Like the front bumper, they are similar but still different. Both involve removal of the tail light assemblies, as there are bolts under the tail lights. There are also bolts under the bumper and inside the wheel wells.
Tools:
– socket wrench with 3″(inch) and 1′(foot) extension. I used a 1/2″ drive.
– 8mm socket
– 10mm socket
– T25 and T20 TORX sockets
– #2 Philips screwdriver
– small screwdriver
– small punch
Directions/Instructions:
First, locate the 8mm bolts holding your tail light assemblies. For ease of access on my GTI, I removed the amplifier/CD-changer rack. On Golfs/GTIs, the driver’s side assembly has one bolt which is really buried behind the there. If you have the factory Monsoon amp, you can remove it by unscrewing the 2 Philips screws, then sliding the amp away from the rack.
A couple of 10mm bolts and one T20 Torx screw hold the two piece rack in. You will see 2 of the 8mm bolts, and the third one is inside a rectangular hole. If you drop this bolt, don’t worry, as if you pull up the carpet a bit, you’ll find the bolt there.
On the passenger side, the third bolt can be located by looking for a slight cut out in the sheet metal. You can see that cut out in the first picture, in the lower left corner.
The driver’s side should come out after you remove the bolts, but the passenger side assembly on Golfs/GTIs has a metal pin that wedges into a rubber grommet right at the bottom corner of the assembly. Slowly work the pin out by twisting and pulling gently towards the side of the car.
After you remove the taillights, you’ll see there is 1 T25 Torx bolt and a plastic rivet with a pin in the middle(at least on the Golf/GTI). Use the small screwdriver to poke the plastic pin through the rivet, but make sure you know where it went if you plan to reuse the rivets. (I personally mangled it because I didn’t realize I could poke it through.) After poking the pin through, you can remove the fastener by wedging the small screwdriver between the bumper skin and the rivet. It will pop out. I didn’t put the rivets back on, as I figured there were enough bolts holding the skin on.
Remove the 6 T20 screws in the wheel wells, 3 on each side.
Unbolt the 2 (Golf/GTI) or 3 (Jetta) T25 bolts under the valence, and then the 2 T25 bolts where the tail lights were.
If you plan to remove the skin from the car, there is a plug near the driver’s side tail light for the rear license plate on Golf/GTIs. If you are just adjustiing the bumper skin, you don’t need to unplug it.
After removing the bolts and rivets, the bumper skin will slide off rearward.
