Body kits, lip kits, spoilers and wings, etcetera – Mk3 owners are often asking for suggestions or photos of styling modifications available for these cars and while we as a community have some options available to us, the list isn’t exactly huge.
Many of these available parts we’ve looked at in detail and/or fitted to our cars before – ST bumpers, the range of hatch wings, Downforce USA’s front lip, and so on – but there’s one in particular that hasn’t been explored in depth and often brings in questions when photos are shared online. The unofficial term the community recognizes it by is the “SAP kit”, and it’s what Arabis wears. As noted in prior articles, in other markets it was part of the Zetec S and later ST-Line cars, but everything today is being discussed from a Canada/USA point of view.
We first explored a piece of this kit back in early 2015 when the initial photos were released and Kyle McGrew fitted the rear valance to his sedan, but today I want to look at the entire kit and break it down in more detail.
As per usual a video has been uploaded on the channel which covers the highlights but if you want additional information and all of the part numbers, today’s post handles that.
PARTS
We’ll dive a bit more into how the kit could be fitted to these cars from the factory later on (because we can), but the actual part numbers and compatibility information are more important so we’ll get into those now.
FRONT LIP:
We might as well start at the front of the car, with the multi-piece front lip assembly. A pronounced center piece with another body-coloured addition on either side make up the most obvious change here, but the lower grille (into which the central piece clips) is also unique to the package. The fog light bezels are also SAP-specific as my research shows, and while the main grille isn’t, if you want to go for the complete factory-correct appearance you may need to change it too depending on the spec of your car. The undertray does not need to be changed out (it’s the same regardless of having the lip kit or not though I’ve included the number anyway) but there are also various little clips and plastic rivets needed to assemble and attach the lip.
Obviously this lip assembly (and the grilles) will only fit 2015-18 front bumpers, so if you have a ‘12-14 car you will have to convert the front end.
Lip Assembly:
Center Lip: FM5Z-17626-AE
LH Outer Lip: FM5Z-17626-ACPTM
RH Outer Lip: FM5Z-17626-ABPTM
Lip Grille: FM5Z-17K945-AA
Hardware: W714504-S303, W714040-S300, W716166-S424
Extras:
Main Grille: F1EZ-8200-B
LH Fog Light Bezel: FM5Z-17B814-AB
RH Fog Light Bezel: FM5Z-17B814-AA
Undertray: F1EZ-17808-A
SIDE SKIRTS:
These are the easy ones, as these side skirts are the exact parts also used on the ST and RS variants as well as in the 2014-only (and hatch-only) Full Body Styling Kit*. Any Canadian/American Mk3 that didn’t receive the basic textured black side skirts left the factory with these instead, so finding them used doesn’t take too much work.
*The 2014 optional kit was the overseas Zetec S package, though a few markets seemed to receive a different – a third – type of skirts as part of it instead of the ST pieces. I don’t know anything about them in terms of part numbers or how cars received them, but in our markets we only had the two styles.
LH Side Skirt: CM5Z-5810177-AA
RH Side Skirt: CM5Z-5810176-AA
White Nylon Trim Clips (need two per skirt): W715364-S300
Black Clips: W790225-S900
REAR VALANCE:
This is the piece that always seems to be the most desired from the kit, and therefore the most asked-about. This is also the only one that is body style-specific, so the exact parts you need will be different for a sedan versus a hatch; nothing is shared on the valance assembly itself so you can’t mix and match.
The main component is the single body-coloured piece. Yes, the little “diffuser” you see at the bottom is the same panel as the main body of the valance. The grille clips into a recess, hiding the body colour in between and giving the illusion of the diffuser being a separate part.
Another other item of note with the rear valance is Ford’s use of the rear reflectors. Sedans only ever had one set of rear reflectors made, so any sedan reflectors will fit the sedan valance; they can be from a non-SAP car or even a pre-facelift. For hatches on the other hand, the facelifted cars received a unique set of reflectors which are shared between non-SAP and SAP cars. Any 2015-2018 hatch reflectors will work.
However, that also leads into the most important note for the rear valances, and that’s compatibility across model years. As originally proven with Kyle’s car, the SAP valance will fit ‘12-14 sedans but reportedly they had to trim down the bumper’s mounting flange a touch. This means though that any Mk3 sedan from ‘12-18 can run this piece.
Hatches are a different story though; the SAP valance will only fit 2015-2018 rear bumpers, as illustrated here. The green tape is the profile of the ‘12-14 valance, overlaid on my 2015+ valance – they don’t even remotely line up. However, if you’re then thinking it’s just a case of swapping the ‘15+ back end on a hatchback first, that can’t be done either. As Mike at RDC had reported not long after the facelifted cars came out, the 2015+ hatchback tail lights will not fit the ‘12-14 tail light pockets due to a sheetmetal change. Without the ‘15+ tail lights you can’t fit the ‘15+ hatch or bumper, and without the ‘15+ bumper you can’t fit the SAP valance. Long story short, these simply cannot be used on ‘12-14 hatchbacks unless you go down the route of custom bodywork.
The quick, final item to note is due to some 2015+ ST owners wanting to run SAP rear valances. The two plastic supports that secure the bottom of the valance to the car show as being the same for all 2012-2018 Foci sedans and hatches, except for the ST and RS. These two show a different part number for the supports, so you may need to change them out as well should you wish to swap this onto an ST.
Sedans:
Rear Valance: FM5Z-17626-BAPTM
Grille: FM5Z-17765-BA
LH Reflector: BM5Z-13A565-B
RH Reflector: BM5Z-13A565-A
Hatches:
Rear Valance: FM5Z-17626-AAPTM
Grille: FM5Z-17765-AA
LH Reflector: F1EZ-13A565-B
RH Reflector: F1EZ-13A565-A
Extras:
Valance Supports: CP9Z-17787-A
Hardware: W714040-S300, W716070-S300
HOW DID CARS GET THESE FROM FACTORY?
Now for the unnecessary extra bits, for those curious: how did cars (in Canada and the USA) leave the factory with this kit?
The kit was exclusive to the SE trim; in 2015 it came as part of the SE Sport Package (both sedan and hatch) as well as the SE EcoBoost Package (sedan), but in 2016 was limited to the SE Sport Package (again for both body styles). 2016 sedans had an updated “SE EcoBoost Appearance Package” but the kit was not listed as being part of the package any more. Similarly, no option packs in 2017 or 2018 listed the kit as being part of their equipment.
As a result the kit is not massively common – you’re likely not going to see multiples at your local junkyard at the same time – but it’s not exactly rare either. Used parts can be found with a little searching, and new pieces are of course available at the dealership if you want to save time.
As I noted in the video, finding a car with the SAP kit already fitted was a huge bonus for me and a strong motivator to pick up this specific example as I really am not a fan of how these cars look with the standard textured plastic skirts and valances. I never expected that we’d receive so many questions about it though, or that so many would be surprised it’s all OEM; hopefully this guide is useful in answering questions and providing information for anyone who finds it, and thank you to Ford for giving us at least a few extra styling parts to play with – even if their time was limited.
-Bill