Glad to see you're making progress.

Alternator- yes, it should slide out once the bolts are free. Check you didn't leave one bolt. If it's not that, I suspect someone put rtv on the oring. If that's the case, look at pictures online and find a place to pry it out of the cooling jacket. Carefully...

Coolant - I'm a little worried about coolant in your oil. Could be a dribble from when you removed the water pump, or could hint at head gasket damage. Did you ever do your leak down test?

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David.X5
2001 X5 4.4i Sport
SOLD! at 160k miles