Can a cold air intake be installed in my 2005 TL without removing the bumper? I have tried to search around but I could not find anything. I would assume it could be done, but it would be more work. I am probably going with K&N.

 

it takes like 15 minutes to remove and it makes everything so much easier to install.


You're probably spend more time trying to work through the driver's side wheel well.

 

I agree, just take the bumper off. It's very simple and takes 10-15 minutes to do. Once you take the bumper off once and see how easy it is, you'll be thanking us later.

 

Yes , it can be done. Its how I installed mine. Jack up the driver side of the car, take off driver side wheel , pull back the fender liner and start unbolting the resontator. It took me all of 45 min. and never had to take the bumper off.

 

It is so much more trouble taking everything else apart. What is the big aversion to taking the bumper off? Am I missing something here?

 

silly people! take it off and do it right!

 

If you decide to go this route, I believe you have to drill the rivets in the stock airbox to separate it into 2 pieces. Otherwise the whole thing won't fit out thru the wheel well.

 

Well I suppose I am going to take off the bumper. I didn't think it would be that much more work. Thanks guys

 

What rivets ?Their were no rivets. Their were 4 screws holding the lid onto the bottom portion of the airbox. Then another 4 bolts holding the bottom of the box. 3 bolts holding the resonator in place. I had absolutely no problems getting the resonator, airbox and all the stock piping off the car.


OP, either way you do it ..... TAKE YOUR TIME and look over everything carefully before you start.

 

Yes it can be done with the bumper on. It's not that hard to remove the bumper though. Yes you will need to drill out the rivets that link the lower and upper box to each other.

 

well it's been many years since I've done mine, but I remember having to separate it into pieces to get it to fit out the wheel well. It may have been bolts I had to remove to do that

I'm not talking about the hardware holding it to the car either. I would have to pull my old airbox out of the rafters and look, but I know I had to split one of the pieces into two.

edit:there ya go, thanks excelerate

 

Hhmmmm , i didnt have any rivets on mine . Just a rubber/sleeve and i pulled everything out together after i pulled the airbox.


Oh well either way , it can done either way

 

I had the worst day ever by not removing the bumper. If I had to do it all over again, I would remove the bumper in a heartbeat. There was one screw I couldn't get to, that required me to get in an awkward position, and slowly but painfully remove that bolt.

 

^ They told you so....I learned the hard way also, LOL

I did not remove the bumper to install my CAI and there was that "ONE" bolt that was a bish to remove. Later on, when I modded my headlights I took my bumper off in like 5 minutes and was like "hey, why didnt I do this to start with?"


You Live and Learn.

 

I don't understand the apprehension many seem to having with removing their bumper. It is simple, takes 15 minutes, can be done alone, and makes the process of installing a CAI significantly easier. Furthermore, you will find it much easier to remove the factory intake INTACT with the bumper off, which IMO, is the most difficult part of the install.

 

I'm going to install my CAI soon and honestly I am either going to just remove my bumper or wait till I get my jack and jack stands I was planning on getting. I already have removed my front bumper twice (for A-spec lip install and intake resonator removal). Although it might not be necessary to remove my bumper since the resonator portion is the hard part I just have to remove the top portion of the airbox.

In your case remove the bumper it would save you a ton of head ache I can't even imagine how stupidly hard it would be to remove my entire intake with the bumper still on.

 

I've taken my bumper off by myself on two separate occasions: 1) to do the clear headlight conversion and 2) to remove the factory intake resonator.

now that i'm going to install the AEM in the next month or so, I think I won't bother with removing the bumper this time since the hard part has already been done. The only thing I need to do at this point is relocate the ground wires, attach the rubber mount and attach the air filter.

 

Take the bumper off it will be much more easy and no headaches involved lol
Go for it

 

I installed mine today, didn't take the bumper off, just jacked up the drivers corner, turned the wheel to the left, pulled a few clips. It was easy other than 1 of the bolts took me a while to get to on the resonator, probably 30-40 minutes of actual work. I could definately see how it would be easier without the bumper though, I just didn't wanna mess with the bumper. I didn't take anything apart, just had to twist the resonator out and it still had both bends on it.

 

Thats exactly what I did . Except I took the wheel off , made it a bit easier and gave some more room. For the small bolt , i used a small 1/4" rachet and socket to get to it . Its the same reason, I didnt want to mess with taking the bumper off either.

Either way it can be done , its all preferance and up to the user.

 

sounds like ill be taking my bumper off again for the install lol