I have had my 2007 Vantage V8 for about four and a half years. The previous owner had a K40 radar detection system installed. However, it never worked nor could I find any info on it. Recently I decided to remove the system. Unfortunately, I discovered that the rear center screen had a hole cut into it for the K40 installation.



​​​​​​I found a used one on German eBay. I removed the lower trim panel on the rear bumper and the rear cooler, hoping that I would gain access to the three bolts that mounted the screen without removing the rear bumper cover. No dice. I found a workshop manual PDF file.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/aht1kxj3zg...ANUAL.pdf?dl=0

Here are the instructions per the manual for removing the rear bumper cover.

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1. Raise vehicle on ramp.
   
2. Remove number plate.
   
3. Remove LH rear lamp assembly (see Workshop Manual
   
   procedure 17.03.AB Lamp Assembly (Rear) - LH
   
   Renew).
   
4. Remove RH rear lamp assembly (see Workshop Manual
   
   procedure 17.03.BB XREF: 280 Lamp Assembly (Rear) - RH Renew).
   
5. Remove wheel arch liner LH (see Workshop Manual procedure 01.02.JB Wheel Arch Liner - Rear - RH - Renew).
   
6. Remove wheel arch liner RH (see Workshop Manual procedure 01.02.HB Wheel Arch Liner - Rear - LH - Renew).
   
7. Remove tyre mobility kit from the rack.
   
8. Remove torx bolts located behind carpets to rear wings
   
   (x2).
   
9. Remove bolts (x2) in rear light recess.
   
10. Remove bolts securing bumper to wheel arch (6).
    
11. Remove bolts (x4) securing bumper to brackets.
    
12. With assistance Release bumper from body.
    
13. Release fir trees securing harness to bumper (x6).
    
14. Release remaining harness clips from bumper (x6).
    
15. Disconnect multiplugs to parking aid sensors (x2).
    
16. Disconnect multiplugs to license plate lamps (x2).
    
17. Remove nuts (x6) securing exhaust finishers to bumper.
    
18. Remove number plate light assembly (clips x5).
    
19. Remove parking aid sensors (x2)
    
20. Remove screw retaining clips (x13)

​​​​​​First up was removing the fender liners. Aston Martin loves their Torx T30 fasteners. A number of them, as well as phillips screws are used here. Inside the wheelwell, there are two T-30's on the top of the wheelwell, one on the side, and two in the bottom towards the front. There are two phillips screws on the front of the liner, one on the rear, one on the lower side and two on the bottom. Don't forget to undo the fuel filler overfill hose that is clipped to the left side liner.

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With the fender liners out of the way, we can begin the process of removing the rear bumper cover. Next up is removing the taillights. Inside the trunk area there are three fasteners securing the lights. They are covered by three billet aluminum covers on the left side and two on the right side. Once you have unscrewed them, they expose 19mm nuts to be removed. On the right side, one must remove the cover to the rear fuse box area to expose the third 19mm nut. With the nuts removed, simply pull out the taillight assemblies. To remove the plug, take a small screwdriver and slide the red tab to the side as far as it will go. I taped off the area at the bottom of the taillights to prevent scratching the bumper cover.






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On the left side, pull back the carpet to reveal another T30 torx bolt that must be removed. There is also one of the other side in the fuse box area.

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Now we need to go under the car. In the wheelwells, there are two 7mm bolts to remove as well as a clip that connect the bumper to the rear quarter fender.








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In the taillight area, two bolts on each side must be removed. The larger one is a T30 torx while the smaller one is a T15 torx. I forgot to take a photo of the smaller one. It is on a vertical tab on each side of the taillight opening. You can see that tab on the left in the last photo below.


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The last remaining bolts under the car attach the exhaust and the outside screens to the bumper cover. Again, we have T30 torx bolts to remove.






Now you can pull gently on each end of the bumper cover to release it from the fender.







The title of this thread is "Removing the rear bumper cover...almost". To get to the three T30 fasteners for the center screen, I did not have to completely remove the bumper cover. To remove it, I would have had to unplug the side marker lights, the license plate light and then remove the wiring harness that is attached to the rear of the cover. Once I had everything loose, I could pull the cover out far enough to reach the bolts.




When reversing this removal procedure, I did not find any difficulties. It is not a difficult job but tedious because of all of the fasteners.

For those who haven't seen what the wheelwells look like with the fender liners removed, here are a few photos.




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Very helpful documentation, thanks!

 

Oh, I was just pulling this all off last night so as to remove muffler on a '15 V8V GT... quite the chore! I only wish you had posted this 16 hours sooner!!

 

Sorry! I'll try to do better next time!!

 

Ha! Thanks, though - this is really great info for folks who want to take this on. And a reminder I should do more to document what I'm doing for people's benefit.

 

I had done a search and came up with a couple threads, but no definitive one. Redpants has the info for the front bumper removal but has not completed the rear bumper information. And I prefer a thread with photos as opposed to a video. It's difficult to pause a video while working.

 

Awesome post and great pics. Thanks for taking the time to document everything, we all appreciate it!

 

Thank you for this! I'm doing this now and this was a huge help!