Replacing the starter motor E60
#11
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My Ride: E60 525i, 2004 (manual transmission, active steering)
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My starter broke on christmas day. I've replaced it pretty much according to this guide (thanks!).
I can confirm that it is fully doable without removing the inlet mainfold, skinny forearms (but still strong) helps!
My guess is that this method would save some time compared to remove the inlet mainfold, especially considering the risk of breaking gaskets, dropping nuts/bolts into the engine...
I used a E12 torx wrench to remove the bolts holdning the starter - the wrench was slightly bent (from earlier) which actually made it a bit easier to access the bolts! I also used a small piece of a pipe as an extender to remove the upper bolt - for the lower (/outer) bolt the pipe would not fit (still got it loose, but that took a bit of time/sweat/blood...)
I took a bunch of pictures, mostly after I removed the starter. I have uploaded the pictures on Google+, they are pretty much unsorted, but still they might be useful fore someone(?)
I tried to put notes for the dimensions of the bolts on the pictures while I was putting the car back together again.
Link to pictures:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/EbNCrB
I can confirm that it is fully doable without removing the inlet mainfold, skinny forearms (but still strong) helps!
My guess is that this method would save some time compared to remove the inlet mainfold, especially considering the risk of breaking gaskets, dropping nuts/bolts into the engine...
I used a E12 torx wrench to remove the bolts holdning the starter - the wrench was slightly bent (from earlier) which actually made it a bit easier to access the bolts! I also used a small piece of a pipe as an extender to remove the upper bolt - for the lower (/outer) bolt the pipe would not fit (still got it loose, but that took a bit of time/sweat/blood...)
I took a bunch of pictures, mostly after I removed the starter. I have uploaded the pictures on Google+, they are pretty much unsorted, but still they might be useful fore someone(?)
I tried to put notes for the dimensions of the bolts on the pictures while I was putting the car back together again.
Link to pictures:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/EbNCrB
#12
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Location: Alexandria, VA
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My Ride: 2009 Bmw 528i
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Ok, first and foremost I'd like to apologize for not taking pictures of this process as I went through it. I didn't realize how big of a pain this was going to be and that it would be worthwhile to document it. With that being said this IS a job that can be tackled by an individual with moderate repair knowledge and a decent set of tools. And of course a boatload of patience.
Difficulty: 7 - 8 (because of the horribly tight working space)
Time: Approx 5-7 hours (Mine took 13 because of all of the trial and error)
First of all i'll review the troubles I had, how I determined my problem was actually the starter, and then get into how to replace it in the most efficient way.
My problems started in a parking lot down the street from my house, drove the car 2 minutes and parked it. In and out of the store and then she wouldn't start. All electronics lit up like normal, fuel pump engaged but no start. Eventually I had my roomate come and tow me home with his Audi RS6. (Picture a 525 M sport being towed by a RS6) Funny to say the least. Anyway, tapping the starter motor with a small hammer got it up and running. I figured I would continue this until I found a good deal on a starter. (I also verified that it was the starter by checking the volts on the positive terminal of the starter motor when turning the ignition. If the volts read 12 or higher when the key is turned it's getting enough power from the battery and therefore will either be the solenoid or starter itself that is bad. Either way it needs to be pulled.)
In my research I found that the dealer recommends replacement via the bottom of the car. This will provide you with easy access to the positive and negative leads to the starter and an easier way to grip the starter for removal. Unfortunately you will have a very difficult time accessing the starter bolts in the transmission case that actually hold the starter in place. These are located on the top of the transmission case. I therefore, chose to approach this from the top. Now some of the youtube videos I found said that it is necessary to remove the intake manifold. While this will give you a better view of what you are doing it is not necessary and will create a large amount of work in the long run. I was able to do the swap without this removal.
First you?ll need to get some pieces out of your way, remove the interior air filters on the top left and right sides of the engine bay. These are fairly straight forward and just require a 12mm wrench to turn the plastic bolts and undo the latch on each side and the will come off easily. Next remove the filter housings that they latch into. There will be a 10mm bolt that needs to be removed on each side as well as 3 of those plastic 12mm bolts. These housings can then be simply pulled out. Now undo the 4 etorx bolts holding the sway bar in place. These can be loosened with a 3/8s and then taken off with a 10mm ratchet. The electrical lines will be running through the sway bar so simply push it aside, I would suggest undoing the rubber plug on the right side of the motor that holds the wire guide in place to gain more room to move the sway bar. I also found that undoing the positive lead to the starter from the jump start point as well as the Torx fastener were helpful as well.
Now if you have all of that out of the way you should have a small amount of access from the right side of the engine bay as well as from right behind the block. This is your work space?it?s tight, so be warned!
Somehow you need to undo the positive connection to the starter, this is a massive pain from the top but it needs to be done as there is a 2 gauge connection to the block from the starter that will not allow it to move freely once the bolts have been removed. (I did not know this and wasted hours trying to get the darn thing out!) I suggest feeling the starter and following the positive lead you have access to down to the bolt, then loosening with a 13mm ratchet(guessing here! But fairly sure it was a 13!) make sure you pull both positive leads off the starter! The one to the jump point can now be removed entirely so it is out of your way. The negative lead can be left alone for now. Now to undo the two starter bolts you?ll need a 3/8ths wrench and in my case a 10mm ratchet style. I fit the 3/8ths over the bolt and used a pipe extender to turn them the first few turns until they were loose. (if you use a 10mm you will strip them!) Once they are loose use the 10mm to ratchet them all the way out. When both bolts are removed the starter will now only be held in by a mounting pin in the upper right corner. You should at this point be able to rock it back and forth until it is released from its mount. Once it is free move it into the open space to remove the negative lead.
Now simply(relative term) reverse the process. The hardest part is removing the bolts, both that E12?s and the positive lead take massive amounts of patience and being a contortionist is definitely useful!
I wish I had pictures to help like I said but a little research and some logical thinking should get you through this one. Hopefully this is somewhat helpful as well. Cheers!
Difficulty: 7 - 8 (because of the horribly tight working space)
Time: Approx 5-7 hours (Mine took 13 because of all of the trial and error)
First of all i'll review the troubles I had, how I determined my problem was actually the starter, and then get into how to replace it in the most efficient way.
My problems started in a parking lot down the street from my house, drove the car 2 minutes and parked it. In and out of the store and then she wouldn't start. All electronics lit up like normal, fuel pump engaged but no start. Eventually I had my roomate come and tow me home with his Audi RS6. (Picture a 525 M sport being towed by a RS6) Funny to say the least. Anyway, tapping the starter motor with a small hammer got it up and running. I figured I would continue this until I found a good deal on a starter. (I also verified that it was the starter by checking the volts on the positive terminal of the starter motor when turning the ignition. If the volts read 12 or higher when the key is turned it's getting enough power from the battery and therefore will either be the solenoid or starter itself that is bad. Either way it needs to be pulled.)
In my research I found that the dealer recommends replacement via the bottom of the car. This will provide you with easy access to the positive and negative leads to the starter and an easier way to grip the starter for removal. Unfortunately you will have a very difficult time accessing the starter bolts in the transmission case that actually hold the starter in place. These are located on the top of the transmission case. I therefore, chose to approach this from the top. Now some of the youtube videos I found said that it is necessary to remove the intake manifold. While this will give you a better view of what you are doing it is not necessary and will create a large amount of work in the long run. I was able to do the swap without this removal.
First you?ll need to get some pieces out of your way, remove the interior air filters on the top left and right sides of the engine bay. These are fairly straight forward and just require a 12mm wrench to turn the plastic bolts and undo the latch on each side and the will come off easily. Next remove the filter housings that they latch into. There will be a 10mm bolt that needs to be removed on each side as well as 3 of those plastic 12mm bolts. These housings can then be simply pulled out. Now undo the 4 etorx bolts holding the sway bar in place. These can be loosened with a 3/8s and then taken off with a 10mm ratchet. The electrical lines will be running through the sway bar so simply push it aside, I would suggest undoing the rubber plug on the right side of the motor that holds the wire guide in place to gain more room to move the sway bar. I also found that undoing the positive lead to the starter from the jump start point as well as the Torx fastener were helpful as well.
Now if you have all of that out of the way you should have a small amount of access from the right side of the engine bay as well as from right behind the block. This is your work space?it?s tight, so be warned!
Somehow you need to undo the positive connection to the starter, this is a massive pain from the top but it needs to be done as there is a 2 gauge connection to the block from the starter that will not allow it to move freely once the bolts have been removed. (I did not know this and wasted hours trying to get the darn thing out!) I suggest feeling the starter and following the positive lead you have access to down to the bolt, then loosening with a 13mm ratchet(guessing here! But fairly sure it was a 13!) make sure you pull both positive leads off the starter! The one to the jump point can now be removed entirely so it is out of your way. The negative lead can be left alone for now. Now to undo the two starter bolts you?ll need a 3/8ths wrench and in my case a 10mm ratchet style. I fit the 3/8ths over the bolt and used a pipe extender to turn them the first few turns until they were loose. (if you use a 10mm you will strip them!) Once they are loose use the 10mm to ratchet them all the way out. When both bolts are removed the starter will now only be held in by a mounting pin in the upper right corner. You should at this point be able to rock it back and forth until it is released from its mount. Once it is free move it into the open space to remove the negative lead.
Now simply(relative term) reverse the process. The hardest part is removing the bolts, both that E12?s and the positive lead take massive amounts of patience and being a contortionist is definitely useful!
I wish I had pictures to help like I said but a little research and some logical thinking should get you through this one. Hopefully this is somewhat helpful as well. Cheers!
Only the passenger side wiper was removed. It is held by 2 nuts, a 13mm and a 19mm. In between these 2 nuts are 2 plastic pins holding down 2 plastic gromets which must be removed so as to be able to remove the big black plastic piece between the back of the engine and the windshield. This big plastic piece is held at each of its four corners by a 10mm bolt. In the middle it is held by 2 of those plastic hollow bolts that need to be turned a quarter. A 13mm nut fits these hollow plastic bolts.
This is an easy job. The most difficult part is taking out the torx on the engine brace. The most time consuming is putting stuff back on in the correct order. Total estimated time by this method is 2 hours. With this dry run experience I can swap out the starter by the side of the road in 45 minutes, and complete the job of putting back all the trim when i get home.
Last edited by Bens; 10-16-2017 at 06:13 PM. Reason: To link pictures
#13
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My Ride: 2008 bmw535i sport all blacked out, now with my son
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Gave my 16 y/o son my beloved 08 535i with 110K on it, and he has been doing the repairs that he can and now we are working on replacing the starter. We have a flex-head and a ratcheting 3/8" wrench but can't get the back bolt to budge. Just can't get enough leverage.. He has done everything right up to this point, just can't get the bolt to budge. We would appreciate any other advice..
He loves this car, and I love that he is so into working on it..
thought about getting an offset wrench but I don't think that will help much.
He loves this car, and I love that he is so into working on it..
thought about getting an offset wrench but I don't think that will help much.
#14
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My Ride: 05 545i 6MT
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I just replaced my friend's E60 LCI 528i starter motor. Replaced with Bosch new from FCP.
I did not need to remove the whole intake manifold.
Just remove enough hose for it to tilt to the side so you can have access to the starter bolts.
Make sure you have spare breather hose as it will definitely break!
For the rear facing bolt,
I was able to remove the rear facing bolt with 11mm wrench.
Keep in mind that the wrench needs to be slim profile to even fit the bolt due to small space between the bolt and the bell housing
I did not need to remove the whole intake manifold.
Just remove enough hose for it to tilt to the side so you can have access to the starter bolts.
Make sure you have spare breather hose as it will definitely break!
For the rear facing bolt,
I was able to remove the rear facing bolt with 11mm wrench.
Keep in mind that the wrench needs to be slim profile to even fit the bolt due to small space between the bolt and the bell housing
Last edited by salaki; 11-05-2019 at 02:48 PM.
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