Rear Bumper torx bolts

[kod81]

Hi,

I did a Google search and found few advises and diys on how to remove the rear bumper of the E30. Mine is the UK '89 model (facelift) and I am having a bit of a trouble.
From what I understand, please correct me if I am wrong, I can remove the whole bumper by taking the two torx bolt out that are located on the bottom site. I've tried to unscrew them with T50 and T55 torx, but I have no luck... they are very tight at first, then they become loose, then they tight again. Same when unbolting clock and anticlock wise (obviously). Both bolts are the same, so I thought they have to me sort of "in the middle" where they are loose but again no luck. I've tried to use more force when the bolts are becoming tight again, but I've only managed to wear the thread a bit. What am I missing? What is the correct procedure to remove my bumper?

I don't want to go with the route of removing the plastic trim as I did try and 3 out of 4 clips have broken at the top. I don't think I will be able to do that without breaking the whole part.
Please advise,

Regards,

[Ranchero]

The bolts are probably rusted to buggery and are spinning freely.

Best option is to remove the bumper mounts with the bumper still attached. There are 4 X 13mm nuts to unscrew. 3 are behind the rear valance and 1 can be accessed by pulling back the carpet in the boot footwell.

Once the nuts are off you can pull the bumper off as usual.

The nuts on the exhaust side can be a bit fiddly to access, you might need a couple of extensions.

Good luck.

[kod81]

Thank you for the prompt answer.
I will try that route when I get back from work tonight. Much appreciated.

I did spray plenty of WD40 onto the nuts, but it didn't help. I thought their might be some sort of a "trick" behind the whole process.

Regards,

[Ranchero]

There are a couple of square brackets/washers that have probably rusted to the bolts. In your effort to free the bolts these have probably become mangled but are stopping the bolt from coming out.

Top of the picture you can see the brackety thing (i'm sure it's got a proper name).



This one has sheared off allowing the bolt to spin freely.


At the bottom are the 2 screws that attach the mount to the valance.

[kod81]

Thanks a lot. The photos are much of a help.
Sounds that I might be experiencing the same issue with brackets.

I will attempt to remove the whole mount off the valance. Hopefully they will budge.

Regards,

[kod81]

All worked. Just followed Ranchero's advise and got the bumper off the car. My 4x nuts were 14mm in size and located exactly where described above. The exhaust site is very fiddly. I was considering taking the back box out, but managed to get away without it.

Thanks,