Got the front subframe out and pan off. A little carbon-y in there. A tiny bit of sludge in the bottom of the pan but fairly clean for 130k. Could be better. I'll probably try a can of that engine flush soon. I'll clean off what I can here. I rotated it around and the cylinder walls all look perfect.
Pretty large job, lots of cleaning ahead for reassembly. The gasket was changed previously it looks like. There was no RTV at all on the front and rear cover seams which is exactly where it was leaking from, like really bad. The flywheel is dry so it is not the rear main like I thought, just the pan everywhere.
I did elect to remove the front bumper and get that front pipe bar thing out of the way just to make dealing with the subframe easier. It's held on with 4 13mm nuts you can almost see and get to through the front grill, right above the brake ducts. I tried getting to them without removing the bumper but ultimately had to take it. I'm not sure how difficult it would be with that bar in. The guy said it's hard you have to twist the subframe into it.
To lower it, I used a floor jack on the front part (the piece you normally jack up), and a second floor jack in laterally under the passenger side, with a length of 4x4 wood block balanced on the pad and ratchet strapped down, to hold and lower the rear left right section. It worked well. Except then somehow the front two posts didn't lower at all when I released the jack. There's a little metal bushing in there that was of course rusted, and I can't believe it, but some rust was strong enough to hold all that up. Eventually I got a pry bar between those posts and the frame and it came down nicely. It was puzzling, like I missed some bolts. No, rust can hold 150lbs.
Friday I did get the passenger side ball joint out finally. The small pointy punch was the MVP. It allowed more swing with the hammer, more momentum. The driver's side one is in progress.
Also did / doing:
Oil filter housing gasket kit
Belts, tensioners, pulleys (minus crank pulley)
Water pump, thermostat
Fan clutch, fan, shroud
Radiator (replacing original 2004!)
Upper and lower rad hoses, coolant tank
Power steering lines and tank
Front axle seals
Front lower wishbones, tension struts, ball joints
Spark plugs. Found massive amount of oil on threads of #5 and a little on 4 and 6, ordered valve cover gasket.
Next Saturday morning I need to use it to haul some stuff. So I have 6 days to get this all done. Don't know if I'm going to make it.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Henn28[[url
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082LW28DK...roduct_details[/url]
I think a few different makes came up in Amazon, but this one worked great for me and didn’t break the bank. I also bought a universal 3 leg puller that could spread to fit over thr e53 hub and press the axle out, and can’t find it now. Hence the drift and hammer method. I would like to find that tool tho as it would have saved 15 min or so of time and the other side boot isn’t in great shape.
Is the thing you are referring to this? 51717007787, referred to as Underride Protection in RealOEM? If so I think it’s only job is to be the think the plastic splash guard screws into at the front of the car. I’m down to using zip ties to hold my splash guard on as the threads on the bar have mostly rusted out.
Is it attached to the subframe? I thought it was bolted to the frame rails and stayed with the car when I dropped the subframe a bit to get the diff in.
Those ball joints can suck. I ended up taking both front hubs to a local suspension shop and having them pressed out. Dropped them off, got lunch and they were done before I finished chow. Might be worth a look. I’m sure there is a BMW tool for the job
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Thanks for the link. I'm debating ordering it. I am totally sick of hammering so I probably will.
Yes that's the piece. It's not attached to the subframe, but pokes into it and looks like it would be in the way / possibly create a struggle out of it. Maybe not, but I didn't want to struggle with something heavy.