Mk3 Ls400 Rear Bumper

[M.IQBAL]

Hi

does anybody know how to remove the rear bumper on a MK3 plz - One of my parking sensors has packed up and needs to be replaced. Also wanted to ask when would you use the front foglights (TURNING THE INNER RING ON THE LEFTHAND SIDE STALK) I just found out last night whilst looking for the rear foglight switch that the car has frot foglights aswell built into the headlights - surely they will dazzle oncoming drivers?

Many thanks guys for yor support over the past months and all the best for the festive season

regards

miq

[steveskeggy]

If your parking sensors are in the same place as mine, ie on the outer corners of the bumper, you probably wont need to take the bumper off to get to them.

Even if they are anywhere else, you most likely wont need to take the bumper off either.

if they are on the corners, then just remove the nearest rear light cluster by popping out the two round trim pieces next to the lights and taking out the screws under them. The clusters should then come off with a bit of twisting and pulling, also if you look in the boot under the carpet trim behind the lights there are two square push in holders that you may have to compress the lugs on, if they dont pop out.

After the lights are out, you should be able to stick your hand into the bumper and get to the sensor, on mine the wires run through the cluster wiring grommet, so you would need to take the lights out anyway.

If they are away from the corners, and you cant reach them using the above method, then look under the car at the front edge of the bumper, there should be a long black plastic trim, with five retaining clips in it. On some cars these may be screws, but on mine they were the two piece clips which you remove by pulling out the core that looks like a screw head. The rest of the retainer is part of the plastic trim.

When you remove all five cores, pull or prise out the plastic trim. This may cause a metal part the same length as the plastic trim to fall off, if not then pull it off, it will only fall off anyway.

Now you can pull on the bottom of the plastic part of the bumper (not TOO hard!), and you may just be able to do the job this way.

When you come to put it all back together again, the metal part goes behind the bumper, sandwiching the bumper with the plastic trim.

There are also three metal lugs on the bodywork that the retainers have to go through, be careful of these as they bend easily when you are trying to push the retainers through.

The light clusters should come out leaving the two square retainers in place with two pegs that locate in them on the cluster, if the square retainers came out then just make sure that they both go back in again properly with the lugs spreading either side, if they come loose after you have taken the clusters out then try not to drop them down into the bumper cavity, especially if its getting dark, and you have nearly finished the job, and the batteries in your torch are nearly flat.

If you have got the same corner sensors as me, however, I would recommend that you dont bother, as these things are useless at best.

The best thing to do in this case is to fit an after market set of sensors, I have just finished fitting a set on mine consisting of two sensors at the front and four at the rear.

The ones at the rear were a doddle to fit.

The ones at the front however, made me shout rude words.

A lot.

However they have been well worth it, my feeling is that it is a lot less stressful, and a lot cheaper, to fit these things than to have to replace or repair the bumpers on your car.

you may want to visit here:

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/body/trailerhitch.html

For a few more pointers.

[M.IQBAL]

If your parking sensors are in the same place as mine, ie on the outer corners of the bumper, you probably wont need to take the bumper off to get to them.

Even if they are anywhere else, you most likely wont need to take the bumper off either.

if they are on the corners, then just remove the nearest rear light cluster by popping out the two round trim pieces next to the lights and taking out the screws under them. The clusters should then come off with a bit of twisting and pulling, also if you look in the boot under the carpet trim behind the lights there are two square push in holders that you may have to compress the lugs on, if they dont pop out.

After the lights are out, you should be able to stick your hand into the bumper and get to the sensor, on mine the wires run through the cluster wiring grommet, so you would need to take the lights out anyway.

If they are away from the corners, and you cant reach them using the above method, then look under the car at the front edge of the bumper, there should be a long black plastic trim, with five retaining clips in it. On some cars these may be screws, but on mine they were the two piece clips which you remove by pulling out the core that looks like a screw head. The rest of the retainer is part of the plastic trim.

When you remove all five cores, pull or prise out the plastic trim. This may cause a metal part the same length as the plastic trim to fall off, if not then pull it off, it will only fall off anyway.

Now you can pull on the bottom of the plastic part of the bumper (not TOO hard!), and you may just be able to do the job this way.

When you come to put it all back together again, the metal part goes behind the bumper, sandwiching the bumper with the plastic trim.

There are also three metal lugs on the bodywork that the retainers have to go through, be careful of these as they bend easily when you are trying to push the retainers through.

The light clusters should come out leaving the two square retainers in place with two pegs that locate in them on the cluster, if the square retainers came out then just make sure that they both go back in again properly with the lugs spreading either side, if they come loose after you have taken the clusters out then try not to drop them down into the bumper cavity, especially if its getting dark, and you have nearly finished the job, and the batteries in your torch are nearly flat.

If you have got the same corner sensors as me, however, I would recommend that you dont bother, as these things are useless at best.

The best thing to do in this case is to fit an after market set of sensors, I have just finished fitting a set on mine consisting of two sensors at the front and four at the rear.

The ones at the rear were a doddle to fit.

The ones at the front however, made me shout rude words.

A lot.

However they have been well worth it, my feeling is that it is a lot less stressful, and a lot cheaper, to fit these things than to have to replace or repair the bumpers on your car.

you may want to visit here:

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/body/trailerhitch.html

For a few more pointers.

Hi

steve many thanks for the detailed information - i hadnt recieved a reply to his thread for over a week and i had made my mind up to live with a dud sensor untill another one packs up and then maybe look into it further. The sensors fitted to my MK3 are aftermarket ones made by steel mate - i think they are the best feature of the car as it makes life really easy. I have spoken to steel mate and they can sell me one sensor for £15 - each sensor is supposed to unplug seperatley but the problem is when i came to remove it the sensor came out but wont come out more than 2 inches of wire - i suspect the wiring is tangled inside the bumper or is caught against something thats whyits not budging. But i now how your info to hand im going to give it another try and fingers crossed i should be able to retirve the old sensor - once thats out its a 10 second job - plug the new on in and pop it back in.

many thanks for your help

regards

miq

By the way do you have beige leather? - its very hard to keep clean - i have to wipe my shoes everytime i goto drive it! that is the only downside of my car

[Chris Skelton]

Doesn't everyone wipe their shoes clean first, (wash hands, say a prayer of thanks for such a lovely car you own, and drive off smiling at the world?) !!!

[lutonmatt]

:D :D :D

as for the front fogs you do not blind other drivers as the fogs shine down on the floor so you can see more of the road when i drove mine in the dark i always had them on cos yoou could see more plus no one know you have them on cos they are in the headlight uint try it you wont go back

[steve2006]

Doesn't everyone wipe their shoes clean first, (wash hands, say a prayer of thanks for such a lovely car you own, and drive off smiling at the world?) !!!

I supply carpet slippers to all my passengers to put on as they get in the car they are easily stowed in the front passenger glovebox and the rear centre armrest!!!!!!

[rabnoolas]

If your parking sensors are in the same place as mine, ie on the outer corners of the bumper, you probably wont need to take the bumper off to get to them.

Even if they are anywhere else, you most likely wont need to take the bumper off either.

if they are on the corners, then just remove the nearest rear light cluster by popping out the two round trim pieces next to the lights and taking out the screws under them. The clusters should then come off with a bit of twisting and pulling, also if you look in the boot under the carpet trim behind the lights there are two square push in holders that you may have to compress the lugs on, if they dont pop out.

After the lights are out, you should be able to stick your hand into the bumper and get to the sensor, on mine the wires run through the cluster wiring grommet, so you would need to take the lights out anyway.

If they are away from the corners, and you cant reach them using the above method, then look under the car at the front edge of the bumper, there should be a long black plastic trim, with five retaining clips in it. On some cars these may be screws, but on mine they were the two piece clips which you remove by pulling out the core that looks like a screw head. The rest of the retainer is part of the plastic trim.

When you remove all five cores, pull or prise out the plastic trim. This may cause a metal part the same length as the plastic trim to fall off, if not then pull it off, it will only fall off anyway.

Now you can pull on the bottom of the plastic part of the bumper (not TOO hard!), and you may just be able to do the job this way.

When you come to put it all back together again, the metal part goes behind the bumper, sandwiching the bumper with the plastic trim.

There are also three metal lugs on the bodywork that the retainers have to go through, be careful of these as they bend easily when you are trying to push the retainers through.

The light clusters should come out leaving the two square retainers in place with two pegs that locate in them on the cluster, if the square retainers came out then just make sure that they both go back in again properly with the lugs spreading either side, if they come loose after you have taken the clusters out then try not to drop them down into the bumper cavity, especially if its getting dark, and you have nearly finished the job, and the batteries in your torch are nearly flat.

If you have got the same corner sensors as me, however, I would recommend that you dont bother, as these things are useless at best.

The best thing to do in this case is to fit an after market set of sensors, I have just finished fitting a set on mine consisting of two sensors at the front and four at the rear.

The ones at the rear were a doddle to fit.

The ones at the front however, made me shout rude words.

A lot.

However they have been well worth it, my feeling is that it is a lot less stressful, and a lot cheaper, to fit these things than to have to replace or repair the bumpers on your car.

you may want to visit here:

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/body/trailerhitch.html

For a few more pointers.

Hi

steve many thanks for the detailed information - i hadnt recieved a reply to his thread for over a week and i had made my mind up to live with a dud sensor untill another one packs up and then maybe look into it further. The sensors fitted to my MK3 are aftermarket ones made by steel mate - i think they are the best feature of the car as it makes life really easy. I have spoken to steel mate and they can sell me one sensor for £15 - each sensor is supposed to unplug seperatley but the problem is when i came to remove it the sensor came out but wont come out more than 2 inches of wire - i suspect the wiring is tangled inside the bumper or is caught against something thats whyits not budging. But i now how your info to hand im going to give it another try and fingers crossed i should be able to retirve the old sensor - once thats out its a 10 second job - plug the new on in and pop it back in.

many thanks for your help

regards

miq

By the way do you have beige leather? - its very hard to keep clean - i have to wipe my shoes everytime i goto drive it! that is the only downside of my car

Hi. I am probably too late with this and hope you resolved your problem by now. I fitted aftermarket parking sensors to my 1995 series 3 LS 400 last week, though I bought mine off eBay for £19.00 total. (It took me 4 hours but it was freezing and I was being careful)

In fitting them I didn't want to take the bumper off and found that if you lie under the rear corners you can reach inside the bumper. From here I found that the rear bumper had 2 metal box section (hollow square tube) running across the car and a rubberised coating between these and the bumper itself. The rubber material was shaped and filled the gap top and bottom leaving a clear channel about 40mm wide aroung the mid hieght of the bumper. I ran the wires and mounted the sensors to fit in the gap. I used a wire coat hanger (pushed carefully so as not to crack the bumper) from sensor hole to sensor hole and using duct tape to lash a thin wire to the end and pulled the wire through.

If the set up of your sensors is the same then it occurs to me that you need to pull all the sensors out a little to help remove the old and fit the new. If the wire is made free by this work you could use it by fitting a thin wire the sensor head wire and by lashing to this thin wire and pulling the new sensor wire though the cavity in the bumper.

Hope you are OK.

Rab

[M.IQBAL]

If your parking sensors are in the same place as mine, ie on the outer corners of the bumper, you probably wont need to take the bumper off to get to them.

Even if they are anywhere else, you most likely wont need to take the bumper off either.

if they are on the corners, then just remove the nearest rear light cluster by popping out the two round trim pieces next to the lights and taking out the screws under them. The clusters should then come off with a bit of twisting and pulling, also if you look in the boot under the carpet trim behind the lights there are two square push in holders that you may have to compress the lugs on, if they dont pop out.

After the lights are out, you should be able to stick your hand into the bumper and get to the sensor, on mine the wires run through the cluster wiring grommet, so you would need to take the lights out anyway.

If they are away from the corners, and you cant reach them using the above method, then look under the car at the front edge of the bumper, there should be a long black plastic trim, with five retaining clips in it. On some cars these may be screws, but on mine they were the two piece clips which you remove by pulling out the core that looks like a screw head. The rest of the retainer is part of the plastic trim.

When you remove all five cores, pull or prise out the plastic trim. This may cause a metal part the same length as the plastic trim to fall off, if not then pull it off, it will only fall off anyway.

Now you can pull on the bottom of the plastic part of the bumper (not TOO hard!), and you may just be able to do the job this way.

When you come to put it all back together again, the metal part goes behind the bumper, sandwiching the bumper with the plastic trim.

There are also three metal lugs on the bodywork that the retainers have to go through, be careful of these as they bend easily when you are trying to push the retainers through.

The light clusters should come out leaving the two square retainers in place with two pegs that locate in them on the cluster, if the square retainers came out then just make sure that they both go back in again properly with the lugs spreading either side, if they come loose after you have taken the clusters out then try not to drop them down into the bumper cavity, especially if its getting dark, and you have nearly finished the job, and the batteries in your torch are nearly flat.

If you have got the same corner sensors as me, however, I would recommend that you dont bother, as these things are useless at best.

The best thing to do in this case is to fit an after market set of sensors, I have just finished fitting a set on mine consisting of two sensors at the front and four at the rear.

The ones at the rear were a doddle to fit.

The ones at the front however, made me shout rude words.

A lot.

However they have been well worth it, my feeling is that it is a lot less stressful, and a lot cheaper, to fit these things than to have to replace or repair the bumpers on your car.

you may want to visit here:

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/body/trailerhitch.html

For a few more pointers.

Hi

steve many thanks for the detailed information - i hadnt recieved a reply to his thread for over a week and i had made my mind up to live with a dud sensor untill another one packs up and then maybe look into it further. The sensors fitted to my MK3 are aftermarket ones made by steel mate - i think they are the best feature of the car as it makes life really easy. I have spoken to steel mate and they can sell me one sensor for £15 - each sensor is supposed to unplug seperatley but the problem is when i came to remove it the sensor came out but wont come out more than 2 inches of wire - i suspect the wiring is tangled inside the bumper or is caught against something thats whyits not budging. But i now how your info to hand im going to give it another try and fingers crossed i should be able to retirve the old sensor - once thats out its a 10 second job - plug the new on in and pop it back in.

many thanks for your help

regards

miq

By the way do you have beige leather? - its very hard to keep clean - i have to wipe my shoes everytime i goto drive it! that is the only downside of my car

Hi. I am probably too late with this and hope you resolved your problem by now. I fitted aftermarket parking sensors to my 1995 series 3 LS 400 last week, though I bought mine off eBay for £19.00 total. (It took me 4 hours but it was freezing and I was being careful)

In fitting them I didn't want to take the bumper off and found that if you lie under the rear corners you can reach inside the bumper. From here I found that the rear bumper had 2 metal box section (hollow square tube) running across the car and a rubberised coating between these and the bumper itself. The rubber material was shaped and filled the gap top and bottom leaving a clear channel about 40mm wide aroung the mid hieght of the bumper. I ran the wires and mounted the sensors to fit in the gap. I used a wire coat hanger (pushed carefully so as not to crack the bumper) from sensor hole to sensor hole and using duct tape to lash a thin wire to the end and pulled the wire through.

If the set up of your sensors is the same then it occurs to me that you need to pull all the sensors out a little to help remove the old and fit the new. If the wire is made free by this work you could use it by fitting a thin wire the sensor head wire and by lashing to this thin wire and pulling the new sensor wire though the cavity in the bumper.

Hope you are OK.

Rab

Hi

First of all many thanks to all you guys who have replied to my question. Rab i am also very reluctant to take off the bumper as i may not be able to put it back together again properly. I was unable to remove the sensor becuase the wiring is stuck inside somewhere. So like u have done i will have to get underneath the car and try to locate and untangle the wires so that i can full retrieve and remove the sensor so that i can unplug it and attach the new one. I havent been able to do it as yet as is cold and raining out there but plan to do it asoon as possible as the "double beep" indicating there is a fault is getting a bit irritating everytime i reverse!

Im also thinking of replacing the front bumper black trim pieces ( or air dams) but i have read that you have to remove the front arch liner which again im a bit reluctant to do so if anybody out there has done and can shed a bit of light as to how easy or hard it is then i would gladly like to hear from them.

Apart from these small niggles my MK3 is performing great - cant get enough of it really - it certainly is and was discovery of perfection!

regards

miq

[JellyBean]

Im also thinking of replacing the front bumper black trim pieces ( or air dams) but i have read that you have to remove the front arch liner which again im a bit reluctant to do so if anybody out there has done and can shed a bit of light as to how easy or hard it is then i would gladly like to hear from them.

I did my Mk3 air damn thingies recently (and then busted one about three weeks later, but there you go) and it wasn't really difficult at all - just a bit fiddly.

1. Remove front wheel

2. Wire brush any dirt around the setscrews and perhaps a squirt of the old WD40 if you are in the mood.

3. Remove all setscrews and detach wheelarch liner.

4. You will need a ¼" drive socket, extension and mouse sh*t (this is a small ratchet).

5. There are five wee bolts fixed to a sort of comb arrangement whereby the nuts come off from above.

Let us know how you fare.

Good luck and think of the money you will save by not being mugged by the Main Agent.

[rabnoolas]

If your parking sensors are in the same place as mine, ie on the outer corners of the bumper, you probably wont need to take the bumper off to get to them.

Even if they are anywhere else, you most likely wont need to take the bumper off either.

if they are on the corners, then just remove the nearest rear light cluster by popping out the two round trim pieces next to the lights and taking out the screws under them. The clusters should then come off with a bit of twisting and pulling, also if you look in the boot under the carpet trim behind the lights there are two square push in holders that you may have to compress the lugs on, if they dont pop out.

After the lights are out, you should be able to stick your hand into the bumper and get to the sensor, on mine the wires run through the cluster wiring grommet, so you would need to take the lights out anyway.

If they are away from the corners, and you cant reach them using the above method, then look under the car at the front edge of the bumper, there should be a long black plastic trim, with five retaining clips in it. On some cars these may be screws, but on mine they were the two piece clips which you remove by pulling out the core that looks like a screw head. The rest of the retainer is part of the plastic trim.

When you remove all five cores, pull or prise out the plastic trim. This may cause a metal part the same length as the plastic trim to fall off, if not then pull it off, it will only fall off anyway.

Now you can pull on the bottom of the plastic part of the bumper (not TOO hard!), and you may just be able to do the job this way.

When you come to put it all back together again, the metal part goes behind the bumper, sandwiching the bumper with the plastic trim.

There are also three metal lugs on the bodywork that the retainers have to go through, be careful of these as they bend easily when you are trying to push the retainers through.

The light clusters should come out leaving the two square retainers in place with two pegs that locate in them on the cluster, if the square retainers came out then just make sure that they both go back in again properly with the lugs spreading either side, if they come loose after you have taken the clusters out then try not to drop them down into the bumper cavity, especially if its getting dark, and you have nearly finished the job, and the batteries in your torch are nearly flat.

If you have got the same corner sensors as me, however, I would recommend that you dont bother, as these things are useless at best.

The best thing to do in this case is to fit an after market set of sensors, I have just finished fitting a set on mine consisting of two sensors at the front and four at the rear.

The ones at the rear were a doddle to fit.

The ones at the front however, made me shout rude words.

A lot.

However they have been well worth it, my feeling is that it is a lot less stressful, and a lot cheaper, to fit these things than to have to replace or repair the bumpers on your car.

you may want to visit here:

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/body/trailerhitch.html

For a few more pointers.

Hi

steve many thanks for the detailed information - i hadnt recieved a reply to his thread for over a week and i had made my mind up to live with a dud sensor untill another one packs up and then maybe look into it further. The sensors fitted to my MK3 are aftermarket ones made by steel mate - i think they are the best feature of the car as it makes life really easy. I have spoken to steel mate and they can sell me one sensor for £15 - each sensor is supposed to unplug seperatley but the problem is when i came to remove it the sensor came out but wont come out more than 2 inches of wire - i suspect the wiring is tangled inside the bumper or is caught against something thats whyits not budging. But i now how your info to hand im going to give it another try and fingers crossed i should be able to retirve the old sensor - once thats out its a 10 second job - plug the new on in and pop it back in.

many thanks for your help

regards

miq

By the way do you have beige leather? - its very hard to keep clean - i have to wipe my shoes everytime i goto drive it! that is the only downside of my car

Hi. I am probably too late with this and hope you resolved your problem by now. I fitted aftermarket parking sensors to my 1995 series 3 LS 400 last week, though I bought mine off eBay for £19.00 total. (It took me 4 hours but it was freezing and I was being careful)

In fitting them I didn't want to take the bumper off and found that if you lie under the rear corners you can reach inside the bumper. From here I found that the rear bumper had 2 metal box section (hollow square tube) running across the car and a rubberised coating between these and the bumper itself. The rubber material was shaped and filled the gap top and bottom leaving a clear channel about 40mm wide aroung the mid hieght of the bumper. I ran the wires and mounted the sensors to fit in the gap. I used a wire coat hanger (pushed carefully so as not to crack the bumper) from sensor hole to sensor hole and using duct tape to lash a thin wire to the end and pulled the wire through.

If the set up of your sensors is the same then it occurs to me that you need to pull all the sensors out a little to help remove the old and fit the new. If the wire is made free by this work you could use it by fitting a thin wire the sensor head wire and by lashing to this thin wire and pulling the new sensor wire though the cavity in the bumper.

Hope you are OK.

Rab

Hi

First of all many thanks to all you guys who have replied to my question. Rab i am also very reluctant to take off the bumper as i may not be able to put it back together again properly. I was unable to remove the sensor becuase the wiring is stuck inside somewhere. So like u have done i will have to get underneath the car and try to locate and untangle the wires so that i can full retrieve and remove the sensor so that i can unplug it and attach the new one. I havent been able to do it as yet as is cold and raining out there but plan to do it asoon as possible as the "double beep" indicating there is a fault is getting a bit irritating everytime i reverse!

Im also thinking of replacing the front bumper black trim pieces ( or air dams) but i have read that you have to remove the front arch liner which again im a bit reluctant to do so if anybody out there has done and can shed a bit of light as to how easy or hard it is then i would gladly like to hear from them.

Apart from these small niggles my MK3 is performing great - cant get enough of it really - it certainly is and was discovery of perfection!

regards

miq

Hi Miq. Hope you get the sensors sorted. I am with you about plucking up the courage to remove parts etc, the car is so fantastic to drive and just look at when you park it up you don't want to spoil it. I was always taught measure twice cut once, but before I drilled the back bumper for the sensors I must have measured and marked the spots 6 times to make sure it looked right.

like you I am looking to replace the rubber skirt on the front air dam and will need to find where to buy it/them. (Anyone know where this can be got?)

My series 3 has had some poor work done by someone, but the owner before me started to restore the car and I will finish it. My list of niggles is longer than yours but I still love the car. (the biggest problem is that I drove my old car today, which I used to enjoy, and hated the whole experience. I'm ruined for driving other cars now)

Happy driving,

Rab

[M.IQBAL]

If your parking sensors are in the same place as mine, ie on the outer corners of the bumper, you probably wont need to take the bumper off to get to them.

Even if they are anywhere else, you most likely wont need to take the bumper off either.

if they are on the corners, then just remove the nearest rear light cluster by popping out the two round trim pieces next to the lights and taking out the screws under them. The clusters should then come off with a bit of twisting and pulling, also if you look in the boot under the carpet trim behind the lights there are two square push in holders that you may have to compress the lugs on, if they dont pop out.

After the lights are out, you should be able to stick your hand into the bumper and get to the sensor, on mine the wires run through the cluster wiring grommet, so you would need to take the lights out anyway.

If they are away from the corners, and you cant reach them using the above method, then look under the car at the front edge of the bumper, there should be a long black plastic trim, with five retaining clips in it. On some cars these may be screws, but on mine they were the two piece clips which you remove by pulling out the core that looks like a screw head. The rest of the retainer is part of the plastic trim.

When you remove all five cores, pull or prise out the plastic trim. This may cause a metal part the same length as the plastic trim to fall off, if not then pull it off, it will only fall off anyway.

Now you can pull on the bottom of the plastic part of the bumper (not TOO hard!), and you may just be able to do the job this way.

When you come to put it all back together again, the metal part goes behind the bumper, sandwiching the bumper with the plastic trim.

There are also three metal lugs on the bodywork that the retainers have to go through, be careful of these as they bend easily when you are trying to push the retainers through.

The light clusters should come out leaving the two square retainers in place with two pegs that locate in them on the cluster, if the square retainers came out then just make sure that they both go back in again properly with the lugs spreading either side, if they come loose after you have taken the clusters out then try not to drop them down into the bumper cavity, especially if its getting dark, and you have nearly finished the job, and the batteries in your torch are nearly flat.

If you have got the same corner sensors as me, however, I would recommend that you dont bother, as these things are useless at best.

The best thing to do in this case is to fit an after market set of sensors, I have just finished fitting a set on mine consisting of two sensors at the front and four at the rear.

The ones at the rear were a doddle to fit.

The ones at the front however, made me shout rude words.

A lot.

However they have been well worth it, my feeling is that it is a lot less stressful, and a lot cheaper, to fit these things than to have to replace or repair the bumpers on your car.

you may want to visit here:

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/body/trailerhitch.html

For a few more pointers.

Hi

steve many thanks for the detailed information - i hadnt recieved a reply to his thread for over a week and i had made my mind up to live with a dud sensor untill another one packs up and then maybe look into it further. The sensors fitted to my MK3 are aftermarket ones made by steel mate - i think they are the best feature of the car as it makes life really easy. I have spoken to steel mate and they can sell me one sensor for £15 - each sensor is supposed to unplug seperatley but the problem is when i came to remove it the sensor came out but wont come out more than 2 inches of wire - i suspect the wiring is tangled inside the bumper or is caught against something thats whyits not budging. But i now how your info to hand im going to give it another try and fingers crossed i should be able to retirve the old sensor - once thats out its a 10 second job - plug the new on in and pop it back in.

many thanks for your help

regards

miq

By the way do you have beige leather? - its very hard to keep clean - i have to wipe my shoes everytime i goto drive it! that is the only downside of my car

Hi. I am probably too late with this and hope you resolved your problem by now. I fitted aftermarket parking sensors to my 1995 series 3 LS 400 last week, though I bought mine off eBay for £19.00 total. (It took me 4 hours but it was freezing and I was being careful)

In fitting them I didn't want to take the bumper off and found that if you lie under the rear corners you can reach inside the bumper. From here I found that the rear bumper had 2 metal box section (hollow square tube) running across the car and a rubberised coating between these and the bumper itself. The rubber material was shaped and filled the gap top and bottom leaving a clear channel about 40mm wide aroung the mid hieght of the bumper. I ran the wires and mounted the sensors to fit in the gap. I used a wire coat hanger (pushed carefully so as not to crack the bumper) from sensor hole to sensor hole and using duct tape to lash a thin wire to the end and pulled the wire through.

If the set up of your sensors is the same then it occurs to me that you need to pull all the sensors out a little to help remove the old and fit the new. If the wire is made free by this work you could use it by fitting a thin wire the sensor head wire and by lashing to this thin wire and pulling the new sensor wire though the cavity in the bumper.

Hope you are OK.

Rab

Hi

First of all many thanks to all you guys who have replied to my question. Rab i am also very reluctant to take off the bumper as i may not be able to put it back together again properly. I was unable to remove the sensor becuase the wiring is stuck inside somewhere. So like u have done i will have to get underneath the car and try to locate and untangle the wires so that i can full retrieve and remove the sensor so that i can unplug it and attach the new one. I havent been able to do it as yet as is cold and raining out there but plan to do it asoon as possible as the "double beep" indicating there is a fault is getting a bit irritating everytime i reverse!

Im also thinking of replacing the front bumper black trim pieces ( or air dams) but i have read that you have to remove the front arch liner which again im a bit reluctant to do so if anybody out there has done and can shed a bit of light as to how easy or hard it is then i would gladly like to hear from them.

Apart from these small niggles my MK3 is performing great - cant get enough of it really - it certainly is and was discovery of perfection!

regards

miq

Hi Miq. Hope you get the sensors sorted. I am with you about plucking up the courage to remove parts etc, the car is so fantastic to drive and just look at when you park it up you don't want to spoil it. I was always taught measure twice cut once, but before I drilled the back bumper for the sensors I must have measured and marked the spots 6 times to make sure it looked right.

like you I am looking to replace the rubber skirt on the front air dam and will need to find where to buy it/them. (Anyone know where this can be got?)

My series 3 has had some poor work done by someone, but the owner before me started to restore the car and I will finish it. My list of niggles is longer than yours but I still love the car. (the biggest problem is that I drove my old car today, which I used to enjoy, and hated the whole experience. I'm ruined for driving other cars now)

Happy driving,

Rab

Hi rab - the air dams are a dealer only part and are about £37 per side - the nearest dealer to me is about 12 miles away just trying to find the time to go and get them. Mine is a 1996green over grey with cream interior and its a challenge trying to keep the interior clean - i hoover it religiously every week and have covered the factory over mats with clear rubber mats but i still often find myself picking up small stones or specks of dust if i see any and never drive with the windows down as i dont want dust flying in!! ha ha mad or what !! I think deep down i would rather prefer to park it up a heated garage and just admire it - hate to see rain/dust/brakedust on the alloys etc!! ha ha

I have only had my car 2 months but when i bought it i didnt drive for a month because it need some bits doing as follows:

Oil Change

4 New hubcaps from USA

2 New gas bonnet struts

Steering wheel cover from USA

Vacume interior in boot

Washed over mats

Cleaned carpet with Vanish mousse

New clear mats

4 wheel tracking done

New map CD for the Sat Nav

Upgraded sidelights and headlamps to PIAA

Washed and poolished with meguirs gold class

as it stands i need to replace on of the rear sensors and the front air dams and then i think the car will be perfect.

Sorry cannot figure out how to insert pics other wise would of shown you my car

regards

miq

[rabnoolas]

If your parking sensors are in the same place as mine, ie on the outer corners of the bumper, you probably wont need to take the bumper off to get to them.

Even if they are anywhere else, you most likely wont need to take the bumper off either.

if they are on the corners, then just remove the nearest rear light cluster by popping out the two round trim pieces next to the lights and taking out the screws under them. The clusters should then come off with a bit of twisting and pulling, also if you look in the boot under the carpet trim behind the lights there are two square push in holders that you may have to compress the lugs on, if they dont pop out.

After the lights are out, you should be able to stick your hand into the bumper and get to the sensor, on mine the wires run through the cluster wiring grommet, so you would need to take the lights out anyway.

If they are away from the corners, and you cant reach them using the above method, then look under the car at the front edge of the bumper, there should be a long black plastic trim, with five retaining clips in it. On some cars these may be screws, but on mine they were the two piece clips which you remove by pulling out the core that looks like a screw head. The rest of the retainer is part of the plastic trim.

When you remove all five cores, pull or prise out the plastic trim. This may cause a metal part the same length as the plastic trim to fall off, if not then pull it off, it will only fall off anyway.

Now you can pull on the bottom of the plastic part of the bumper (not TOO hard!), and you may just be able to do the job this way.

When you come to put it all back together again, the metal part goes behind the bumper, sandwiching the bumper with the plastic trim.

There are also three metal lugs on the bodywork that the retainers have to go through, be careful of these as they bend easily when you are trying to push the retainers through.

The light clusters should come out leaving the two square retainers in place with two pegs that locate in them on the cluster, if the square retainers came out then just make sure that they both go back in again properly with the lugs spreading either side, if they come loose after you have taken the clusters out then try not to drop them down into the bumper cavity, especially if its getting dark, and you have nearly finished the job, and the batteries in your torch are nearly flat.

If you have got the same corner sensors as me, however, I would recommend that you dont bother, as these things are useless at best.

The best thing to do in this case is to fit an after market set of sensors, I have just finished fitting a set on mine consisting of two sensors at the front and four at the rear.

The ones at the rear were a doddle to fit.

The ones at the front however, made me shout rude words.

A lot.

However they have been well worth it, my feeling is that it is a lot less stressful, and a lot cheaper, to fit these things than to have to replace or repair the bumpers on your car.

you may want to visit here:

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/body/trailerhitch.html

For a few more pointers.

Hi

steve many thanks for the detailed information - i hadnt recieved a reply to his thread for over a week and i had made my mind up to live with a dud sensor untill another one packs up and then maybe look into it further. The sensors fitted to my MK3 are aftermarket ones made by steel mate - i think they are the best feature of the car as it makes life really easy. I have spoken to steel mate and they can sell me one sensor for £15 - each sensor is supposed to unplug seperatley but the problem is when i came to remove it the sensor came out but wont come out more than 2 inches of wire - i suspect the wiring is tangled inside the bumper or is caught against something thats whyits not budging. But i now how your info to hand im going to give it another try and fingers crossed i should be able to retirve the old sensor - once thats out its a 10 second job - plug the new on in and pop it back in.

many thanks for your help

regards

miq

By the way do you have beige leather? - its very hard to keep clean - i have to wipe my shoes everytime i goto drive it! that is the only downside of my car

Hi. I am probably too late with this and hope you resolved your problem by now. I fitted aftermarket parking sensors to my 1995 series 3 LS 400 last week, though I bought mine off eBay for £19.00 total. (It took me 4 hours but it was freezing and I was being careful)

In fitting them I didn't want to take the bumper off and found that if you lie under the rear corners you can reach inside the bumper. From here I found that the rear bumper had 2 metal box section (hollow square tube) running across the car and a rubberised coating between these and the bumper itself. The rubber material was shaped and filled the gap top and bottom leaving a clear channel about 40mm wide aroung the mid hieght of the bumper. I ran the wires and mounted the sensors to fit in the gap. I used a wire coat hanger (pushed carefully so as not to crack the bumper) from sensor hole to sensor hole and using duct tape to lash a thin wire to the end and pulled the wire through.

If the set up of your sensors is the same then it occurs to me that you need to pull all the sensors out a little to help remove the old and fit the new. If the wire is made free by this work you could use it by fitting a thin wire the sensor head wire and by lashing to this thin wire and pulling the new sensor wire though the cavity in the bumper.

Hope you are OK.

Rab

Hi

First of all many thanks to all you guys who have replied to my question. Rab i am also very reluctant to take off the bumper as i may not be able to put it back together again properly. I was unable to remove the sensor becuase the wiring is stuck inside somewhere. So like u have done i will have to get underneath the car and try to locate and untangle the wires so that i can full retrieve and remove the sensor so that i can unplug it and attach the new one. I havent been able to do it as yet as is cold and raining out there but plan to do it asoon as possible as the "double beep" indicating there is a fault is getting a bit irritating everytime i reverse!

Im also thinking of replacing the front bumper black trim pieces ( or air dams) but i have read that you have to remove the front arch liner which again im a bit reluctant to do so if anybody out there has done and can shed a bit of light as to how easy or hard it is then i would gladly like to hear from them.

Apart from these small niggles my MK3 is performing great - cant get enough of it really - it certainly is and was discovery of perfection!

regards

miq

Hi Miq. Hope you get the sensors sorted. I am with you about plucking up the courage to remove parts etc, the car is so fantastic to drive and just look at when you park it up you don't want to spoil it. I was always taught measure twice cut once, but before I drilled the back bumper for the sensors I must have measured and marked the spots 6 times to make sure it looked right.

like you I am looking to replace the rubber skirt on the front air dam and will need to find where to buy it/them. (Anyone know where this can be got?)

My series 3 has had some poor work done by someone, but the owner before me started to restore the car and I will finish it. My list of niggles is longer than yours but I still love the car. (the biggest problem is that I drove my old car today, which I used to enjoy, and hated the whole experience. I'm ruined for driving other cars now)

Happy driving,

Rab

Hi rab - the air dams are a dealer only part and are about £37 per side - the nearest dealer to me is about 12 miles away just trying to find the time to go and get them. Mine is a 1996green over grey with cream interior and its a challenge trying to keep the interior clean - i hoover it religiously every week and have covered the factory over mats with clear rubber mats but i still often find myself picking up small stones or specks of dust if i see any and never drive with the windows down as i dont want dust flying in!! ha ha mad or what !! I think deep down i would rather prefer to park it up a heated garage and just admire it - hate to see rain/dust/brakedust on the alloys etc!! ha ha

I have only had my car 2 months but when i bought it i didnt drive for a month because it need some bits doing as follows:

Oil Change

4 New hubcaps from USA

2 New gas bonnet struts

Steering wheel cover from USA

Vacume interior in boot

Washed over mats

Cleaned carpet with Vanish mousse

New clear mats

4 wheel tracking done

New map CD for the Sat Nav

Upgraded sidelights and headlamps to PIAA

Washed and poolished with meguirs gold class

as it stands i need to replace on of the rear sensors and the front air dams and then i think the car will be perfect.

Sorry cannot figure out how to insert pics other wise would of shown you my car

regards

miq

Thanks for the information and sorry for the late response. (My wife was in hospital)

You must have a series 4 if you have Satnav. The car does sound nearly perfect and I am sure you will get there.

Mine still requires a great deal of work. It is Champagne Beige (gold colour). Like yours it has a cream interior which looks fantastic but is a devil of a job to keep clean. I went to black mats for practical reasons.

I'll keep plugging away at the fault list until I get to where you are now. When I get the time I'll post a

Good on you and happy Lexus motoring.

Rab

PS I think people post there pics on other sites and paste a link. When I get a little further with the car I'll post some on my site.

[M.IQBAL]

HI

RAB - Mine is a Mark 3 but with an aftermarket navigation system fitted in the astray space - here is a pic:

http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/0/7/6/0/4/0...100103961_o.jpg

hope it works

regards

miq

[rabnoolas]

HI

RAB - Mine is a Mark 3 but with an aftermarket navigation system fitted in the astray space - here is a pic:

http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/0/7/6/0/4/0...100103961_o.jpg

hope it works

regards

miq

The car looks stunning. Well done for that. I think the wheelcover if great and the Sat nav is a superb installation. Could you email me the address in the US where you bought the cover?

I've had an exhaust leak on the joints after the Catalytic Converter on both pipes which I am going to fix today. One of the after Cat lamda O2 sensors is also damaged and I will replace that next week (£97!!!!!). Another woe is that my door mirrors need new glass and I was quoted £199 each (fitting extra) from the lexus dealer but I think I can get some from the US at £40 each including shipping. Hopefully after this I can settle down to a last couple of repairs before I concentrate on tuning, bodywork and interior.

Looking at your car I have some catching up to do.

happy motoring,

Rab

[steveskeggy]

There`s a near side heated mirror on E-Bay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/lexus-ls400-ns-heate...1QQcmdZViewItem

Its only at a tenner with no bids and a day to go if it will fit yours..

HI

RAB - Mine is a Mark 3 but with an aftermarket navigation system fitted in the astray space - here is a pic:

http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/0/7/6/0/4/0...100103961_o.jpg

hope it works

regards

miq

The car looks stunning. Well done for that. I think the wheelcover if great and the Sat nav is a superb installation. Could you email me the address in the US where you bought the cover?

I've had an exhaust leak on the joints after the Catalytic Converter on both pipes which I am going to fix today. One of the after Cat lamda O2 sensors is also damaged and I will replace that next week (£97!!!!!). Another woe is that my door mirrors need new glass and I was quoted £199 each (fitting extra) from the lexus dealer but I think I can get some from the US at £40 each including shipping. Hopefully after this I can settle down to a last couple of repairs before I concentrate on tuning, bodywork and interior.

Looking at your car I have some catching up to do.

happy motoring,

Rab