[A4] Removing a 1999 A4 Avant rear bumper

[Richard van der Hoff]

On 06/11/11 20:30, Kent McLean wrote:
> Listers,
>
> I'm stumped. I've removed the four 17mm bolts under the spare tire
> cover. I've removed the 2 20T torx screws inside the rear fender wells.
>
> The manual says, "Unclip bumper from bracket -4- and remove toward
> rear." Ha! I've pulled and pushed and pulled. I fear Ill break
> something expensive (or NLA) if I pull any harder.
>
> What's the trick to getting the bumper "unclipped"?
> Or did I miss a fastener?
>
> This is a late '99, which differs from the early '99s by that clip
> and bracket.

I can only speak from experience of my '98 S4, which as you say has 
different clips, but to get the bumpers off it really does take a lot of 
pushing and shoving.

On mine the trick is to push the bumper DOWN and OUT REALLY REALLY HARD. 
Like, hang your bodyweight off it hard. The clips look like this:


/----\
|    |
|  | |
|  |
|  +--- -> bumper
|  +---
|  |
|  | |
|    |
\----/

Hope that's visible. Anyway the point is that by pushing the bumper down 
then pulling out, you can release the top of the clip, then the bottom 
comes out by lifting the bumper slightly.

I'm not sure how the later clips differ, but I'd definitely try shoving 
down as well as pushing in and out and back and forth.

Oh, getting it back on's even worse... I've resorted to taking off the 
wheels in the past, so that you can try and peer between the car and 
bumper from the wheel arch so you can (not quite) see what's going on.

Elsa seems to think there's just the four bolts under the boot lining, 
though it does mention some extra torx screws in the wheel housing liner 
for the S4 saloon. Perhaps you've got those.

Good luck...