Remove front clip and pull motor?

[SlickGT1]

Holy shit. You doing this by yourself? You give me hope that i can also one day put a puzzle like this together. I always wanted to rebuild a car. Crazy amount of work, I am surprised you are not forgetting things. I am sure I would.

[TriX5]

I’m by myself but having ample time to do it helps me to remember where everything goes. I find that putting all the mechanical components in place helps because the wiring becomes much more obvious.

The fuel rail is on and all the hoses in the back of the motor as well. The trans is connected and I installed the front part of the exhaust (2x, at first I forgot the heat shields but remembered just as I started to bolt it up). I put the front brakes and wheels back so that i could remove the jackstands.

Still have to reinstall the mufflers and I cannot remember why I took them off.... Then the hoses and radiators have to go on at which point new gas will go in and I hope to fire it up!

After that the front bumper and headlights have to go on. At that point I can run a shakedown to assure it all works.

Then i need to overhaul the rear suspension, new inner bushings and control arms as well as int links, ball joints and stab links. My son promised to help with replacing the nav screen and finally it needs a new windscreen as it had cracked side to side before I parked it.

This will be a DD my kids will share. My 05 Tundra also needs some work but that should be about a week worth, not this type of op!

Will try to post some more pics in the next few days 😀

PS Re-attaching the A/C compressor with the engine in place is a royal pain. Should have done that after wheeling the assembly under the car but before jacking it up into place. The bolts need to be in the comp when you lift it into place, they cannot be put in after you maneuver the compressor into the bracket. Lovely bit of engineering from BMW, but then...you all knew that already!

Added some pictures of the work. One is of the inner axle joint, while replacing the boots Note the Honda grease tube). Then a look at the hose spaghetti for the heating circuit, replaced all of these. Then there is the up, up, up! Finally a picture of progress.

[TriX5]

Despite a busy weekend I still got a lot done on Friday, and about an hour more on Saturday afternoon before a work related dinner. On Sunday no wrenching possible at all as I had a trip to visit an exhibit at the Smithsonian for my daughter's school project.

At any rate, I got the oil filter housing hooked up and the power steering reservoir connected/filled with ATF. The washer tank is back in and I put the coolant tank in place. The aux coolant pump had been placed back and connected a few days earlier. So far, so easy. Nevertheless, the left front corner of the engine bay is "hose central". Triple checking all the various hoses and connections is recommended to assure nothing is left "un-tightened".

Next pulled some large pieces of the car from the back of the garage and cleaned the radiators with compressed air. The disassembly of these parts is so far back in time that I had no memory of how it was put together.... After studying said pieces for 10-15 minutes I decided the A/C radiator and frame were meant to go in first. The aux fan is an easy fit on to the front of the radiator frame with two tabs holding the top and two screws retaining the bottom.

After giving the front of the engine a final check then set the coolant radiator in place and connected all the remaining coolant hoses as well as the transmission heat exchanger. Refilled the coolant and refitted the top bracket of the radiator assembly.

Next on the list: In the engine bay I only need to get the air filter installed and make the electrical connections in the right front corner of the engine bay. I plan to get the steel bumper assembly attached to the frame rails and then mount the rear mufflers, at which point starting up should be possible.

This is the last week I can work on it until the end of the month. I guess I will finish most but will still have some stuff left to do. Hope to have it roadworthy during first week of December.... I'll add a few pictures of the engine bay and front clip assembly tomorrow.