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How to install Carbon Rear Diffuser and Carbon Slam Panel on a 2013 Aston Martin V8 Vantage. Subsequently, this video will also show you how to remove wheels, wheel liners, taillights, and rear bumper. I am not a professional, just an enthusiast. Perform at your own risk.
I received the Carbon Slam Panel and Carbon Rear Diffuser from ECPS Group out in Poland. The Form, Fit, and Finish was perfect.
I was fighting the Flu and Bronchitis while installing this so bear with me. You will see the lessons learned and mistakes I made along the way. I also share some tips and tricks in the video to hopefully save you some time and anger.
1) Jack Up Car and Remove the Wheel - 21mm Deep Socket
2) Remove the Rear Under Tray - 13mm (~20)
3) Remove Rear Wheel Liner - T30 and Phillips. On the driver's side, there is a breather hose and tab (circled in red) Be careful not to damage when removing the liner.
4) Remove Rear Tail Lights - 19mm Deep Socket (3) and Flat Head for the Wiring Harness. Be careful not to scratch the bumper when removing the harness tab. The red tab, once popped out by the flat head will release the pin connector.
5) Remove Bumper - T30 (2 on top of bumper); T15 (2 on the corner of bumper); 7mm (4 under the bumper); 8mm (2) Inside the trunk carpet in the corner.
Remove any harness clips and sensor clips before removing the rear bumper. Some may have different setup and harness as I have radar sensors in the rear that some may not have.
6) Remove Diffuser from Bumper - T30 (6); Flat Head for Clips; 10 mm (1) center of the bumper; Phillips (2) and any remaining sensors
6a) Remove Exhaust Tips - 8mm (2) and T30 (1)
6b) Transfer clips, reflector lights, mesh (10mm), and sensors to the new diffuser.
7) Drill out Bumperetts - Drill bit; Hammerl and Punch
8) Install the new Diffuser to the Bumper and reinstall in reverse order.
Hopefully, this was helpful and will help anyone who wants to tackle this project. Carbon Rear Diffuser Carbon Slam Panel Custom Plaque Before: OEM Diffuser Before: OEM Diffuser Before After: Carbon Rear Diffuser After: Carbon Rear Diffuser Before: OEM Slam Panel OEM vs Carbon Slam Panel After: Carbon Slam Panel
Last edited by V8Vdrew; Nov 18, 2022 at 07:16 PM.
Reason: didnt post right
It looks beautiful. I installed mine several years ago, it came with the dark gray plastic from factory. Which I hated, so broke down and ordered factory front splitter and rear diffuser, looks 100% better in carbon fiber. You will find the front much easier to install than the rear. I was told I needed to remove the front bumper, but it was fairly easy to install without bumper removal.
My rear bumper had some industrial strength Velcro at the top, looks like your didn't? I couldn't figure out why it would not budge, every nut and bolt was off, I used a trim tool to remove the wiring harness from the bumper. I searched the internet until I found out about the Velcro.
Last edited by LuvBurninFuel; Nov 21, 2022 at 11:12 AM.
It looks beautiful. I installed mine several years ago, it came with the dark gray plastic from factory. Which I hated, so broke down and ordered factory front splitter and rear diffuser, looks 100% better in carbon fiber. You will find the front much easier to install than the rear. I was told I needed to remove the front bumper, but it was fairly easy to install without bumper removal.
My rear bumper had some industrial strength Velcro at the top, looks like your didn't? I couldn't figure out why it would not budge, every nut and bolt was off, I used a trim tool to remove the wiring harness from the bumper. I searched the internet until I found out about the Velcro.
Thank you! Yes, I was not aware of how faded the plastic looked compared to the dark gloss carbon. Didn't realize it bothered me that much.
Wow, you bought Aston Factory Carbon? Jeez, that front splitter is the same as the V12 and it goes from 10-15k. I got my carbon pieces from ECPS, now the only difference I was able to notice from the factory rear diffuser from my friends V12 and V8V-S is that there is a cut out in the carbon for the bumperettes. The ECPS ones do not have that and it's flat, so you'll see me drill out those and delete them. Also while I am drilling you will see a bunch of clamps. Those are the velcro that I double-sided back on because upon removal they were torn up.
I agree the fronts were way easier, but I could not get my bumper fully off. Ill be posting the front splitter video soon and you will see. I could not get a flat head or trim tool between the bumper and quarter panel to release the clips without damaging the bumper. It was super tight and could barely fit paper between it. So I loosened everything up and flexed it out enough to get the two bolts I needed to access.
They were actually not much more than ECPS at the time. I never heard of ECPS back then. It was back in 2016, before Aston stopped Americans from purchasing parts directly from dealers in the UK. I purchased through Rich @ Redpants. When I inquired about the carbon infills for the taillights at my AM dealer, I was quoted something like $3500 + tax for the parts only! Purchased through AM Bits less than a 1/4 of that. Yes I heard that the front splitter at the dealer is around $15,000 installed, which is just stupid.
It was quite awhile ago, but I remember needing to remove the air boxes to reach the vertical bolt for the front splitter. Getting to that bolt was the most difficult, but I never removed or loosened any of the bumper. I also installed the V12 Carbon grill which looks great. Something you might look into if you have not already.
The rear bumper without the cutouts for the bumperettes actually looks better than the factory one. I have the factory one and it just reuses the plastic bumperette covers. So you have this nice carbon fiber bumper with cheesy plastic covers on it. Some day I'll get them wrapped in a carbon fiber so they don't look quite as bad, but I haven't wanted to remove the whole bumper just to get those off. I'll have to see if I can just get them wrapped on the car.
They were actually not much more than ECPS at the time. I never heard of ECPS back then. It was back in 2016, before Aston stopped Americans from purchasing parts directly from dealers in the UK. I purchased through Rich @ Redpants. When I inquired about the carbon infills for the taillights at my AM dealer, I was quoted something like $3500 + tax for the parts only! Purchased through AM Bits less than a 1/4 of that. Yes I heard that the front splitter at the dealer is around $15,000 installed, which is just stupid.
It was quite awhile ago, but I remember needing to remove the air boxes to reach the vertical bolt for the front splitter. Getting to that bolt was the most difficult, but I never removed or loosened any of the bumper. I also installed the V12 Carbon grill which looks great. Something you might look into if you have not already.
Yes, you are correct that the air box had to be loosened and shifted down to get access to some of the bolts on the splitter. If you ordered from Rich, those are ECPS as he has exclusive deals with Michal over in ECPS. At the time, he was the only one and the only way you could get those parts. Then Michal through FB started selling direct and gives discounts to FB forum members.
Originally Posted by davidm17
Nice write-up and vid. Thanks for sharing.
The rear bumper without the cutouts for the bumperettes actually looks better than the factory one. I have the factory one and it just reuses the plastic bumperette covers. So you have this nice carbon fiber bumper with cheesy plastic covers on it. Some day I'll get them wrapped in a carbon fiber so they don't look quite as bad, but I haven't wanted to remove the whole bumper just to get those off. I'll have to see if I can just get them wrapped on the car.
Yes my friend has the V8V-S that came with the Aston Martin OEM carbon rear and it has the bumper deletes on them and they are plastic. Mine do not have them, but I had to drill the rivets out and off the bash bar. I do like the deleted look.
What are the bumperettes? I don’t think I have them. Mine’s like this from factory.
In the US, there is a law to have those come from factory. If you look at my picture with the bumper removed, right in the center on either side of where the license plate would be, you will see two things sticking out on the rear bash bar. If you look at the picture with my OEM plastic diffuser, you will see two covers and that is where those things protrude out and hide. On the new Carbon Diffuser, there is no cut out, so I had to remove the rivets and drill them out. You can also see it in my timelapse video.
Yes, you are correct that the air box had to be loosened and shifted down to get access to some of the bolts on the splitter. If you ordered from Rich, those are ECPS as he has exclusive deals with Michal over in ECPS. At the time, he was the only one and the only way you could get those parts. Then Michal through FB started selling direct and gives discounts to FB forum members.
Mine parts were drop shipped direct to me from HWM Aston Martin in the UK. I could not find the thread on here, but they cut off parts from UK dealers to the US, this included Redpants. Way before Rich began selling ECPS. He ordered direct from dealers in the UK. That was quite awhile ago, the policy may have changed back by now. I had the option to order the Federal or the ROW (rest of the world) rear diffuser. I chose the Federal with the infill plates. They don't bother me. The ones in the carbon fiber diffuser are black, the ones in the plastic diffuser are dark gray.
Mine parts were drop shipped direct to me from HWM Aston Martin in the UK. I could not find the thread on here, but they cut off parts from UK dealers to the US, this included Redpants. Way before Rich began selling ECPS. He ordered direct from dealers in the UK. That was quite awhile ago, the policy may have changed back by now. I had the option to order the Federal or the ROW (rest of the world) rear diffuser. I chose the Federal with the infill plates. They don't bother me. The ones in the carbon fiber diffuser are black, the ones in the plastic diffuser are dark gray.
Wow, that is way before my time haha. You are the OG. I had prefered the infills as well that way I didnt have to alter anything on the car, but the nice thing is that those bumperettes are Al and soft and was easy to punch out the rivets. If I ever wanted them back to stock, I have a rivet gun that would take a few minutes to mount back. Thanks for the info, I had no idea they cut off ties with the US. Glad to have ECPS around as they are extremely high quality and good price point. V-Collection is another option but they are twice the price of ECPS.
Wow, that is way before my time haha. You are the OG. I had prefered the infills as well that way I didnt have to alter anything on the car, but the nice thing is that those bumperettes are Al and soft and was easy to punch out the rivets. If I ever wanted them back to stock, I have a rivet gun that would take a few minutes to mount back. Thanks for the info, I had no idea they cut off ties with the US. Glad to have ECPS around as they are extremely high quality and good price point. V-Collection is another option but they are twice the price of ECPS.
Was back in 2018. I did use V Collection for the side strakes. He gave me a deal because I picked them up and paid cash. V Collection didn't manufacture the splitter or diffuser yet at that time. Their carbon fiber strakes are flawless though.
