JimFromJersey

Hi, New member here. I'm planing to do the timing belt replacement next month on my 2002 A6 and I am wondering whether or not I can replace the pass side front fender at the same time. I figure that once the car is in service position it should be a few bolts to remove and replace. Is that correct?

Thanks

4Driver4

That may be any oversimplification, but you are correct in assuming that the bumper needs to be removed to change the fender.

Teutonix

If you have the parts, it seems reasonable to do both jobs at the same time. Pulling the bumper only takes ~8 bolts, and a handful of plastic twist-fasteners. I can have mine off in about 10 minutes.

After the bumper's off, the fender is held on by one bolt in front, ~10 along the top edge, and 3 or 4 in the rear. The hardest part is making minute adjustments with shims, pushing and pulling to get the gaps and fit correct. Assuming that you're replacing with a used fender of the same color code and age (fade)....

JimFromJersey

Thanks for the responses/advise. I'm pretty patient so I don't mind fiddling with shims to get it right. However,I was planning to get a new fender because they seem pretty cheap, I hadn't thought of the fact that the rest of the paint on the car has faded over the years. Any suggestion where to find a used fender of similar age? Thanks

bdubs

I've never bought from the site, but I'm trying to track down a fender for my wife's Dodge grand caravan and stumbled across www.uneedapart.com. They pull in info from multiple salvage/parts yards and the summary typically lists the year/color of the car the part comes off of. You might also try www.automotix.com. I haven't found their site all that useful in that most of the parts don't show color, so you might have to call around to find what you want, but this site lists more parts than the first one I listed.

Curious if there are other goods websites to use as well. I feel as if I stumbled across a site that actually listed pics of the parts, but I can't find it now.

Teutonix

If you were thinking of getting a new fender, it would need to be painted anyway... They don't come painted. A decent body shop should be able to color-match and blend into the car pretty easily, but if you're going this route your should consider having your current panel repaired depending upon the damage.

Best bet, IMHO is finding a good used part from a salvage yard or someone parting cars. car-part.com or ebay generally have plenty of options. I recently picked up a replacement door panel for my wife's A6. I found it on ebay from a seller that was ~30 miles from me. I called and haggled, he ended the auction, and I went and picked it up in person for $60 out the door.

Philhawtin

People always say that its so quick to do, I tried, and im pretty savvy when it comes to working on cars... Maybe my arms are just too damn big. The bolts under the headlights are what i couldn't get

SloopJohnB@mac.com

You mean those three nuts on each side that are easily accessed with an extension, a swivel socket, and a 3/8" air wrench (to take off..I always put them on by hand...)?

The one bolt under each headlight the goes straight up is easy, again with a 3/8" right angle air wrench and metric allen head socket.

The long pole in the tent when I do it is removing the fender liners...you don't really have to, I guess it's possible to release a few bolts and pry back the liner, but my liners are getting old and brittle....

Still would take me a half to 3/4 hour clock time to get the front bumper off.