pcy

No need to go under the car; even if you go under the car, that won't help you anything [for removing intake manifold or starter].

Those oil separator hoses were very difficult to remove with bare hands. You will need to squeeze the ring [at the end of the pipe] with fingers and pull out.

Plier like this one might help... but there is not much room for that long plier. It just took me some time to figure out how to remove those pipes.

3 Piece Long Reach Hose Grip Pliers

Here is the picture that shows the return pipe. You can disconnect at the oil pan end or at the oil separator. I disconnected at the oil separator. Look at the end of that pipe carefully. Press on that ring at the green arrows. Due to heat and age, that plastic becomes hard. So, you need to press hard.

E60I

Thanks, Pcy!

I finally got the intake manifold out. It was a huge struggle and I hope I didn't damage the rubber fuel line. So far, removing those two hoses from the oil separator was the only hard part for me.

Wow, there are so many wires to disconnect! I hope I can put them back correctly!

One of the bolts for the starter is off. The other one, I tried it with the 12 point box end wrench (11 mm). I think I slightly striped it. I didn't want to take any more chances and ordered a E14 ratcheting wrench online (I couldn't find any store that stock them in the store). I hope it will work with the slightly stripped starter bolt.

Did you use a plumber pipe or something else for leverage on that other starter bolt? The wrench was so short, I tried using my foot as a breaker bar. I don't know if I want to try that again.

Still waiting for parts to come in...

pcy

Yea, there were lots of wires... to keep track of all those wires and where they came from, I labeled each end of the wire with the corresponding label on where it goes.

That long bolt is not torqued high. I think thread lock must've been used. Once that thread lock breaks, the bolt turns very easily. I used one large box wrench tied (interlocked) at the end of that small box wrench. It's very easy to strip those aluminum bolt heads. Put a hand on the box wrench and press it against the bolt head to make sure it doesn't slip out and strip further.

E60I

"I used one large box wrench tied (interlocked) at the end of that small box wrench. It's very easy to strip those aluminum bolt heads."

Stupid me, I should have tried that!

Thank you!!!

E60I

NOTICE: You will have a hard time taking the "back part" of intake manifold off the car. If I were to do it all over again, I would "carefully" cut the two crankcase hoses off the oil separator. Once those are out of the way, it will be much easier to unfasten the fuel line clip and another one next to it. Be sure to have two new crankcase hoses available before you cut and discard them!

All screws should be put back where they below after parts are disconnected. This will make your assembling job easier!

Take pictures and label all the wires!

Tightening Torque:

Throttle Assembly: 9 Nm (80 in-lb)
Manifold to cylinder head: 15 Nm ( 11 ft-lb)
Tension strut to body: 30.5 Nm (22.4 ft-lb); Bentley Service Manual says to replace fasteners.


A Must Have Tools:

1. E Socket and Star Bit Set.
http://www.harborfreight.com/17-piec...set-67930.html

2. E14 E-Star box end wrench for the longer starter bolt. Or an 11 mm 12 point box end wrench.

3. One precision screw driver (flat head) to unclip some of the hard to reach electrical wire harnesses.
http://www.harborfreight.com/16-piec...-set-4143.html

I hope this thread will help someone someday.

zgilbert

Any update on your car's status? Up and running?

pcy

I believe he is waiting for parts to arrive.
My experience with BMWmercedesparts dot com has been it takes time (more than other places I ordered) to receive parts from them.

E60I

Hey guys,

Hope all is well!

I ordered the parts from bmwmercedesparts.com on 11/13/13 at 9:30 a.m. As of today, it was picked up by Fed Ex with wrong delivery address. Luckily, I caught it and asked them to make the necessary correction.

In the meanwhile, most of the engine parts are carefully cleaned with engine degreaser, Simple Green and water and water. I will need sunglasses to look at my throttle body (so shiny!) again.

I ordered my water pump today because I thought the price was pretty good.
https://www.fedex.com/werl/enrollment.html?locale=en_US

I am debating whether to return all the tools I ordered ($130+ worth of unopened parts) from Harbor Freight and use that money to buy the pulley, serpentine belt, drive belt tensioner and bolt. It looks like the best place (price and oem-wise) to buy them is here: Shopping Cart - RM European Auto Parts
$112.32 is not bad for everything, tax and delivery free.

I hope the parts will arrive soon! If the car runs after I installed everything, then I will consider doing more preventative maintenance. I don't want to be stranded again and incur any more unnecessary expenses.

Thanks again for all your support!!!

PS: I had a hard time taking out the other bolt from the starter because I turned it "counter-clock-wise" like I did with the shorter bolt. If I keep that up, I will never be able to loosen it! Can anyone guess what I did wrong!? lol

I am still waiting for the right tool (for the starter bolt) to arrive because I want to use it at least once. lol

pcy

That long bolt on starter is facing the firewall; You are reaching around to undo that bolt. So, to remove that bolt, you should be turning the wrench/bolt clock-wise.

E60I

I laughed and called myself an idiot so many times just for that. lol

The smaller bolt was so easy to do because I turned it in the right direction. For that, I got excited and didn't think. It was like getting excited and out of control with a girl; and totally forgot that she's not the one you will be coming home to. j/k