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Quote:

Originally Posted by wsmeyer (Post 1052557)

It's not really a difficult job but you're going to need plenty of patience as you cannot see what you're doing, it's all by feel. You need to remove the alternator, which is very heavy btw, then just follow the oil lines down with your hand and you'll find the thermostat housing.

Referencing the pic above, that one center bolt holds both lines onto the housing. There's o-rings sealing them to the housing so after removing the bolt twist and pull the lines off.

Now is the frustrating part. You need to remove the 4 e-torx bolts holding the thermostat to the block (one is hiding behind an oil line in the pic above). The one lower left in the pic is partially obstructed so you cannot get a socket on it straight.

My advice, do whatever you have to to get them out and then replace them with socket head cap screws so you can put them back in with a ball headed hex socket. See below.

Good luck!

Attachment 67595

Reviving this thread to ask this question. If the e-torx screws are replaced with the hex socket head cap screws, does this make them accessible the next time it leaks without moving the power steering pump out of the way? My thermostat gasket was previously replaced and the two difficult to get to e-torx were replaced with hex screws. I am hoping I do not have to move the power steering pump and this is why these hex screws help. I'm hoping to just use the ball head hex sockets to get at them. Any input is appreciated.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unicorn (Post 1156872)

YES!

It is far easier to tighten them when re-installing and if you ever need to remove them again.

The hex socket screws just allow the use of the ball head driver which can be used at an angle where a flex joint on a socket is then too long.

Oil cooler thermostat gasket?

Quote:

Originally Posted by wsmeyer (Post 1156881)

Yup. You were right. Rounded hex sockets got one off and a combination of short extensions and a regular hex socket got the other off. I did not have to move the power steering pump at all. Replacing e-torx with hex bolts is definitely a headache saver if you ever have to replace this gasket a second time. Looks Gasket was brittle, flat, and someone used RTV on it.

Almost impossible to fit a torque wrench in there. Anyone know the oil thermostat torque specs?

I replaced the oil cooler thermostat gasket as part of the larger project (valve stem seals!).
My X5 is m-sport with adaptive drive, so having read other posts on this matter, I removed the front left wheel, plastic wheel arch liners, alternator. My learnings are:
1) the gasket can be changed from the top via the space occupied by the alternator
2) from wheel side, the bolts are visible, but accessing them is impossible due to adaptive drive. No need to take off the wheel and lining
3) remove the lines first - one bolt, easy to do. There is a plastic bracket in lines near the hood lock - remove that as well. It will allow to move the lines around to change O-rings, etc.
4) the next is to remove 3 famous bolts. They are not tight. The key is to have good sockets and flex head drive wrench (s). I had two e10 sockets (1/4 drive and 3/8 drive) and used both. You’ll need two hands - one to hold the socket tight on the bolt (that’s the key for these bolts) and another to turn the wrench. I was able to remove the bolts in 15 min - slow and steady.
5) if the wheel and lining was off- replace o-rings on the lines connected to the oil radiator. I did
6) clean surfaces and assemble everything back with a new gasket.

7) The torque wrench won’t fit there. Torque maybe 15 NM ...the bolts were not tight all originally

Difficulty is 5/10 compared to Valve covers 7/10 and Stem seals 9/10

Anyone have a parts list / diy?

I’ve done this on my e53 a couple years ago. Getting ready to tackle this in a e70. Any help would be appreciated

Quote:

Originally Posted by itscoo2pyopants (Post 1169807)

Anyone have a parts list / diy?

I’ve done this on my e53 a couple years ago. Getting ready to tackle this in a e70. Any help would be appreciated

I used for 2009 x5 4.8 with oil radiator the following parts.
1x 12317507808 Alternator Bracket Gasket; Bracket to Block
4 x 17227800958 Auto Trans Oil Cooler Hose O-Ring

2 o-rings go to the thermostat and 2 to the oil radiator. At the minimum, you would want to replace the two that are used for connection of oil lines to the thermostat.

Thank you for the info