The bulb in the front left fog lamp died 3 days after the car went in for its service. As the manual makes it look easy to replace I thought I'd have a go at replacing it...but it's not so easy when you've never done it before. After hunting around on this site I came up with the following. Hopefully it'll help someone else out in a similar

predicament

 

1. From the manual.

 

2. Screengrab from post in this forum.Looks like he's using the flat bladed screwdriver from the toolkit to remove the RHS grill

 

3. Grill on LHS with a red circle showing where to stick the screwdriver

 

Does anyone know if it's possible to remove the top grill (one above the number plate) without taking the front bumper off?

 

Thanks

No, not in one piece.

It is melted to the bumber from behind.

 

This only applies to non-vRS right? vRS bulbs need to be removed from the inside.

Yes, that's how I did it.

I was thinking of the plastic honeycomb between the bonnet and number plate, not the decorative frame See the image from the workshop manual. 

 

 

Surely the grille can be changed by itself for non-VRS models Or is there some sort of mod that can be performed?

 

See also this link: -

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/300471-o3-radiator-grille-repair-or-replacement/

So was I.

The frame is easily removable, the grill is not.

Some more useful info for my post #5

 

How to remove entire front bumper (post on this forum). Same as mine but this one is red

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/313708-octavia-3-iii-vrs-front-bumper-removal-how-to/

 

Found this replacement grill on superskoda website. It's a honeycomb design not a slated one. I'd rather shell out for this than a complete bumper & grill assembly

http://www.superskoda.com/Skoda/OCTAVIA-III/Octavia-III-front-grille-in-OEM-honeycomb-design-KI-R

 

 

The website suggests getting it fitted professionally so I am wondering if this is quite a complex task.

 

Think I might just live with my (slightly) cracked grill - curse that bloody pigeon.

Complex?

Well, remove the bumper, cut out the welded bits and use some force to take the old grill out.

Insert new grill, weld or glue it to the bumper and install bumper back.

 

On Superskoda site they say it's a 2-3 hours work but I would double the estimate.