It's getting too close to Spring, so time to get the chin repainted on the 355. Scanning quick, I see lots of threads suggesting to remove the bumper, but I didn't run into any "This is how" threads. Somebody have a link? thanks, ClydeM.
Remove front grill. Remove front most undertray Remove two of the smaller undertrays left and right underneath the fog lights Reach up undo all the connectors to the front bumper Remove wheels. Remove wheel front liners, then ... At the edge of the bumper, left and right on each side, there are 2 M8 nuts on each side you need to remove them with a 13mm socket and remove the small plate under the nuts. Remove three of the long metal retainers from inside the trunk such that you can insert a long extension with a 17mm long socket into the four nuts holding the bumper to the front of the body. Borrow another body, one on each side pull the bumper straight off. Voila.
What is a fair price for a respray? Is it usually just painted over or stripped of the old paint first?
You'll want the shop to strip it down before repainting... if the paint gets too thick, the paint will crack under stress or impact of road debris. Price will vary from shop to shop i'm sure, just get a few estimates. I am going to have my 348 front bumper redone in the next month or so, and I will be having clear film applied before reinstalling it, so hopefully this will be my LAST time!
Wow the front bumper removal is a lot more involved than the rear. I also want to have my front bumper resprayed soon, thanks for the DIY removal steps.
The wheels dont have to come off to take bumper off. I did this on both my cars for various light issues, radar etc. Turn the wheel to the left and to the right to get the inner bolts. The entire undertray does NOT get removed unless you feel like making extra work, just the leading bolts that attach it all to the bumper. Trunk liner pulled back to expose the big 17 or 19 mm guys is probably the most involved part. I never removed a grill either there is no hardware behind it that I ever saw. The gap is so generous between the header panel and fenders I would find it hard to believe that any competent shop with the exception of maybe macco could not easily spray it on the car.
Ok.. wanted to add some photos to this as I just went through the process and I'm pictures oriented so I don't screw something up and have to pay the Ferrari Tax to replace something I screwed up. GTSNJ is correct.. you don't need to pull the wheels. I did however jack up the car a bit to get to a little more room. 1st you'll need to remove the fog lights. You can also remove the grille with a phillips screwdriver. If you are getting a complete respray you'll want to do this anyhow. Great time to get it redone as well. Plus it's less things for the shop to jack up. Jack up the car. Remove the 5 screws holding the air panel in place. Repeat on other side of car. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Next up is the "vertical panel". Even after I had the slotted panel out I didn't even see the vertical panel. It's in the picture... carefully pull this out of the way toward the center of the car. Repeat on other side of car. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Now that you have that Panel out of they way you can see the two nuts that need to come off holding the side of the bumper in place. Repeat on the other side of the car. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Now comes the more fun part... cover the the fenders of the car with something soft so you don't screw them up leaning over them to unfasten the bolts in the trunk. You'll need to unscrew the black metal bars on both sides that act as trim for the inner liner. Use a phillips. As you can see.. on the RF side I got a little lazy because I didn't feel like pulling the amp out of the way. You just need enough room to pull the carpet from the front panel back and out of the way. BTW... the top of my carpet was taped in place by fabric tape.. my guess is originally, there was a leather piece of trim attached to the liner but that is since gone.. so tape it will be when I'm done. Those boxes are where you'll find the bolts you need to access to loosen the bumper in the front. Once you have those 4 bolts loosened. you can simply slide the bumper toward the front of the car. I did it by myself.. and found the side marker lights on mine had enough give on the LF to actually set the bumper on the ground to unplug it. The RF was already unplugged in the foglight removal process.. I'm guessing it was visible to me at the time so I unplugged it. Reinstall is the reverse. Thanks to all for the help.. hopefully the pictures help the next person. Image Unavailable, Please Login
