't tied down and every now and then there are few bits and pieces flying off ... If a small sharp object went through and into the radiator would it cause serious problems . ?? how much damage can it take before it need replacing ?

Thanks for all the replies.

I remember having a stone spat at me from a truck that day but it seemed so innocuous I didn't give it a second thought.

There is no damage behind the grill - either to the bodywork or the radiator - so in some ways I was lucky.

However I don't have a very good history with any kind of plastic clip - I have visions of myself breaking one grill after another.

And so - bullet bitten - dealer is sorting it next Monday - £72 all in.

So - done today - but not without some little niggles.

Thankfully the dealer has a nice comfortable viewing area so I could watch what was happening.

1st technician took a half hour to get the broken grill off and then gave up trying to separate the chrome surround.

2 more "experienced" technicians then took over and spent a further 20 minutes "fiddling". To be honest it was an uncomfortable watch so I went for some fresh air and by the time I was back it was ready.

Happy though I was that it was done and my cars gap-toothed grin was fixed - having read some of the advice on here - I knew that one of the pitfalls was leaving the bonnet release lever stuck behind the grill. And sure enough it was.

I think I'd have had less problems if I'd done it myself - and saved myself the labour charge. Anyway it's done now. But if there's a next time....

So - done today - but not without some little niggles.

Thankfully the dealer has a nice comfortable viewing area so I could watch what was happening.

1st technician took a half hour to get the broken grill off and then gave up trying to separate the chrome surround.

2 more "experienced" technicians then took over and spent a further 20 minutes "fiddling". To be honest it was an uncomfortable watch so I went for some fresh air and by the time I was back it was ready.

Happy though I was that it was done and my cars gap-toothed grin was fixed - having read some of the advice on here - I knew that one of the pitfalls was leaving the bonnet release lever stuck behind the grill. And sure enough it was.

I think I'd have had less problems if I'd done it myself - and saved myself the labour charge. Anyway it's done now. But if there's a next time....

Glad it wasn't just me that made that school boy error then with the bonnet release! I did mine in about 20-30 mins so perhaps they should employ me!

Glad you got it sorted.

Good news and seems your pleased with the result so it must be good

At £72 all in it's not worth doing it yourself, I hate to think what my dealers would charge for doing that

It seems just a problem with the facelifts as M2s dont seem to be as fragile