Replacing kidney grills

150 bucks?

My friend is a BMW service tech. I watched him do it and it took less than 2 minutes.

But, its tricky yanking these cars apart if you're not used to it.

Warning do not read if you really care about your car:

I worked for a summer and after school at local body shop. When a car gets torn apart (especially doors), there's usually a small box full of unused clips, fasteners, washers, spacers and assorted other doohickeys leftover from every job. This doesn't include all the broken clips and tabs.

German cars always had the most leftover parts lol.

Thanks to the OP for starting this thread. It took me less than a minute to remove and install. Wore gloves and pulled. Too easy.

It took me about 20 seconds per side to replace the 535i style (chrome surround w/chrome faced slats) on my "Black Sapphire Metallic" vehicle with the OEM M5 style (chrome surround w/gloss black faced slats). Although I liked the original grills, I found the M5 style more understated in appearance with my dark vehicle color.

Since my vehicle has a full frontal clear bra on all painted surfaces, I was't hesitant to proceed by inserting my fingers in & behind the slats of each grill side applying steady, controlled, thumb pressure on the covered painted surfaces surrounding the grills, starting at the top & working my way around releasing a few clips at a time, thereby removing the grills. Replacement grills just slid into & engaged quite easily. Thank you DIY'ers who preceded me and gave me the courage to attempt this repacement method.

See happy face & one of the thumbs, upturned, below:

Very sharp

I was considering the "M5" grille for the sake of variation (as I actually really like the stock chrome grille on my Jet Black car as a look), until a Member here pointed out that it's simply the "normal" setup for a BMW (all black slats with chrome outlines). Now that I've been paying attention, that's become so apparent. Although the all chrome look is normal for the non V8 F10's, the "M5 F10 grille" is a "generic" look for all other BMW's in general (nothing wrong with that, as it still looks hot).

I came to the conclusion that I'll personally wait for the LCI grille to come out and see if I feel like swapping at that point. Apparently it'll have less slats (we'll see if that looks worse or better), and hopefully will be the same dimensions so it'd be an easy swap for interested parties.

Thanks for the inspiration!

Originally Posted by K-A

I was considering the "M5" grille for the sake of variation (as I actually really like the stock chrome grille on my Jet Black car as a look), until a Member here pointed out that it's simply the "normal" setup for a BMW (all black slats with chrome outlines). Now that I've been paying attention, that's become so apparent. Although the all chrome look is normal for the non V8 F10's, the "M5 F10 grille" is a "generic" look for all other BMW's in general (nothing wrong with that, as it still looks hot).

I came to the conclusion that I'll personally wait for the LCI grille to come out and see if I feel like swapping at that point. Apparently it'll have less slats (we'll see if that looks worse or better), and hopefully will be the same dimensions so it'd be an easy swap for interested parties.

That "member" sounds like a jerk . Lol.

Very well said - the M5 grille is a more classic look; however, that variation and difference from OEM does look HOT!

Ok, how do you know that the slats on the LCI will be similar to the x3 and z (less slats)??



Oneon3puts, that looks awesome! Of course, I may be a little biased

Originally Posted by BigDeep1

That "member" sounds like a jerk . Lol.

Very well said - the M5 grille is a more classic look; however, that variation and difference from OEM does look HOT!

Ok, how do you know that the slats on the LCI will be similar to the x3 and z (less slats)??



Oneon3puts, that looks awesome! Of course, I may be a little biased

Lol.

I saw someone mention the LCI would and actually you can see it in some of the spy pics. Seems there's a few less slats on each kidney.

Originally Posted by K-A

Lol.

I saw someone mention the LCI would and actually you can see it in some of the spy pics. Seems there's a few less slats on each kidney.

Supposed LCI Grill... 10 Slats/kidney:




2011-2013 Grill... 12 slats/kidney:

Interesting! I never noticed that from the LCI pics before. Looks a little more aggressive and less luxury - with bigger and less numerated slats.

Originally Posted by BigDeep1

Interesting! I never noticed that from the LCI pics before. Looks a little more aggressive and less luxury - with bigger and less numerated slats.

Yeah that's what they're going for I believe. Less luxo look, more aggression.

If I like the LCI grilles, and assuming they're a direct fit on an any F10 (looks like they will be, but BMW stalwarts, does BMW usually do weird things like change around how LCI grilles connect so you can't swap them into pre-LCI's, even though the grille shapes remain the same, on previous cars, or anything like that?), that's probably when I *might* consider swapping. For now, I just love how the OEM grille pops on my Jet Black.

[P.S: Does anyone know if the F01 LCI grilles are a direct swap on the pre-LCI's? That could answer our questions as to whether they might be on the F10 as well.]

Originally Posted by K-A

does BMW usually do weird things like change around how LCI grilles connect so you can't swap them into pre-LCI's, even though the grille shapes remain the same, on previous cars, or anything like that?

Kind of sometimes but rarely. They once did something similar to what you're asking.

The initial run of the E90 (through model year 2007) had what I consider to be a mustache look. The chrome that was the top edge of the kidney's was actually pasted onto the hood. With the LCI, they fixed this terrible design. I've attached two pictures so you can see what they did.

However, I think it is rare. In fact, this is the only case that I know of where they changed the shape/design of the kidney's, and I think they did it because the first iteration was so crappy.

Thanks Guys -

I was prepared for a tool-based replacement of my grills tomorrow, but inspired by this string (and a few vodka tonics), I changed out both grills, and took photos, in 4 minutes - less time than it took to write this post. Gloves are a good idea and steady pressure did it. Appreciate the info.

My car came with standard chrome ring with silver slats with chrome front edges..... I bought black kidneys and swapped the inner slats

Where did you get the BMW M PERFORMANCE BLACK KIDNEY GRILLES? BMW USA website says they will only ship to the dealer.

Originally Posted by ifnd323

Where did you get the BMW M PERFORMANCE BLACK KIDNEY GRILLES? BMW USA website says they will only ship to the dealer.

I ordered mine from BMW and had them shipped to my home address. BMW ships them to the dealer, and then the dealer ships them to your home. You can actually order from any dealer, it doesn't have to be your local dealer. And if you order from this dealer (http://www.bmwofminnetonka.com/index.htm) you can enter the coupon code "AMAZON" and should get 25% off.

You can order them from Getbmwparts.com and they'll be shipped to your house.

Their prices are the best I could find and are original BMW parts, still in the BMW packaging. Regular price was $71 each, on sell now for $57 each ($130 total, with shipping) and they were actually sent directly from BMW of Silver Spring MD.

Here's the link. http://www.getbmwparts.com/partlocat...catalogid=4462

They do everything on-line to keep costs down, no phone calls for questions, but I found Evan Winstead very helpful by email.

$102. delivered,genuine oem....bmw dealer in pa.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-OEM-FRON...727157&vxp=mtr

Originally Posted by bighungry618

Steps follow below:

1. Grab vertical slats (fins) near the top with your hands evenly spaced apart on the grille....
2. Wiggle and pull slightly down (towards the ground) and towards you firmly but gently.
3. Drink adult beverage.
4. Repeat step 3

Boom...F10 grille removal complete.

Big hungry,

Thnx! Best install procedure esp that last step. I'm a female, sat on ground to make easier to pull downwards popped out in less than a minute and bumper really doesn't move except a little when pulling.

Going enjoy that drink again, lol.