Replacing PDC Surround
 

I thought this would be easy - man was I wrong. I pretty much think this is impossible to do with the bumper on. I've hacked the shit out of the area around the farmost passenger side rear PDC sensor hole and my new plastic surround.

I messed around with this for over an hour last night and just got more and more frustrated.

I see how the surround attaches to the PDC sensor just fine. I don't think it is possible to squeeze it in there though without it coming apart.

So I am just going to shave down the plastic on the PDC sensor and glue the fucker to the bumper with some marine grade silicone. I'll prob lightly sand the areas where the surround meets bumper so it adheres better. I'm going to goop the silicone on big time to build it up so it holds well.

Nothing is easy.

No, nothing is easy. Those corner holders are a pain. They all kind of are, the way the sensors and holders are designed. They don't just snap together. They have a weird way of attaching. The corners are particularly difficult because the hole is angled. I actually wound up using some JB Weld on one of them and that was with the rear bumper taken off!

UGH. Had I known this I would have just tried to re-attach the old one. Oh well live and learn. If I just shave some of the plastic off the PDC piece I should be able to squeeze it in there. Luckily I didn't mangle the surround so much that it's noticeable and it should cover most of the area I dorked up.

What a pain in the ass. I finally got it in last night - I had to shave off most of the top plastic nub on the PDC sensor and some of the side to get it to slide in. I must have spent 2 hours widdling away at it with the utility knife. I should have just used the Dremel on it. I scuffed up the area around the bumper hole and where the underpart of the surround meet so the glue would adhere better. Just prior to final insertion I gooped it up with Marine Grade Silicone glue around the edges, pressed it in and wiped the excess glue from the seams. Then I just cleaned the service and held it up with some tape. I think it should be on there good once cured.

I love how things that I think are going to take 3 minutes on this car end up taking 3 hours :-/

I just pulled my PDC fuse, didn't want to hear annoying BEEP anymore (i have a dead sensor in the front and the rear and dont use it anyway so I'd rather not spend 200 bucks to fix 2 sensors)

It did look like a pain in the ass to replace the sensors though without taking off the bumper

I had the PDC fault just recently. Fixed it. FREE. Turned out to be corroded wires right at the plug. Friend soldered it up for me, and I am back in business.

Oh and taking off bumper is like 10 minutes of work. Why even mess with scratching up your fingers? Most important tool you should have, is a screw gun.

You have to slide it in from INSIDE the bumper cover. You can't push it in from the outside. Took me a little while staring at the damn thing to figure this out....

Easy to do, you just have to crank your arm up under the cover from below.

@Ricky_Bobby - I have a Thule Bike Hitch which constantly sets it off which is annoying as hell. I think I will be pulling my fuse as well.

@SlickGT1 - I realize now it would be much easier taking the bumper off. I have done that before once when I installed my hitch. Still a major hassle if you ask me to install a little plastic part.

@mark_scheurer - I see how you might be able to do this for the flat/straight ones in the center but I don't see how you can get your hand in there on the corners. I tried and couldn't do it. Not to mention I needed two hands to screw the PDC piece in flush with the two plastic prongs going in correctly.

This is just another example of shitty, over-engineered German design. They make it more complicated than it needs to be... for no good reason.

Empty housing with prongs goes on from outside. Easy to do with no sensor engaged. Then sensor goes into housing from inside the bumper, slides right in.

Its in the glove box, #6 if i recall??