komp55

I've received a few PMs asking me how to remove the rear bumper cover and install a replacement lower trim panel. The project is pretty straight forward, and hopefully this will help someone wanting to do what I did or maybe someone who's installing a trailer hitch, or even just replacing a damaged rear bumper cover.

The first step is to remove the rivets securing the wheel well liner to the bumper panels. On 2008 model years, there are three rivets inside the wheel well, and two at the bottom:





The bottom rivets (one already removed):




Next step is to pull the wheel well line away from the body at the rear of the wheel wells and remove the bolt securing the front portion of the upper bumper to the body. It's a 10mm bolt and here's a picture of its location:





With the rivets and upper front bolts removed, the next step is to open the lift gate and remove the paneling on each side. On the driver's side, there is two layers:




For the passenger side, it's just one panel:



Your view after removing the passenger side panel:



The panel removal give you access to the four bolts (two on each side) the secure the bumper assembly to the body. First, your remove the bolts on each side that secure the middle part of the bumper cover to the body. Here's the bolt on the driver's side:



And the one on the passenger side:



The final two fasteners are long nuts that secure the rear of the bumper cover to the body. These are both concealed in cut-outs. The driver's side is located here:



And the passenger side (with socket on the nut showing) is here:



All of the fasteners are now removed. If your vehicle has Parktronic, you need to disconnect the harness from the rear bumper. The connector is on the driver's side behind the panel and is visible in one of the photos above. With the harness disconnected, and all fasteners removed, have a helper assist you in sliding the rear bumper cover assembly off the vehicle by sliding it straight rearward. Here's a shot with the cover removed:




Next step is to remove the existing lower trim panel from the upper section. On the MY 2008 MLs, the lower section is secured by nubbed arms that slide into slots on the upper bumper cover. Carefully start at one end of the assembly and slide out the attaching arms. Here's a shot of the bumper cover following removal from the vehicle:




And of the lower section removed from the upper section:




The new panel with the wider exhaust cutouts snaps right into place. Here's a shot of the reassembled rear bumper cover:





And another shot with it set into position before refitting it to the vehicle:





The cover is reinstalled by carefully sliding the side mounts over the fixtures on the body and then sliding it forward. Take care to make sure the rear bolt on the bumper are line up straight and slide into the openings on the body. With the rear cover repositioned on the car, all that's left is to attach the fasteners - in the reverse order in which they were removed.



And finally, here's a shot of the rear cover reinstalled prior to installing the quad exhaust set-up.





Rear bumper cover R&R is definitely a straight-forward DIY project if you like working on stuff like this. Saved me big bucks and I know it was done right with no shortcuts.

C43AMG

Nice write up !

Ta Qifsha

where did you get the lower trim panel for the quad setup

komp55

https://www.oediscountparts.com

marthel93

Woow it looks amazing, do you have the part no. of the lower trim panel?

NegroC230

do you have a part number for that exact white lower valance??? Im having difficulty locating the proper part number? Did it come in white or you had to get it painted?

UR2SLO

Body parts do not come painted.

jaandhj

I found your post and it looks just what I need to allow me to install a hitch on my 2008 ML320cdi, but the pictures will not show. If you still have a copy of the post, would you kindly send me a copy. jim_king@telus.net

Many thanks, Jim King

Maj. Dundee

Here are the instructions, but I see nothing about rivets.

Maj. Dundee

Here is a later version.

jaandhj

Thank you very much for the PDF files. I now feel confident to attempt this job next week. I will take photos and post any relevant comments.