Installing CTS Sport Rocker Panels
Please do not reproduce, but feel free to link to.

The first thing you need to do, are to remove the black plastic mud flap type things in front of the two rear wheels. Here is a picture of what I am talking about. You are looking at the left one, taken from the front, facing the back. ***PLEASE NOTE: I took this picture AFTER I had already installed the Sport rocker panels, so if you are wondering why the silver part in this picture looks different, that is why.*** This little black "mud flap" is held in place by four plastic push pins. Pull them out, the "mud flap" should come out.

Now we will remove the stock rocker panels. They are held in place by these little plastic fasteners. You cannot pull them out without breaking them, so don't even try. It's not worth the time or effort. The ones on the car are white, but this was the only picture I could find on the net. I have also shown a picture of the actual one, but the lighting is horrible.

It looks like this when it's attached to the rocker panel.

Here is a look at the STOCK rocker panels. Please note this is the LEFT side. The top is the front piece, the bottom is the rear piece. I have numbered all the locations of the white plastic fasteners.

I have read that some people in the past have just pried the stock panels off and snapped the plastic fasteners by pulling on them. While this may work, I don't recommend it at all due to the fact that you may damage your car by prying, it takes a lot of work, and it is slow. Get yourself a sharp chisel, a big screw driver, and a hammer. This is the hard part. Start by taking the screw driver, and wedging it between the rocker panel and the body of the car. The gap is very small, so you're going to have to work your way in there. I'm sorry I don't have a picture of me doing this, but here's a picture of what I mean. The arrow is point towards where you need to wedge the screw driver. This will give you a gap.

Now you need to find fastener # 7. Take the sharp chisel and stick it in the gap that you have made. (There is a gap since your screw driver is wedged between the rocker panel and the body of the car.) Put the chisel on the plastic fastener and tap the chisel with the hammer. This should snap the plastic fastener in half. Here's a picture of where you want the chisel to be hitting the fastener.

Now do the same for fasteners # 6, 5, 4, and 3 on the front rocker panel. You should be able to loosen # 2 by looking forward towards the door. Here's a picture of what I mean. (Sorry, this is not a picture taken during the process, but it should give you an idea of where to look.)

Finally, take the chisel to fastener # 1. Now, there are 3 clips on the bottom of the rocker panels. Stick a pair of needle nosed pliers into the yellow highlighted area to disengage them. There are 3 of them on the front rocker panel. You should now be able to slide the front rocker panel forwards. It should come right off.

Now take the chisel to fasteners 1, 2, 3, and 4 (in that order) on the rear rocker panel. There are 2 clips (pictured above, the same as the 3 on the front rocker panel) on the bottom of the rear rocker panel.

***Make sure all the 5 bottom clips (3 front, 2 rear) are OFF the car. Sometimes they stay on the car.***

Your car should now look like this:

***OPTIONAL: Before installing the new panels, you can drill a hole on the 2 rear rocker panels to install that black plastic mud flap back on. The CTS-V does not have this piece, so I assume it is not necessary. However, I do not see the harm in putting them back on, since it fits perfectly. If you do decide to put it back on, just take the mud flap, put it over the rocker panel, mark a hole, and drill. See picture below. (You are looking at the RIGHT rear rocker panel in this picture)***

Ok! Now, to put the new rocker panels on, wooohooo!! Install the FRONT piece first. Do NOT peel the red tape off the underside yet (You can peel off a corner, like I did)!!!! With the doors open, line up the plastic fasteners with the holes. This part is a little tricky since the door is open, and is easier with two people. Once everything is lined up properly, push in fasteners 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Leave 6 and 7 off for now, this will make it easier to install the rears. You should be looking at something like this:

Now line up the rear rocker panel with the front, and then line up the plastic fasteners with the holes. Once everything is lined up, push in fasteners 1, 2, 3, and 4 on the rear panels. Now go back and push in 6 and 7 on the front ones. Don't forget to snap in the 5 clips along the bottom! Peel the red tape off, and push down on the "Cadillac" part to secure it to your car.

Now if you did the optional step, install the black mud flap back with the push pins you took out in the beginning.

Do the other side now!

CONGRATULATIONS, you are done!