recently the windscreen washer's stopped working, fuse and pipes are all good, so I figured the motor is dead, in order to replace the motor I just had to remove the front bumper, it wasn't as easy as it sounds (at least according to the tutorial on Volvo Howto as a 30 min job), well it wasn't that bad until I hit removing mounting screws under the car part, I was stuck right there (if that's the part holding me back).

since I can't remove the bumper, I had to remove the headlight so it gave some space to access the motor at the bottom of the washer tank, the bad part is there's no way to take the tank out or any other decent way to drain the tank so I had to drain it right there while the bumper is still on, after the mess the washer is kinda back to work again, its not perfect as I have to press and hold it for a short while then it sprays, maybe because I haven't filled the tank full, without being able to remove the bumper I just can't inspect further so I have no idea how many motors are there, but anyway it's better than not working.

now back to the bumper, I removed everything I could except 4 mounting screws under (2 each side), I tried wiggling the bumper a bit to see which parts holding on it, as shown in this pic these are the parts don't move,




so I reckon that's where the screws retaining the bumper, the problem is these mounting screws are so damn hard to unscrew, I had a look, as shown in this pic the metal holding piece's got a bit of offset so they are not well aligned, a socket wrench simply can't reach there




I managed to remove one screw, unfortunately, wasn't able to put it back on as the reason stated before, so my question is how to get around this, I have little space in my garage to move around and jacking it up wouldn't help too much either, is there any special tool to handle this awkward situation, I still want to remove the front bumper for the sake of it but I don't want to drive around with one less screw either, please help.

 

Those four bolts underneath looking up hold the bumper in. That should be it. I would try removing the bumper cover first though, it might be doable without removing the bumper. It should have a screw on the top of each arch and maybe some trim undearneath but if you don't it should only be two screws in the arch that are holding the bumper cover on and needs a firm tug.

 

thanks looks like I wasted time and efforts trying to remove the 4 big screws while I could simply remove the cover, I'll give it another try some time, but as I recall the cover does come loose after I removed the splash cover under and the clips and screws around the arch (didn't check any at the top of arch), I just don't understand if you look at my first pic, the parts red arrows point don't move, are they held by some screws covered by the headlight units? (considering its a 1998 model might be very different?)

 

I don't have the pics so these posts have some good ones. I usually pull out and down on the covers. I'm suspecting you have some sorta trim type clips holding it in still or were being overly gentle with the prying. In your second pic those 4 bolts would remove it, and then the screws for the arch would need to be removed at the top and the lil push button clip on the front of the arch.

Removal of just cover.
My Volvo V40 - alterations

This shows removal like you were attempting with bump and cover.
Guide: removing the front bumper - Volvo Owners Club Forum