Octavia 3 III vRS front bumper removal - how to

[jtmattila]

Hi all! 

Not quite topic related but those who have removed the front bumber: is there wiring looms straight behind the license plate? 

I'm going to instal auxiliary high beam ledbar with a holder that is meant to be atached with screws to the bumber under the license plate. 

So should I be careful while screwing the holder to the bumber? 

The car has front parking sensors. 

[LJW97]

On 27/04/2014 at 10:29, Flo said:

Awesome work.

 

I read that if you have Front Assistant radar this should be recalibrated when the bumper is removed. Does anyone know if it is true?

turn it off 

[Scrawnban]

Im at this job about four hours and I can not get enough purchase on the clips that hold the bumper on to open them. Long screw driver keeps slipping off. And not enough space to get my fingers into the holes to press down on them. Any suggestions. Welcome. Trying to replace a pass side head light 

[wagonist]

I need to replace my pass headlight, too.

How did you get at that hidden bolt?

 

BTW, what size torx bit is it? I might go buy a socket to do the job instead of a screwdriver.

[tibiking]

On 27/04/2014 at 10:44, xpower said:

Are you using an led stripe or an buld for the "stripe" in your headlight ? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For this process the wheels do not need to be removed, simply putting them on the corresponding lock will allow easy access.

 

Start by removing the 4 torx bits on the top of the bumper

In each wheel arch there are 4 torx bits shown here

There are approximately 6 torx bits underneath 

Next (this is the hardest part) there are 2 torx bits either side, they screw in downwards so the heads are at the top. 1 is easily visible (next image) but the other is tucked up right behind the headlight.  I used a 1/4 ratchet and torx bit adaptor to get to this, it has to be done by feel.

Here is one of the side torx bits you can see

 

 

Lastly once all torx bits have been removed the bumper is held on by 2 large clips,looking straight down on top of the bumper you will see 2 elongated holes moulded into the bumper (one of the headlight bolts is there)

Looking in closer you will see the plastic lug sticking outwards to the front of the car, push the bumper inwards slightly to take the pressure of the clip and push the clip DOWNWARDS and pull the number outwards.

Do this for both sides.

 

 

Lastly all connections ore on the drivers side, there is plenty of slack in the wiring.  Disconnect the water supply to the headlight washers at the tank, you will need a small piece of pipe with a bolt in it to stop all of the water coming out of the tank.

 

Unbolt headlight (3 torx bits) and remove headlight if required. ALL this just to change an indicator bulb :-)

 

 

[Manske]

This weekend I removed the front bumper of my 2016 Octavia III 1.6 SE L TDI Estate. I used my TRX 25 bits in my socket set. At the bottom there are 8 bolts instead of 6 on my car. Removing the internal bolts on the side, behind the headlights was a struggle. The reason I could not get the TRX 25 bit in was that they filled up with crud so I used a small scraper to clean them out first. In my 1/4" socket set I have a 15cm flex extension bit which I mounted on the socket screwdriver (?) together with the TRX 25 bit. With one hand near the bolt I guide the bit and the flex extension to its place vertical on top of the bolt. The screwdriver is almost horizontal when I start to turn it anti-clockwise. This is how I unbolt the hidden bolts. In that same location there are 2 additional pesky lugs that hold the bottom bumper to the top front side panel. I prised those carefully loose with a small screwdriver. This connection is a weak point and there is a good chance the connection breaks at some point, with small cracks becoming big cracks over the years. I attach a photo of the front bumper left side where the yellow arrows indicate the location of the TRX bolts, the red arrows indicate the lugs and the blue arrow indicates a metal clip. Just underneath this bumper ridge is a small metal bracket with screw threads for the bolts.

[dimrod]

I've run into a problem when removing my bumper. Had it off before without any issue but this time the 2 top clips were my issue. One of them released fine when pressed down but the other one snapped when I pushed down on it amd now I can't think of any way of releasing that one side. Has anyone had this issue before or can anyone think how it can be done?