I need help with grill replacement in a 2018 E300. Will I have to remove the front bumper?

Can you open the hood? I can't think why you would remove the bumper if all you are replacing is the grille section that opens with the hood.

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Jim

On the 2018 E300 the grill is fixed to the bumper. Access is limited.

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Well no one answered my post on how to remove and replace the grill on my 2018 Mercedes E 300 W 213. I purchased a new Diamond AMG style grill and decided to take a stab at it. I needed to remove six tork screws; four on the top of the grill and two to the left and right of the grill, these screws also control the gap between the hood and bumper. I used white-out to mark the correct fit before I removed the tork screws. There are serrated catch hooks where the three tork screws were that will need to be released later in order to pull the bumper and grill forward. Next I needed to pull back the front right and left fender liner held in place with three push in type fasteners on each side plus two 8 mm screws to gain access to the two tork screws (two on each side left and right) that fasten the bumper to the front fender. Turning the tires out makes this easier. Now I needed to release the serrated catches on the top of the bumper and begin pulling the bumper forward. Then separate the bumper from the fenders. Use a cloth or towel once the bumper is separated to prevent scratches on the fenders. Remove the rubber strip from the top of the bumper. There are six split pop rivets that have to be removed. Four are on the top that hold the grill to the bumper and are easily accessible. Two are on the lower right and left side of the grill and difficult to get to. I used a narrow very sharp wood chisel to cut the heads off. Now it is a matter of releasing the tabs that hold the grill to the bumper. I used a very thin flat blade screw driver and slipped it in between the grill and the bumper. I started at the top of the grill because these tabs can be seen, then worked around the grill and pushed the grill in away from the bumper until all the tabs are released. As the grill starts to separate it is easier to see where the tabs are located. The grill can now be lifted out of the bumper. The soft rubber air baffle comes out with the grill. And can be removed after the grill is out.

Installation is done in the reverse order taking care to the aligning of the serrated tabs so that the spacing of the bumper to the hood is correct.

The complete job took me about six hours and I left out all the steps that I took that were unnecessary. You need to be a determined and good DIYER to do this job.

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