e30cabro,
If you are not done yet....
On those little plastic pita connectors; I found some help by pushing the center pin out from back side of the connector. On most of the bumper cover ones I used small round bar (like a Phillips screw driver) from the back of the connector to push the center pin a little. Just enough to expose 1/8" of the head then grab the head with needle nose pliers and work out the entire fastener. Helped to have the entire plastic warmed up to 60 or so and most of the fasteners came out once the heads were up about 1/4".

Hope the rest goes smooth. That refinish job on your hitch looks great.


admnranger,
To your prior Q on the alignment bolts I "left very loose" until I had bumper cover fitted they are the long bolts coming out of part #3 here.
RealOEM.com * BMW E53 X5 4.8is Carrier, rear

Four bolts in total, 2 per side. Their heads are held in place with hammered tabs and the nuts (17mm?) are part of the set you tighten in the trunk which go horizontally from outside through hitch into rear cabin.

Next time I have my trunk emptied i will try to snap a pict. Might work to start by loosing these four and seeing how much wiggle you get on the alignment. I also lifted the bumper up a good bit when I tightened the two massive t55 bolts that point up to the sky however those are a lot more work to get after.


Sounds like I could take up a collection of the old factory bumper brackets, I may drop mine off at the local demo derby spot since it is built like a tank.