Front license plate grill

[gasman]

I need to switch out the front filler panel (6W9) on my 2009 R8 with one that holds a license plate (6W3). Anyone out there willing to trade or have some idea on how to reasonably (pricewise) accomplish this? I traded for the car from a state that does not need a front license plate and I live where we do. Thanks in advance for any help.

[harrison]

Changing over to what you need requires bumper removal.I take it you are in the U.S., in which case the plates are relatively small. Try double stick tape or be more drastic and drill holes. Talk with the speed shops and get some quotes on the job of replacing that front grill. Hope I have helped.

[SDR8]

It looks like the middle section should come out and be easily swapped, but they only offer the whole grills. The grills are in the upper $500s and they take a bit to swap out. As mentioned above, the front bumper needs to be taken off to swap the grill. You can get the service manual and get a friend help or you can have it done. Make sure you deal with someone that knows what they are doing. You want the parts put back on properly (aligned and not damaged) and you do not want squeaks or rattles.

I am actually going the opposite way, I have the plate grill and want the no plate grill, but I want to keep the original one just in case I need it later. I live in an area that you legally need it, but 1:6 to 1:8 cars or so do not have them.

Good luck.

[harrison]

I don't think the middle section is removeable at least not on mine.I had the O.G. grill with no liscense plate provision. I am going to sell it. On car for 2000 miles.I love my new grill but it has a small recess for a long euro plate.

[SDR8]

There are three factory grills for the V8 R8. There is the 6W9, no Plate, the 6W3, US plate, & the 3FZ, euro plate. According the Bently Publishing Service manual for the R8, the center bar for the US plate grill can be removed. It does not look like it would be finished properly, so I ordered the new factory grill (6W9) with no front plate.

The new grills for the V10 have chrome accents. I have not seen if they are the same size and could be switched.

[gasman]

Thanks everyone. I am not handy enough to do it myself and it seems that a professional would do a much better job. I love my body shop and will try there first.

[SBFV10]

I wonder if anyone sells a front mount that can go on the plain Audi strip?

Any ideas?

Steve

[SBFV10]

Just thinking...could you mount the plate mount from the rear on the front using self-tapping screws?

Steve

[KfabR8]

You have to remove the entire front bumper fascia to remove the center grill. It's not that hard - just make sure you keep track of what fasteners go where (I put them all in order and arranged them as they came out on the floor in the same pattern that they were in the car). You also have to remove both front interior fenders and the pieces around the trunk opening - I had to remove the front middle (it pops out - pry it up in front and push back at the same time) and the two side panels above the wheels.

The grill fastens to the inside front of the bumper.

There's a closed cell foam that goes in the back side of the grill too. It fits against the aluminum front cross brace.

I'm running the no plate at all setup - had Rich at OEMPlus strip all the chrome except the quattro badge and repaint it black.

I'd **** near bet that the V10 and the V8 grills are interchangeable.

If you have the plateless front grill, just add a couple of small spacers (probably 3-4mm tall) between the plate and the bumper, to keep the plate straight, put a small piece of double sided sticky foam tape between the middle of the top of the plate (between the mounting holes) to keep the plate from moving around or rattling against the front bumper strip and use self tapping screws to hold the plate on.

I'd look into stainless steel self tappers - or go to the local car audio shop and tell them that you need some 6mm self tappers for plastic - they'll have a larger, more course thread with a more aggressive helix - will bite into the plastic and not tend to work their way out or wallow around after a while.

If you run the plate flat against the bumper it's going to give it a "just stuck on" look and the plate's not going to want to follow the bend w/o trying to warp a tad (usually in a diagonal manner). Keeping the plate flat and spacing it a tad will look much more professional. You could top that off with some sort of plate frame to clean up the look even more.

[KfabR8]

Front V10 Grill Kit from OEMPlus
Well what do you know - it's a bolt in fit - V10 grill in V8 bumper.