I am trying to remove the upper grille on my 06 MCS and am having some trouble. Everything i've read says this is very easy and all you do is remove the self taping nuts holding the grille in. I've heard you just use a flat head screwdriver to put pressure on the nut and remove them with a 10mm socket. I have tried this on two of the little posts, but I have stripped them both. Are there any tricks I should know? Any help would be appreciated!

 

I tried several methods that did not work.
Ended up using a Dremel tool to cut off the nuts. (Ouch)
Pins were ok.

 

what made you decide to cut off the nuts and not the little posts?

 

Wanted to be able to use grill again.

 

gotcha, so the new blackout grill does not need those little posts? If I didnt want to worry about using the old grill again, I can just cut off the posts and not worry about it?

 

Your new grill should have posts or some other latch system to hold it in.
OEM grill has latch as well as pins.
If you want to save grill for sale or other use, remove nuts.
Automated machines fastening metal nuts on to plastic studs.
Great engineering.

 

Just get the nuts off even if you strip the threads on the post if you reuse the grille just put some silicone on there inplace of the nuts...

 

If you can get the nut to unthread even a tiny bit, you should be able to get a flat head screwdriver between the nut and the hood and pry while spinning the nut. They should come right off at that point.

 

the posts are smooth. the fasteners are little self threading beasties that will happily spin in place until you apply a little back pressure to get them reverse threading back up the hill. They don't even need to be turned to be put on, they can simply be pressed down hence no threads to reverse up the hill 'til you make it bite. If you don't plan to re-use the grill just snap the posts off and recover the little fasteners - or buy new at ACE. Put a sheet over the engine compartment while working on this so you don't loose one .... wanna know how I know this can be a problem

I've installed several Aero Grill kits for folks, some wanted the grill preserved for reversal. Few own the car anymore and not one has come back to get the original put back.

 

thanks for the help everyone, it all worked out. I ended up getting the nuts off of the posts and the rest of the install (upper and lower grill) went very well. I would post a picture but the file size is too large