This is for an 87 325is, so the procedure may be slightly different for eta's/318's/iX'x/M3's, I don't know.� Also keep in mind I did the entire thing by myself, the only time an extra set of hands would be required was to guide the tranny back in.� So it is possible, although a friend would be recommended anyway.

First you have to drop the exhaust.� I removed the entire thing behind the manifold.� I also had to separate it in the middle to get the correct angle to get the downtubes off the studs on the manifold.

Then take the driveshaft out.� Mark its orientation so it goes back in correctly balanced.� Remove the heatsheild.� Remove the slave cylinder from the bellhousing.�

At this point, I took out the shift lever and linkage and disconnected the rear mount of the shift lever carrier.� (Non-existent in pre-87 cars w/ the sheetmetal console)� I didn't try to disconnect the front of the carrier, as I did this many months before, when installing my shortshifter, and it is nearly impossible to do w/o destroying the pin holding it in.� The tranny still came out easily with the front of the carrier connected to the tranny.

For the transmission and starter, you need external torx head sockets, swivel joints and many extension bars.� I don't recommend use of 3/8" drive socket and accessories on the big (e14) bellhousing bolts. I snapped two 3/8"drive E14 (external torx head, Sears off-brand) sockets, and a 3/8" swivel (u-joint) before resorting to 1/2" drive extensions, sockets, and u-joints.

With the car safely jacked up and supported on jackstands, loosen the bolts.� There is no real trick to this although saying, "remove the bolts" is a lot easier than it sounds.� There are four small torx heads (e10 socket)on the bottom, and a big one on the side that are easy to get at, to get to the bigger ones (e14 socket) on top of the bellhousing is trickier.� You need a good universal joint, a couple various lengths of extension, and patience.� For the starter bolts, they began to spin, as they are actually bolts w/ nuts on the front.� I removed the airbox (2 minutes) and used my 3/8" wratchet and extensions to remove the nut from the front, with the 1/2" drive set-up on the back to keep the bolt from spinning.� Don't forget the little cheesy 10mm bolt on the passenger side holding the dust shield to the bellhousing.� I left the crossmember attached to the tranny, although from time to time, I disconnected the crossmember from the car and let the rear of the tranny sink an inch or two to get more working room to get to the bolts on top.

Some of those bolts are on there damn tight, you may be putting torques on your wratchets/extensions that you think are about to break something, but then the bolts will come loose with a "tink" that sounds like you just broke a socket or snapped a bolt, but hopefully you didn't.� :-)

Taking the pressure plate off is easy enough, just six 5mm allen-head bolts.� To get the flywheel off, a proper sized flat head screwdriver stuck between the teeth of the flywheel and the handle wedged up against the control arm (near the rear, you'll see when you're down there) works perfect to keep the flywheel from turning as you take off the 8 19mm bolts.

Nothing special about reassembly, the trick is just to get the engine and tranny aligned well, so that the splines on the input shaft slip onto the splines of the clutch disc easily.� This was the toughest part of the job, it took several attempts, and LOTS of cuss words to get it in there.

Good luck,

Mac
87 325is