I know there has been a lot of talk about what is & not needed to complete the CTS-V Bumper swap, so I’m making this write up of what it took me to get the swap complete for other members that want to do this.
In this swap, I changed both the front & rear bumper covers to the “V” bumper covers.
The parts that are needed for the Front “V” Bumper:
Front "V" Bumper cover
Front Upper Grill
Front Lower Grill
Fog Lights
Fog Light Bezels
Left Brake Duct (1 piece)
Right Brake Duct (2 pieces)
Left & Right Front Half Inner Splash Shields
Lower Bumper Trim
Front "V" Bumper absorber
Once you have all of the parts needed & ready to get them installed, you should start by removing the old bumper. In order to do this, you need to do the following:
1) Remove the 6 plastic twist screws that hold down the plastic/seal that runs over the top of the radiator.
2) Remove the 2 plastic retainer clips that are at the far end of the bumper cover next to the headlights.
3) Remove the 2 10mm screws that hold the grill to the radiator core support.
4) There are 2 plastic retainer clips on each inner fender/splash shield that need to be removed. These hold the bumper cover to the inner fender. Once you have them removed, there is 1 10mm screw behind the inner fender on each side that holds the top of the bumper cover to the bottom of the fender. There is no need to remove the wheels. I was able to get the clips & the bolts of by just turning the wheels to either side.
5) Next there will be plastic retainer clips that hold the bottom of the bumper cover the lower engine cover. I forgot how many.
6) Once you have all of the clips & bolts removed, pull each side of the bumper cover away from the fenders.
7) Grab the grill & pull the bumper cover away from the car keeping the bottom of the bumper cover in an angle to keep the fender arch of the cover away from the fenders. Once you have the bumper cover free, set it on the ground.
8) If you have headlight washers, locate the hose that connects to the jet. There is a white retainer clip that holds the hose in. Press the clip & pull towards the end of the cover.
9) If you have fog lights, unplug them at this point.
Here are some pics showing where & what needs to be removed:
Now that the Front Bumper is off, there are 2 tabs on the bumper reinforcement bar that need to be cutoff cause the fog light housing on the "V" bumper sits in this area.
In order to get to the top welds of the tabs, the Bumper absorber needs to be removed. There are 3 plastic retainers that hold the absorber to the reinforcement bar. Once these are removed, the absorber will come right off.
These are the tabs
Area in red is where they are welded
This is what it looks like when removed
I ground down the welds & painted the bare metal
Next you need to swap out the front half inner splash shields. These are held in with some plastic retainers. Once you have them removed, its just a matter of taking out the old splash shields & putting in the “V” splash shields. Then connect the brake ducts to the splash shields. Last you need to install the “V” absorber. Bring the “V” bumper cover over to the car & connect the fog lights & headlight washers. Now the “V” bumper cover can be installed onto the car. From this point, the installation is the exact reverse of the removal.
In this swap, I changed both the front & rear bumper covers to the “V” bumper covers.
The parts that are needed for the Front “V” Bumper:
Front "V" Bumper cover
Front Upper Grill
Front Lower Grill
Fog Lights
Fog Light Bezels
Left Brake Duct (1 piece)
Right Brake Duct (2 pieces)
Left & Right Front Half Inner Splash Shields
Lower Bumper Trim
Front "V" Bumper absorber
Once you have all of the parts needed & ready to get them installed, you should start by removing the old bumper. In order to do this, you need to do the following:
1) Remove the 6 plastic twist screws that hold down the plastic/seal that runs over the top of the radiator.
2) Remove the 2 plastic retainer clips that are at the far end of the bumper cover next to the headlights.
3) Remove the 2 10mm screws that hold the grill to the radiator core support.
4) There are 2 plastic retainer clips on each inner fender/splash shield that need to be removed. These hold the bumper cover to the inner fender. Once you have them removed, there is 1 10mm screw behind the inner fender on each side that holds the top of the bumper cover to the bottom of the fender. There is no need to remove the wheels. I was able to get the clips & the bolts of by just turning the wheels to either side.
5) Next there will be plastic retainer clips that hold the bottom of the bumper cover the lower engine cover. I forgot how many.
6) Once you have all of the clips & bolts removed, pull each side of the bumper cover away from the fenders.
7) Grab the grill & pull the bumper cover away from the car keeping the bottom of the bumper cover in an angle to keep the fender arch of the cover away from the fenders. Once you have the bumper cover free, set it on the ground.
8) If you have headlight washers, locate the hose that connects to the jet. There is a white retainer clip that holds the hose in. Press the clip & pull towards the end of the cover.
9) If you have fog lights, unplug them at this point.
Here are some pics showing where & what needs to be removed:
Now that the Front Bumper is off, there are 2 tabs on the bumper reinforcement bar that need to be cutoff cause the fog light housing on the "V" bumper sits in this area.
In order to get to the top welds of the tabs, the Bumper absorber needs to be removed. There are 3 plastic retainers that hold the absorber to the reinforcement bar. Once these are removed, the absorber will come right off.
These are the tabs
Area in red is where they are welded
This is what it looks like when removed
I ground down the welds & painted the bare metal
Next you need to swap out the front half inner splash shields. These are held in with some plastic retainers. Once you have them removed, its just a matter of taking out the old splash shields & putting in the “V” splash shields. Then connect the brake ducts to the splash shields. Last you need to install the “V” absorber. Bring the “V” bumper cover over to the car & connect the fog lights & headlight washers. Now the “V” bumper cover can be installed onto the car. From this point, the installation is the exact reverse of the removal.