I have a base IS 200t and am wondering whether the grille (top and bottom) part can be removed without removing the whole bumper? Is there a step by step if anyone done it? Thx.

 

The bumper must be removed in order to remove the grill

 

yup, there’s a bunch of small screws

 

I can tell you from experience that the front bumper is actually fairly easy to remove.

Removing the grill from the bumper (once it's off) is actually more of a pain in the a** than removing the bumper lol

What are you trying to do with your grill? I may have some suggestion based on what you are trying to do

Here's a video on how to remove the bumper though

 

Just had an idea to DIY wrap the grille totally matte black or some other black to match the color of the car and the chrome parts as well. Thought it would be an easy dismantle…

 

Well in that case, I may be able to help without removing the grill.

Are you committed to it being wrapped, or would you be okay painting it? I tried to wrap mine, and I am pretty good at wrapping parts as I have done a lot of wraps on a lot of different things, but that front grill and chrome trim, even with the bumper off was a royal pain in the a** and I ending up removing it as it was not perfect. So I decided to just paint it.

If your are okay with painting it, like I did: here's my advice:

I did not remove the bumper (trust me I thought about it , but while the front entire bumper is easy to remove, the grill insert is a royal pain to get out, so way too much work and chance to break something.

I just masked it all off and spray painted it. It actually very easy to mask off with a little time and patience.

All you need is the following:

Masking paper:
Blue Painters Tape:
For paint you want you want a primer + paint, I used a primer + paint in one and it came out perfect

This is what I used for flat black:




For gloss black, I'd use this:


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Wish I took a pic when I had it masked up, but didnt. The paper is what you cover almost everything with, and the painters tape is just to hold and paper in place but also the tape is handy to make of little tight corners

Read the directions on the spay pain can carefully and do not rush the process. you will want to do a very light coat for the first coat, let it dry for at least 30 minutes, then apply another coat and dry for 30 mins. I did 3 coats and it came out absolutely perfect!

I only did my chrome trim, thus I masked off the grill with the paper, but if you want to paint the grill also, just raise your hood and put a tarp or more of that masking paper behind the grill so you don't spray your radiator

Mine came out perfect and has held up for almost 2 years now with zero signs of wear

 

Initially thought about spray painting it but thought there might be paint adherence issues on those smooth glossy surface. Now with your suggestions, that is something to re-visit again. Your grille looks gorgeous! What did you do to the Lexus badge?

 

Thanks!

My Lexus emblem is actually a swap, It came from a Lexus GX 460 SUV, I liked it because it was an actual 3d looking emblem rather than the one encased in resin that comes in our car, and it has a cool honeycomb background, then I just taped off the honeycomb part and painted the 'L' and ring around the border in gloss black

It looked like this before I painted it: