HermanH's PASSAT Site

Tools Required

Oettinger Front Spoiler Installation

The Oettinger front spoiler is a polyurethane molded spoiler which includes 3 pre-cut grille pieces and molded screw holes. All mounting screws are supplied as well as some black adhesive. This spoiler is one of the best out in the market as it is one of the few that is molded in polyurethane. In my opinion, the look is timeless and middle-road aggressive.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Pop the hood and remove the front grille. There are two screws at the top on either side of the grille. Mine happens to be a Kamei grille:

2. Next remove the side turn signal corners on each side; just below them is a 10mm bolt that must be removed:

3. At the hood latch area, there are (3) T25 screws. Remove these 3 but note they do not look like the other T25 screws; these have a small collar to help center the plastic cover over the latch:

4. Now put your keys in the ignition and turn the wheels to one side. Then remove the (3) T25 screws in each wheel well liner; also undo the two plastic desus clips that attach the bottom of the liner to the belly pan:

5. Carefully pull back the liner a little bit and up where the sheet metal meets the plastic bumper, you will see a "hidden" T25 screw that screws in upwards; remove this screw on both sides:

6. Under the car, remove the 10mm nut, and (3) desus clips that hold the lower valance to the car.

7. The difficult part is getting the "T" handle of the hood latch out of the rectangular hole. Use a small screw driver and unsnap the rectangular "guide" . Once unclipped, move it forward to the skinny part of the "T" handle and it can then be removed and set aside.

8. Now pull the plastic that is attached to the bumper cover forward; use a heat gun or hairdryer to help soften the plastic and the "T" handle will be able to get past the hole w/o damaging the hole. Don't worry if you damage it slightly; the rectangular cover hides it.

Ever wonder what it looks like when your sitting in the drivers seat? :)

9. Remove the (2) T25 screws that hold the middle grille in place. Remove all of the grilles:

10. Using a small screwdriver, loosen all of the tabs that hold the lower valance to the bumper skin:

The bumper should look like this now:

11. Taking a hacksaw, carefully remove all of the vertical support members, and the two tabs used to hold the grille in step 9; use some duct tape to prevent any accidental scuffing/cutting.

Note where I cut the left and right side to seperate the unwanted plastic.

12. Now we can install the Oettinger front spoiler. In the picture below, the grills were already mounted. The Oettinger has only 3 tabs on the far left and far right which utilize the slots from the OEM valance. These are the ONLY spots the Oettinger will anchor firmly to. What I noticed is, the Oettinger isn't 100% a perfect fit and will require some alignment; this means you MUST make a decision on what you want to use to hold the spoiler into position. You can use double sided tape, the black adhesive that comes with the spoiler, or nuts and bolts. I elected to use a combination of two bolts on either side of the large middle duct, and double sided tape in the middle. Preferably, I would have wanted to use nuts and bolts throughout, but some of the positions are hard to get to without a right angle drill or more easily, pre-drilling before putting it together. I may resolve that issue in the future. The clamps were used to help position the spoiler so that it would line up with the bumper skin.

13. The original lower valance has a retaining clip on either side; this is the attachment point for the lower wheel liner. You can remove this or use the ones from the tabs you cut in step 11. However, the Oettinger's polyurethane is much thicker. I had forgotten to take this into account. Ideally, you will want to grind down the material on the Oettinger until the clips slip on snugly. What I ended up doing (as it was too late to remove everything again) was drill a hole in the area and stick the clip on from "behind". This is possible because the Oettinger's bottom does not go as far back as the original valance; it was pretty easy to get my hand up and behind the wheel liner. Then I just tightened it down. In the future, I will remedy this by grinding down the poly for a more permanent fit.

14. Once everything is together, simply reinstall the bumper skin with the Oettinger. You will note that the bottom of the Oettinger does not go back as far as the original valance, however, do not forget to put back the (3) zeus clips to secure the belly pan, along with the 10mm nut. And finally, the result of 4 hours of work:

Here's a shot of just how close I get to the asphalt from a drive way. While the height of the spoiler is really no lower than the original valance (I have a 1.5" drop with my suspension), the scraping is due to how much further out the spoiler is positioned. I guess there is something to be said for going with the 1BE or H&R OE ride heights.

Final notes: props go to Ken's Autobody and Striping in Santa Cruz, CA. for painting the Oettinger. Also, thanks to schmove (Edward Carramanzana) for alerting me to the great price on the spoiler from Supreme Power Parts.

#2 phillips screw driver
T25 torx driver
Small flat blade screw driver (to pry the tabs on the bumper skin)
"wide" screw driver (for the desus clips)
3/8" ratchet wrench
10mm 3/8" socket
A lot of clamping devices

Misc. Items.
Power Drill and various small bits
smal pan screws, washers and nuts