Oh 5 hour total. Yea I know what it's like to get snagged on a part. Not questioning your speed. Just want to know what snagged you. More importantly how you got around the snag.

Boy, can I feel your pain. More than once, BMW exhaust bolts/nuts have kicked my ass. But as time went on, my arsenal of tools for cutting them off grew, and my pain was lessened. The connections between the exaust manifolds and the cats always seem to be the worst. One thing that's on my shopping list is one of these:

MT1872L 6" EXTENDED LENGTH CUT OFF TOOL

There are other versions of these out there, and some may be less costly. But this is a great tool to have when you need to cut off those impossible to reach exhaust bolts.

I go the sawzal route. I'm like a surgeon with it these days.

That's funny. A sawzall is great if you can get it in the right position. I once bought an entire front clip from a 5 series..all the way to the B billar, and had it delivered by the wrecking yard. I took off the parts I needed, and wondered what to do with the rest, as I had no way to get the remaining parts to a salvage yard. Out came the sawzall, and in about an hour, it was down to pieces small enough for my recycle bin. I got a LOT of grumbles from my trash collecters that week when they saw me put almost 1/2 a car in the trash. But they are pretty used to my antics at this point.

Ha, out here, I can probably put half a car on the sidewalk, not in pieces, and some scrapper will take it within a half hour. lol.

And yes, I had a scrap, 318 e30, that I got for parts. I cut it into 3pc when I finished.

You guys are giving me WAY too many ideas....

Got some parts ordered...

Ordered from Midwest Transmission:
Rear driveshaft rebuilt - $432 all in (includes CSB and CVJ)

Ordered from Cobra Transmissions:
Longer front driveshaft
TC chain
TC output shaft
TC seal kit - $1139 all in

Last order will come from BMW:
front and rear guibos
bolts/nuts
grease
TC fluid
WHAT ELSE ???????

I love my truck. I love my truck. I love my truck. RIGHT ???? :D

lol. not the end of the world. Look at it this way. Those parts lasted that long, so now you can sleep easy, knowing they will last that long again.

Exhaust gaskets.
Did you order nuts/bolts for the reinforcement plate?
Front Sway bar bushings since you have them unbolted already?
Oil to change the front diff fluid since you have the reinforcement plate out already?

Very good advice here. I suggest you spend a bit more $$$ epdarks

Exhaust is Dinan. Not sure if gaskets are same as OE? Need to research.
Sway bars are Eibach, bars/bushings new in last 30k miles, visual inspection shows no issues.
Good point on the front diff, I will ask the PO if he ever changed it.

Thanks for the input.