OK, here's the nutshell. No pics, they're in the TIS and I was bookin it during changeout.

-At the release cable in the hatch (use your owners manual to find it), use a screwdriver or similar to press in the detents, inside and out, than push the cable down into its little hole.

-Underneath the car, on the same side of the vehicle, you will see the cable coming out between the bumper panel, and the plasticky undercarriage panel. Unbolt the two closest bolts to where the cable comes out and you can pull the plasticky undercarriage panel out just a little bit to pull the cable all the way. You'll know its the brake release cable, because it runs to the actuator which is mounted under the X5, behind the axles. If you need pics of it, google it and there are many diagrams for it (asking $1000 for the module).

-Pull the cable from its mounts. This doesn't require tools, just pull them.

-Now, its time for at the unit. Disconnect the electrical connection (easier said than done, get a flashlight to see exactly where you need to manipulate the clip, its not very natural). Than, undo the bolts holding the unit to the frame, or whatever it was bolted onto. This will let it free hang, but it needs to free hang if you want to disconnect the Bowden cables without removing them.

-Now that the unit is hanging, use either a crescent wrench, or your brute strength to unscrew the plastic covers where each of the bowden cables goes into the actuator. The reason you want the unit to hang, is because on the driver's side, the release cable is in the way making getting to it with a wrench extremely difficult (well, getting the wrench on is easy, but having enough clearance to turn it is almost impossible). With the unit free hanging, you can twist the unit, and pull it away from interference so you can use a wrench. However, if you can bare hand those plastic caps, good on you!

-When the caps are loose, its about to get a little more interesting: For the drivers side cable, its screwed into the worm gear. There is a small square piece (you'll have to be there to understand) which you turn clockwise to release from the unit. Yes, that's opposite of normal, and I learned this the hard way. It may seem like you're turning it forever, and you will hear the cable turning in its sheath. But if you turn it as if you're tightening, it will untighten and release.

-Now that the driver's side is release, move on to the passenger cable. This will be much easier now, since you can pull the cable almost all the way out of the unit now that the driver's side is released. Note that if you had to manually release it already, the order that its performed won't matter. On the passenger side, you will see a white plastic sleeve no more than a half inch long. Use a screw driver to undo this clip and slide it away from the actuator. This white clip is holding the cable onto its part of the worm gear. Once its moved back, the cable easily slides off in an "upward" direction, that is, if the actuator were mounted, the cable would slide up towards the stars to come off. Again, the white plastic sleeve clip has to be unclipped and pushed away first.

-With both cables removed, the release cable loose, and electrically disconnected, maneuver the actuator out of the car. Note, its mounting bracket is still attached, but I was easily able to slide it out in the passenger side direction. TAKE NOTE OF HOW THAT RELEASE CABLE WAS ROUTED TO THE BUMPER!

-------And that's all for the moment.... will continue in a little bit.