I scratched my front spoiler lip today after lightly touching a curb. Unfortunately the scratches are not just on the underside, but clearly visible from the front. I am nutty about perfection and I will be ordering a new one and getting it painted. The going price seems to be around $140 plus shipping. That seems like a very reasonable price. My plan is to have the old one repaired and repainted and in my garage as a spare in the event that it happens again.

Is replacing the front spoiler lip a relatively simple "do it yourself" job? For those who have done it, are there any land mines or tricks I need to know to get the old one off and the new one with a perfect fit?

 

Very easy to do - remove two screws at either end, pull old spoiler out and insert new spoiler in tabbed slots, reattach two screws. That's it.

 

To get the two screws out you'll need a Torx screwdriver. Once you have the screws out start pulling on the spoiler at one of the ends in front of the wheel. You may need to pry on it a bit with a flat bladed screw driver (I used a plastic bicycle tire iron) to get it started then it will just pull right off.

 

Perfectionist + Painted Front Spoiler = Misery.

 

Agreed, I gave up on worrying about it. I've got a spare for that day when mine gets BADLY mangled up. I'm still careful when driving in/out of driveways but there's not much I can do about it.

 

I bought two spares (on sale) anticpating the worst - after replacing one, I haven't scraped yet - you just have to plan ahead and approach any problem areas at an angle.

 

Thank you very much for your help. I will be removing and installing the new one myself. I just ordered a replacement front spoiler lip from Sunset Imports in Portland - $139 plus $21 shipping to Northern California. I also spoke to my local body and paint shop who agreed to paint the new one and fix the scratches and paint the old one for $150. Yikes! This is less expensive than I would have thought. Now I will have a fresh spare in the garage for the next time this might happen.

 

Be careful You are not ordering this part as original unpainted. It is different plastic ( more greasy) and the paint won't stick as well there, it will peal off easily!! This part is the one that comes with the car black when You are not ordering factory paint.

You have to order the part that is used with factory painted lip ( if it is possible)!

 

I asked a few sources about that. Porsche apparently uses the same plastic for either painted or unpainted. There's no special "primer" version available. I spoke with a friend who is a painter and he says that that's not a problem. They have a special type of chemical that they use to prep the plastic for painting and the paint has no problem bonding after its been prepped properly.

 

I got different info just today in local Porsche importer. As I have these lips originally unpainted and wanted to paint them, I was told it can't be done well ( or at all) 'cause this.

I would double check this! Of course it would help my budget also, but if there is any chance for this problem, especially when we drive car's through snowy winter, I wouldn't take the risk!

 

The front spoiler lip I ordered is OEM and painted black as they come on all Porsche 997 Turbos that do not have the optional spoiler lip painted (the color of the car) from the factory. The body and paint guy that I spoke to today echos what atomic80 says above that with the correct prep and the correct type of paint, it is not a problem. I willl let you know how it goes. I expect to get the new spoiler lip in about 10 days and will likely get it painted shortly after.

 

It is code XAJ from factory ( painted front/rear/side).

 

Brad, that's the option code to get those trim pieces painted from the factory. That's NOT the part numbers to get the trim pieces post-purchase. FYI, like I mentioned earlier, there's no evidence thus so far that Porsche has specific parts that are pre-primed ready for painting. Like I said earlier, the parts we get have to be pre-treated by the paint shop before they're painted. I'll bet that if you were to look at a lip that's been scratched, you'll find that it doesn't have primer paint on it. I've checked a couple of scratched lips and none of them has had primer paint on it. Bottom line is, don't worry about it.

 

No worries! I only got this info yesterday from Porsche - it is different plastic. This is why I am not painting them at the moment!

 

Can someone advise where to buy a new lip and a spare.. Part number please. I'm not going to paint it its to risky, I'll screw it up again!

Although front lip in GT Silver would be nice