Just wanted to update this thread that I was able to replace the fender for my friend. It was pretty easy, and you don’t HAVE to remove the entire bumper to remove one fender. You need to remove about 8 bolts on the fender itself plus another 5 bolts from the fender liner. I will attach a picture of the backside of the new fender to show where the holes are that the bolt locations. Also you will need to remove 1 bolt from the headlight that secures the light to the fender from inside the engine bay.
You will need a T15, T30, 7mm and 10mm sockets, along with a pair of needle nose Pliers. I also would recommend a 10mm open end wrench (ratcheting would be ideal, small space to work).
I didn’t remove the body cladding panel off the fender. There was enough room to use the pliers to squeez the plastic pins and push them back through so you have enough room to remove the 2 10 mm bolts from behind it. There is one torx bolt behind the small piece of weather stripping by the windshield, that just pulls out and off. And another torx bolt under the little plastic piece by the side view mirror, that just prys off. Note that those are the only 2 Torx bolts of that size so you won’t confuse them with the others.
The part number in the picture is for the drivers side FYI.
I just wanted to add that I do think it is possible to remove a fender without removing the bumper completely. I think once you remove the wheel well liner you might be able to just swing the corner of the bumper off and be able to work on the fender. Would say you time for sure but I will say it is beneficial to have an extra set of hands so you can have someone holding the fender while you make minor adjustments to avoid rubbing of the door and hood on the new fender.