Entendou

Hi all!
I have a 2016 gs200t
I have to at least replace the chrome trim around the grill because the previous owner messed up the lower portions.
i was thinking about swapping my regular whole grill with an f sport grill. There are some replacements on rock auto or parts geek.

will the F sport version drop in without any trouble? Is the footprint and bolt pattern the same? The only glaring difference is the shape of the openings at the bottom corners

thank you for any help/experience

AJLex19

Welcome! This question has come up quite a bit and no one has actually shown or confirmed a conversion of a non f-sport 2016+ using the 2016+ F-sport mesh grille. The consensus is that it fits since the shape of the grille is very similar but as mentioned, no one has said yay or nay, mentioned if they had to trim tabs, modify a little, etc...

Here are the most recent helpful threads:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...nt-bumper.html
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...sport-one.html
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...onversion.html

@sliiickvic @Teocali @Brandon712 any luck with your conversions to use the mesh F Sport grille on your non f sport 2016+ bumper to help answer new member @Entendou ?

Teocali

Can't say because I never tried, exactly for the reasons you mentioned - not even one evidence that it fits. A bit odd that in over 4 years there's not even one confirmed case of a 2016+ F-Sport grille fitted on a non F-Sport.

JDR76

I think it's been done before. See this thread. This thread was about a GS that had been listed as an F Sport but didn't have AVS. Turns out it was a non F Sport model and the previous owner had put in the F Sport grille and badging. I think the car has probably sold as the link doesn't seem to be active anymore, but to me, it confirmed that the F Sport Grille could go into the standard bumper.

Brandon712

I don’t know if you ever received your answer but I was able to successfully swap a F-sport grille onto my base. It was pretty straight forward and took no longer than an hour after removing the bumper. However, the seller I got it from included new ducts and I had to end up using those.

AJLex19

@Brandon712 thanks for confirming for the 2016+! Any pics to share?

Also did you replace the outer garnish with the f-sport garnish? I know the base has a outer garnish with a chrome strip but the F-sport has an all black w/mesh pattern:

Base garnish:


F-Sport garnish:

Brandon712

That was actually one of the first thing I did when I got the car. I bought the JDM style fog lights from the F-Sport but keep in mind that you will need to get the smaller washer reservoir from the 2013 models. Other than that, both F-Sport and base bumpers are exactly the same.

KonradFitz

I’m about to try this exact conversion.

Do you have a before/after photo you could post, and maybe point me in direction of where you bought the grille?

Thanks man!

GS451h

Hey Brandon, I am trading in my 2008 450h for a 2016 450h next week.. and I plan to swap grills to the F-Sport one. can you explain the "new ducts" part are those the vents at the bottom?

GS451h

I can confirm with photos (if you want) that a "complete" F-Sport grill is a direct swap for the "Luxury" grill. I found no issue with "clips" or Washer bottles that others have reported ... On my 2016 GS 450H (Premium Package) it was a direct swap with some minor issues:
1) The license plate holders are different . The Luxury one "works" with longer screws, but the whole thing stands off about an inch from the grill now... Up to you if the ~$150(ish) for the correct license bracket is worth it (I'm 3D printing one to see if I can solve this... My wife says it looks fine.. YMMV)
2) Front parking senors are in a slightly higher location on the F-Sport Grill... this will cause some minor clearance problem with the bumper assembly. On my bumper there were "crease lines" that showed exactly where to trim. Once cut, the sensor fit perfectly.
3) Bottom brake cooling ducts. This one is interesting.. The Luxury ducts have a "triangular" almost teardrop shape.. The F Sport ducts are more trapezoidal. The screws don't line up on 2 of the 4 holes and you can see that they don't line up from the outside...Most people won't notice, given the angles, and they do not preclude installation of the bumper assembly. If this bugs you, you will need to order 52812-30020 (Left) and 52811-30020 (right) F Sport air ducts to make it "perfect". The pair of those are about $80.
4) This is not hard, but as others have posted there are over 20 screws that hold the whole thing together.

Go slow and use lots of masking tape to protect the paint.