tctc

So of all the goofiest things: The four screws that hold the rear license plate to the rear trunk lid were apparently loose. Upon closer inspection, the sleeve between the trunk panel holes and the screws are stripped so the attachment screws essentially don't work. Can't unsrew them, can't tighten them. Argh. That means I probably have to attack them from the inside of the deck lid. The question is, has anyone removed the inner felt-like lining of the deck and encountered any surprise issues? It's also annoying that rather than going with standard Philips screws, they used torx screw heads for the central lock panel area. I assume that's to discourage people from fiddling with it?
I was going to just punch out the existing sleeves and push in some simple plastic drywall type fittings. Whaddya all think?

Fatz

Removing the trunk liner is pretty straight forward. Just pull out on the retainer push pin heads. They are black and there are several of them. There are no surprises there.

Torx screws are used in many places of these and many other cars. They are not there to prevent user tampering.

You can search on things that require the removal of the liner (like license plate bulb replacement or led module or third brake light, etc) to get more info on the liner removal if you wish.

tctc

Delayed reply, but as Fatz noted, the black pushpins were easy to remove and provided access to the underside of trunk lid, even without the removal of the latch area screws. Decided to just use machine screws and nuts after cutting off the existing screws with a dremel tool. Darn screws were not extractable otherwise.

Hoserbenzo

It's easy. Ur trunk lid is a 2 piece. While I had it off, I cleaned it. Very dirty.

sailorben

I may attempt this, when I shut the boot, it does need quite a bit of force to get it to shut. I don't know if that's due to the rubber stops not being perfectly aligned, which is something else I'll look at. But when I do shut the bootlid, there's a plastic rattle of that piece, and it does seem maybe a tad loose. So I may just it off and see if I can give things a tighten.

Fatz

There are two rubber/plastic bumper stops along the edge of the trunk where your lid closes. These can be adjusted by just screwing them to adjust for the right closing tension offered and to keep the trunk lid from rattling/vibrating.

sailorben

Yeah wound them back a bit, but the piece behind the license plate is a little loose, and rattles when I shut the boot. So I want to take the back of the lid off and see if I can tighten something up on immobilise it.