Valley pan
 

Hi Guys,
I am stuck at removing injectors.
They have 2 clips,the wire one and a steel one from the side of the fuel rail.Which one should I remove?
After the disaster I saw on the TB housing and under intake manifold(which BTW wasn't tighten by all the nuts) I am really gonna think twice before I let another mechanic touch it.
Is there any trick to get those injectors removed?The manifold is half way removed,so I have a better access to all of the injectors,but since they are made of plastic,I don't want to break anything...

Here you go! Valley Pan/Valve Cover Gaskets/OSV

When I did the VP I left the injectors attached and pulled off the fuel rail - page 27 of the attached doc will walk you through it.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:X6RohJOLUs0J:www.xoutpost.com/article/BMW%2520Valley%2520Pan%2520Gasket.pdf+bmw+x5+4.4+h ow+to+remove+injectors&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=AD GEEShMxf7Unsg-ASLQUV1Uyt3FDzCJTUHwes7kqdF01NqBSPXQUWKsGaeatikjyG IvUpl3zwH-209jCiDsgja9gC3dDWEQm1e9s3iULEcAOJX4mbmT49_htN-AQgFankzXl370lkMh&sig=AHIEtbTafhYhX2hc0higoGNrgB_6 efZtCA

Apparently I saw a clip on youtube with someone doing this job. After unbolting the black J boxes; instead of undoing the clips, you can just grasp the box on both ends and just give a swift tug up. It doesn't break anything and the clips stay on the box connectors. When re-installing, you can just set the box on top of the clips and just push down firmly to set the box back in place.

I just got them off.
Now a new question.
I am gonna go ahead with the VC gaskets,do I need to remove the Water Pump in order to get the upper timing covers off?I have a set of new gaskets and old ones are seeping.
Also I see oil were the ignition coils are,fair amount :(

You do not need to remove the upper timing covers to access the VCG. Just unbolt the VC off and it will come right out.

Don't worry about the oil. You can suck that out with a shop vac or atleast get as much out as you can. If you are redoing the plugs, the oil will just fall in and cause the motor to smoke when you start her up again.

The thing is that upper timing cover gaskets are leaking,not extremely though.
I just don't want to bother with the Water Pump etc.

It's funny to discover that CCV was so clogged,the oil return hose had no clamp and was clogged and loose.Bunch of missing clamps on the hoses.Loose nuts and bolts.
Valley Pan bolts(3 of them closest to the rear manifold) were loose,one of rear manifold bolts was loose,I could've turn it with my fingers.
VC gasket was fitted right,with silicon etc,but I assume that the surface wasn't degreased because there was no bond.
Now,Valley Pan is in and torqued to specs in X steps,the driver side VC is removed.Tomorrow I am gonna try to do the upper timing cover gasket and start assembling all the stuff back.
Once all done,inspection with some suspension work and it's for sale.
I with I sold it before the crap had hit the fan.

The upper of 3 bolts on the passenger VC has stripped thread,and it was like that for at least 3 years.
Anyways,I spent 3 hours on each VC removing all the old silicon.Whoever did all the perimeter of the gaskets with Grey Silicon,I hated you today.
Spark plugs were BMW branded NGKs and given that BMW is not selling them as a OE part anymore I assume these were originals,all the electrodes were 60% of original size,huge gap between ceramic and electrode itself.
Now,both new VC gaskets are in place,new spark plugs are in place,coils are fitted and on Monday I am starting to put the cooling system back together,along the CCV and OSV.
I knew that in some moment I would do it,so I had all the parts ready,although I decided not to go with upper timing covers gaskets.
Now I am pretty sure that it's gonna be a last V engine I ever owe.

After 3 afternoons and one entire day today,it's all back together with new Valley Pan,VC gaskets,intake manifold gaskets,CCV gasket,throttle body gaskets,rear manifold gaskets,new pipes from water pump to rear manifold,new gaskets on the pipes as well,few new hoses,new CCV valve,cleaned OSV and oil return hoses.
What a mess of stuff inside of OSV and hoses,completely clogged.At one point I almost gave up and thought that I would need to get new oil return pipes,but fortunately I was able to break through the goo with the wire and blow the crap down to the crankcase.I know,not the best of the options,but better than dealing with removing a hollow bolt etc.
Once I reconnected everything I noticed the alternator cable that I forgot to run on top of the Valley Pan,well,had to fish wire it under the intake manifold,successfully.
It started good,it took less than a second,a lot of smoke came out.
I can definitely feel that it starts better with new spark plugs.