WOW it's tight in there. Is there any easy way to get that bottom nut off the solenoid or do you have to remove the heat shield?

Those old braided hoses did not want to budge from the solenoids at all either. Most of the DIY guides out there are for the 335i and I assume the e60 is easier to work on due to the M5 fitting a V10. Nope

 

You know that ALL repair instructions are available here? newtis.info

 

Thanks for the resource! There's a lot of good stuff there. However I could not find this specific replacement..

 

I recently replaced the turbo vacuum hoses and did not need to remove the heat shield to remove the boost solenoids (based on the pictures taken during the process). I used a small quarter inch ratchet with a long socket (or short extension) to remove the bottom nuts - did not use a lot of force break them loose.

Just be careful not to drop the nut down to the lower shield, near impossible to fish them out. Use a magnet or tug a catch rag underneath before proceeding to be safe.

 

thanks I figured as much. My local shops only had 1.5" extensions for a 3/8" drive so I went with a deep socket.
This also made it a lot easier to reach the nut holding the vacuum canister which blocks the solenoids.

I am going to give it another shot today. My car is throwing 30FF everyday now so I hope this solves the issue.

 

Are you getting waste gate rattle? Have you measured the amount of vacuum going to the waste gates? I got a little Mighty Vac and hooked it up to the line going to both turbos to make sure they were closing by I think 6" of vacuum. My waste gates were shot though so I removed the turbos and had new waste gates installed.

Another repeatable symptom for me was if I stomped the accelerator below 2,400 RPM, I'd get the code right around 2,400. If I hit the pedal when at a higher rpm than that I would not get the code.