Starter Replacement - 2004 X5 3.0
 

Hi everyone,
I have to replace the starter. Is it at all possible to replace the battery without removing air intake manifold. From the top of the engine, just by removing the cowl. Not keen on working from underside, it's pretty awkward and needs very small hands.
Thanks

Your battery is in the back under the spare tire......

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Yes I think it IS possible to do it from above w/out removing the intake.
-remove the cowl and and be prepared to remove the other things like elec harness box, throttle body, itake hoses, maybe brake booster, etc.

BUT, if you haven't changed the hard coolant pipes yet on this car, you should just take off the intake and do them as well...along with the CCV too.

If you do change the coolant pipes...use Genuine BMW only..no aftermarket pipes.

Take a look at this video. It clearly shows starter access when the intake manifold is removed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwYDDe_Jlq0

I'll definitely have the starter refreshed when doing coolant pipes.

I removed the intake boot and disa. I disconnected the battery at the B+.

The two biggest tips:

1) figure out the combination of extensions to reach the bolt/s from under the car

2) best tip I've not ever seen: disconnect the power from the alternator it will reduce the difficulty 20-40% getting the new starter in by giving you some slack on the cable between starter and alternator.

Not a terribly difficult job. 7/10 maybe 6/10 with the tips above.

If you've never had intake boot off, long long extension plus flex from below. Clearly the factory installs the boot before putting the engine in the car.

you can just push the hose clamp off the intake air boot with a pry bar and bend it back before reinstalling it with a flexible driver.

https://shop.snapon.com/product/Flex...e-Driver/TM615