Good morning,

 so this morning I started to remove the rear bumper on our 2010 Octavia Estate, in prep for fitting the towbar.

 

I read all the guides and watched the vids I could find online and all was going well, until I encountered the hidden side mounts.

Once the wheel arch is freed off it is apparent that there are fixings through the body side

 

 

I can find only passing mention of them in any of the guides.

Looking inside the car, they are buried behind this panel

 

It looks like the CD player needs to come out - cannot see any way of attachment, and several tie-downs and bits of trim before I can move the actual side cover.

 

Is this right? I wondered if the bumper is supposed to slide backwards off the side mounts, but does not seem interested in moving.

 

Any comments on how much more dismantling I need to do?

 

Thanks

 

Tim

Hi Tim

 

This is a job I want to do also so keen to learn from you.

 

There's a parts diagram here which seems to indicate some m6 bolts from inside the bodywork (item 14) although unfortunately there's no indication of their inside location or access.

 

If you have to remove the CD player I'm told it comes out with the normal radio-removal tools you would use for a dash-mounted unit.

 

Witter towbar instructions say this about removing the bumper:

 

"SKODA Remove bumper (4 screws on lower edge, 2 screws beneath light cluster under plastic capping in boot channel
(carefully remove light clusters), 3 screws and 1 push in clip around wheel arch.) starting at wheel arches prise bumper
from clips and push down clips under light clusters, which will enable the bumper to Slide backwards off side panel sliders"

 

There's also a set of instructions on the Skoda Workshop Manuals site which seem to cover what you're asking, and a couple of Youtube videos (here and here) as well.

 

Good luck!

 

Thanks - those are the key words "Slide backwards off side panel sliders"  

 

My bumper is showing no inclination at all to move!

 

I had already watched those two vids, thanks. The first appears to fish behind the trim and remove two fasteners.

The second makes no reference to them, and stops short of actually removing the damned thing!

Here's another Brisky thread in case you haven't seen it already:

 

 

Just in case, have you found the plastic rivets that need to be removed as well as the various threaded fasteners?  Technically it is possible to remove them non-destructively but I found when doing work on the front bumper I had to cut them off and replace them.  If you need replacements in a hurry I have some here in Chorley or otherwise I'll dig out the ebay link for the ones I bought. You can buy them from Mr Skoda but at a price ...

 

 

The plastic rivets are officially called "spreader rivets" and are items 17 & 18 on the diagram.

 

Note that item 17 may be either a rivet or an m6 bolt.

 

Part numbers are N  90359101 for item 17 (6.5x15mm) and N  0385012 for item 18 (A2x12).

 

I'm not sure what the "A6" refers to but I have a boxed selection to choose from

 

Edited 23 March, 20197 yr by StickyMicky
typo river -> rivet

Thanks again to for the help. I had found the two stupid push type fasteners under the tail lights. I guess they shave a few seconds off the assembly time in the factory but are such a pain for maintainers.  If you do have four spare, pls PM me.

 

So in conclusion it looks like a load of Torx fasteners along the bottom edge and in the wheel arch - all pretty visible and accessible. Four push plugs under the tail light cluster.

 

Then all that hold it on is some "sliding" fastenings on the body sides. I'll try again with more violent pulling tomorrow and see what happens.

5 minutes ago, whitelion58 said:

I had found the two stupid push type fasteners under the tail lights. I guess they shave a few seconds off the assembly time in the factory but are such a pain for maintainers.  If you do have four spare, pls PM me.

 

Are these the 6.5x12mm type with a flat head (like a roofing tack) or the headless but thicker shaft variety?

 

On my 2005 O2 there were 2 bolts behind the carpet in the booth (yes, somewhere behind the radio unit)

 

As for sliding... don't know what they are referring to, but on my car, I'm sure it won't slide, it was a real screw.. (took me a while to figure that out also)

 

Back in the days I made a write up (in Dutch but you can use Google translate)

 

https://www.skodaforum.nl/forum/i/trekhaak-monteren-o2-2005-hb.35702/

 

The part regarding the rear bumper removal:

- first, remove the tail lights

- The bumper is held by some torx screws in the wheel arch (not always visible, might be covered in dirt)

- Also unscrew the torx screws from the bottom of the car.

- When you've removed the tail lights, 2 more screws appeaqr

- Remove inner carpeting to expose the nuts (10mm, 2 each side). 

 

I didn't make much pictures from the removal process but I remember it was a PITA to find those.

 

I was able to find a picture which I made back in the days. Think those 2 are the ones you are looking for.

(Left hole is where the taillights usually fit, this picture is from the left side of my car)

 

 

 

Edited 23 March, 20197 yr by DJSmiley

Good morning

 these are the push fittings under the light clusters

 

I had another go at removing the bumper and confirm I can see the first of the two fasteners shown by DJSMiley.  This thing is bolted up solidly and does NOT slide rearwards at all.

 

I started dismantling numerous plastic trim pieces to attempt access to the second fastener, but found the trim panel is not just fabric, its mounted on a plastic moulding which in turn is retained by many hidden Torq fasteners.

What a crazy installation - - how hard would it have been to have made access holes for these bumper mounts when they designed it?!

 

 

At this point I have called it quits - I have too much else to do today! I'll get a quote from a towbar install company and see how that goes....

 

PS> Just noted a typo at the start of the thread - our car is a 2008, not 2010.

 

 

46 minutes ago, whitelion58 said:

these are the push fittings under the light clusters

 

FYI those are N  90359101 (6.5x15mm) .

 

Sorry you had to "advance to the rear"; sounds like it became a nightmare job in the end.

 

I'm going to make sure I have plenty of time available when I tackle mine!

 

If you decide you still need those rivets drop me a PM with your address; otherwise a quick fleabay search will turn up a number of suppliers from the UK, Germany & China.

 

 

I found a you tube video on how to take the rear bumper off which I found helpfull.

 

I will try and find it again.

 

 

 

And there we have it  

Edited 31 March, 20197 yr by Dpearce

Just for completion...  The car just came back from having the towbar fitted, and they confirmed that this is one of the worst jobs they do. Virtually the entire rear interior has to come out with many, many fiddly and hidden fasteners - all to access those two bolts through the side panels.  Anyway, its all done and worth the reasonable bill to get my weekend back in this case.