DIY: Grille Removal
Registered User
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 1
Likes: 1
From: Milpitas, CA
Wow, extremely helpful thread! I bought a Midnight Black Grille from the dealer and it came with a set of instructions. But with the pictures MikeYo provided, it made it so much easier. I noticed there was an extra step in the dealer instructions consisting of taking off extra clips on the side rubber panels. MikeYo's instructions bypassed this step and it still worked perfectly. It's about a half hour job, but took me about an hour and a half. I was proud of myself, seeing that I don't normally do DIYs. The dealers were charging up to $150 for install--HEEEEEELL NO! I'm glad I did it myself...GOOD iSH, MikeYo!!!
Last edited by CRUZcontrol240; Jan 22, 2009 at 08:16 PM.
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 41
Likes: 0
From: Denver, CO
I decided to go ahead and swap in my new OEM grille this morning.
Not sure if this is because I have an X but I only had to remove 7 (10mm) bolts to remove the top cover. I also removed the 2 (10mm) holding the coolant recovery tank in. It just made it a lot easier to get my hand in there since there are a couple pins that hold cover in place that you have to pull rearward to remove that end of the cover.
In addition the nuts that held my grill in place were 10mm instead of 8mm.
I would also have some narrow needle nose pliers handy to release the clips. This makes that process fairly easy. I just used the flat nose screwdriver to release the clips holding the hood release cable in place.
All in all pretty easy and only took me 15-30 minutes.
Not sure if this is because I have an X but I only had to remove 7 (10mm) bolts to remove the top cover. I also removed the 2 (10mm) holding the coolant recovery tank in. It just made it a lot easier to get my hand in there since there are a couple pins that hold cover in place that you have to pull rearward to remove that end of the cover.
In addition the nuts that held my grill in place were 10mm instead of 8mm.
I would also have some narrow needle nose pliers handy to release the clips. This makes that process fairly easy. I just used the flat nose screwdriver to release the clips holding the hood release cable in place.
All in all pretty easy and only took me 15-30 minutes.
Maybe it's an X vs non-X discrepancy? (I have an X).
Thanks to you both!
Yeah, thanks. I just installed my midnight grill, and the Infiniti instructions stink. Yours made about 200x more sense.
I am fairly competent with technical things, and I had a hard time with Infiniti's crappy instructions.
I am fairly competent with technical things, and I had a hard time with Infiniti's crappy instructions.
I did my Midnight Grille swap this weekend. Thanks to the OP for posting the great instructions. Also, was coming back on here to post almost the identical post above. Had 7 10mm bolts, not 10, had to undo both reservoir bolts, and slide the resovoir back an inch or two, and my grille bolts were 10mm, not 8mm. Took be about 40 minutes all in, mostly because trying to get the push/pull clips that connect the corragated hose underneath the plastic, were a serious PITA to get undone.
Maybe it's an X vs non-X discrepancy? (I have an X).
Thanks to you both!
Maybe it's an X vs non-X discrepancy? (I have an X).
Thanks to you both!
