Oil filter housing gasket HELP!!

[erikjhockey]

Has anyone done their oil filter housing gasket on an n55 yet? I'm part way through and it looks like I need to remove my intake manifold but to get to all the bolts it also looks like I need to remove the shroud under the windshield? Can anyone provide some advice before I give up and put it all back together haha I'm a little discouraged

[desertman123]

At least on N52, you can get to that bolt with a flexible/wobbly extension and a 1/4" E10 socket

[TridenTBoy]

Yep... you have to take off the intake manifold and a lot of stuff. This is what stopped me from doing it last time. I got pretty far and then saw that and I was like, "Aaww man, I don't got time for this."

Been leaking still ever since.

It's pretty hard to get the bolt that is near the radiator on the bottom as well. People suggest taking off tubes or the radiator or some crazy crap. I just opt'd to stand there for 30 minutes turning a bolt about 5 degrees every few seconds.... and then I had to deal with that.

I'll try to do a full write up when I do it. With pics. I'm going to do quite a bit of work in the next 3 months on the car to get a few things tuned up.

[Jorgensen54]

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=938455

[erikjhockey]

I stopped at a BMW mechanic near by me and he said I was so close to finishing everything. All I had to do was take off the cowl below the windshield which was just a couple more bolts and then finish taking off the intake manifold. He was a great help and didn't charge a dime for his time and expertise. I'll probably finish it all next weekend as I put it all back together already. Nothing like doing the work twice but at least I'm learning...

[juld0zer]

You don't *need* to remove the manifold completely.

Blow away any dust and debris around the runners and head
Unscrew the charge pipe anchor bolt
Release the charge pipe clamp on the intercooler end
Carefully release the charge pipe from the throttle body
Carefully unclip the vac line to the rocker cover
Carefully unscrew the intake manifold bolts and nuts. Use extreme care, magnetic tools and even adhesive tack to pick out the nuts and bolts. They are not fun to recover when dropped.
Then just elevate the manifold sufficiently to access the OFH bolt using a wobbly extension.

[erikjhockey]

Since I had everything apart last time, do I need to drain all of the oil completely? Same goes for coolant? I've got a gallon of coolant but would prefer not to spend another 70$ on oil if I can avoid it. I'm planning on doing OFH gasket and oil cooler gasket while I'm in there.

[Mr Gasser]

Originally Posted by Jorgensen54

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=938455

My e88 has 13mm bolt for the oil cooler lines and e10 bolts for the OFH

[juld0zer]

Ideally you do this with an oil change as it's almost impossible for a little cross contamination to occur.