Transfer case removal pictures...

[J.Belknap]

Excellent write-up dville! I'm sure that I will be referring back to this at some point in the near future. Sorry to hear about the exhaust bolts. Reminds me of when I had to replace a few turbine housing studs on the car. Fun times. :p

[dville]

No gasket was there from the start...
If you look at it untouched, you will see the sealant bead around the new transfer case.

[NY98M3]

BMW really needs to get a gasket in there. Mine is leaking at thats the reason why.

[ncsucarjock]

Yeah, because gaskets never leak.....
Geez - doesnt' matter if it's a sealant gasket or a paper gasket, or a metal head gasket, at some point, they all fail.

Dville - awesome write up. Hope I don't have to tackle this, but if I do - this was an excellent thread. Great work.

[swissfrank]

absolutely fantastic post 'dville'!!! I applaud your patients and diligence for documenting everything so clearly! When I did my transmission rebuild the picture taking became second priority and almost entirely forgotten. I had to struggle taking the xfer case off when i had the transmission on the ground! You're a man among scollars my friend =)

PS

I burst out laughing when I saw the pic of the newly broken bolt captions "Damn you..." hahaha What an entertainingly fun thread to follow

[dville]

Originally Posted by swissfrank

absolutely fantastic post 'dville'!!! I applaud your patients and diligence for documenting everything so clearly! When I did my transmission rebuild the picture taking became second priority and almost entirely forgotten. I had to struggle taking the xfer case off when i had the transmission on the ground! You're a man among scollars my friend =)

PS

I burst out laughing when I saw the pic of the newly broken bolt captions "Damn you..." hahaha What an entertainingly fun thread to follow

Thanks!

[dville]

Update:
113K miles on the odometer now.
Here is a pic of the transfer case...






I posted the truck for sale on craigslist last week....shopping for a Honda Odyssey minivan 2005+, so I got it detailed for $80. The truck looks nicer than the day I bought it....

[nra0707]

This may be a dumb question...but are the facelift X5s transfer cases the same? If ever I need to do this job myself, I'd love to save these instructions!

Dville - Excellent write-up by the way! All that hard work and you're selling it???

[dville]

I think the newer transfer cases have an electronic clutch. If yours has any wires going to it then it's different.

I am trying to justify keeping it, but whatever. It is paid for, and we need a minivan, so we'll see.

[NY98M3]

What are the symptoms to look at with a loose chain?