An adjustable axle puller…but it really presses the axle out of the carrier…so I called it a press. https://www.amazon.com/DearChan-Univ...44902c37ee6a78

I also did buy the tool that pulls the axle back into the hub. https://www.amazon.com/CTA-Tools-505...e%2C124&sr=1-2

That CTA axle puller is worth its weight in gold.

The 2006 X5 3.0i 6spMT with 142K miles has a crack in Left OUTER boot.

- I plan to do it the old-school way (removing the axle from the car and replace both inner and outer boots with GKN brand (already bought the parts).

- While there, I plan to replace the axle seals too.

Question:
===> Do I need to remove the bottom aluminum plate?

Yes, if you want to fully remove the axles, with the plate on you won't be able to see where they mate into the front diff / half shaft to get the pry bar in there. The higher you lift the car the more room you'll have to pry (I barely had any room last time). For getting them in the diff, put the opening in the circlip up at 1200 and give it one true push and it will go right in.

The bolts on the plate are torque to yield, so if reused a bunch they don't hold well. There's a long thread on these bolts. BMW is hoarding the remaining stock, charging appx $70 each for these lousy bolts. In that thread Andrew posted some equivalent hardware from Belmetric that can be reused over and over. The bolts are nice I can link them if you aren't able to find it.

Thanks.

- I replaced the front diff for a friend's 2004 E83 X3 a few yrs ago, so I am familiar with the process. But I hate playing with the bottom plate in the X5. I guess I have to remove the X5 bottom plate then.

- The super long thread on the bottom plate bolts: very well aware of the discussion there. I don't necessarily agree with all the blah blah that Andrew said. I have re-used the bolts many times over the last 10 years. I have my way of doing it, and I posted in that long thread.

Grade 12 Belmetric bolts are cheaper than the BMW bolts and can be reused repeatedly as they won't stretch. I put them in mine for the peace of mind.

Left axle can come out without dropping the stiffener, but the right one is more challenging for reasons mentioned in previous post

I've pulled both without dropping the stiffener. In fact I changed the right one last month. I have found that it can be pretty easily popped out by opening the access cover in the stiffening plate and using a pry bar and a hammer. Put the pry bar on the edge of the inside CV and whack the end of the pry bar. I put the open end of the clip facing down when I put the new axle in as that puts most of the clip in the slot in the axle and only the two sides need to be compressed.