Touch bar replacement Yay or Nay?

Just finished replacing the Touch Bar on my MacBook Pro 15” 2017. For anyone else attempting, on the 15” model I didn’t need to remove the display, but I did need to remove the logic board and the left fan to get to the flex cables that attach the Touch Bar to the logic board.

A few notes on my repair, I didn’t use a heat gun (didn’t have a small enough tip that would work without melting the keys). Took about 2.5 hours to completely remove the Touch Bar by slowly breaking it with tweezers and then using citrisolv and a metal splunger to remove all the adhesive and remittance. I wouldn't recommend unless you have the patience. Better to a heat gun with a small tip as mentioned by dan, just be wary of the keys.

Thank you Dan for the answer/links and Magd for posting!

I just followed the instructions here on a 2017 15" MacBook Pro. Some clarifications to help anyone else attempting this...

Yes, it absolutely sucks removing the Touch Bar - you will have to remove the logic board and both fans to remove and replace the cables to the Touch ID button on one side and the Touch Bar on the other. You will NOT need to remove the screen, just the motherboard. You can start prying up, smashing, chipping and chiseling away the old Touch Bar after the Touch ID button is fully removed.

A heatgun can help but you will probably still melt something. Be sure to remove the top two rows of keys if you use one and BE CAREFUL! Also read how to remove the butterfly keys if you’ve never done it before. The heat gun is not necessary however and the Jimmy Tool from the essentials toolkit referenced below can be used to scrape up the remaining glue using an up-and-down scraping motion once the old Touch Bar is obliterated and it will be obliterated, it doesn’t just come off.

Tips:

Go slow, very slow, know what you're doing for every step. Be gentle with the cables. Read the guide for removing the screen on the machine as it relates to removing the logic board, it describes how to remove some tricky parts including the flat cables with a flip-up lock. The two cables at the lower left and right of the motherboard just lift up and out but are glued down. Just pull them up, not away from the connector.

Take a good picture of the logic board once the bottom cover is off before you do anything for reference later if you need it.

Take notes about what each part is as you remove it, where it was physically found, and what bit the screws are for reconstructing (use a project mat unless you have another strategy). When removing screws, be slow and use adequate downward force to avoid stripping them as you will be totally screwed if you do.

Final tip: Go slow, very slow, know what you’re doing for every step.

Recommended tools:

Essentials Toolkit - Essential Electronics Toolkit

P3 bit (not in kit) - iFixit Precision 4 mm Screwdriver Bit

Tesa Tape - Tesa 61395 Tape

(optional and helpful) Project Mat - Magnetic Project Mat

Necessary bits: T3, T5, TR8, P2, P5

I can happily say my MacBook finally works again and I can put it to sleep without it freezing when waking (or becoming a brick with that “security update” upon startup when upgrading to Mojave).

Thank you for this post and tips from other folks! It was a fun project to do but did take me several hours to complete so give yourself adequate time or plan to work on it in a couple of sessions. Good luck if you’re embarking on the same repair, it is possible!