Hey guys, I am trying to remove my intake manifold to access the water pipe that runs in between the water pump and the thermostat. I tried searching but did not find any instructions on how to remove the intake manifold. Can someone please provide some tips? It will be greatly appreciated!

 

Never mind, I found the intake manifold removal instructions in the following thread:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...right-way.html

 

The hardest part is trying to feel where the 10mm bolt is that goes through the support bracket. Totally blind.

 

Thanks for that tip! I removed the passenger side wheel earlier today and tried to look for that bolt but could not locate it yet. I will try again later. Would removing the fender liner make it easier to locate that bolt?

 

Best way to do it is once the intake pipe is off the throttle body you can take your hand and and if you feel at about "5 o'clock" under the throttle you should be able to feel the 10mm. I usually take a magnetic 10mm with a 3in extension and attach it to the bolt then attach the ratchet (air ratchet) after the fact.

 

+1

Best tip around. I wish the instructions I found on NAM told me about this. I struggled for like 10 minutes before I found the bolt.

I found that putting a small piece of paper over the head of the bolt and then press the socket on will allow you to keep the tool on the bolt. I was also able to remove the passenger wheel and undo a couple of the inner fender fasteners and get to the bolt that way too.

 

Just look at the Real OEM diagram to get a feel for where it is, then start hunting for it with your fingers. You don't need to take the front passenger wheel liner off.

http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?...33&hg=11&fg=40

Once you find the bracket with your hand (part #5), it's pretty easy to find the bolt (part #6)

It is most likely very tight from rust on the threads and will take some time to get out since there is very little room for ratchet movement. Once it's loose, do your best not to drop it.

 

Thanks for the tips everyone. I will see what I can do.

I should also mention that the reason for removing the intake manifold is to access the water tube that runs in between the water pump and the thermostat behind the engine. The water pump side of this tube got loose while I was trying to remove the thermostat from the other side of tube. I saw some posts where some people were able to push the intake manifold towards the firewall without removing the 10 mm bolt at the bottom. Do you think there would be enough room to work with the water tube if I can push the manifold towards the firewall? Or would I need to remove the manifold completely?

 

Not worth busting your knuckles. Take it all the way out. The 10mm isn't that hard to get out.

 

Thanks again, I will work on taking the manifold all the way out.

 

You can also just leave the bolt off, mine fell of on the road along time ago and I haven't had any issues.

Sent from phone

 

Is there a secret to pulling the intake pipe off of the throttle body? I loosened the clamp on it all the way and tried pulling the pipe as hard as I could but it won't budge. Any tips on how to get it off?

 

I use a long radiator hose pick and some "rubber care" (non silicone lubricating spray) and work my way around the throttle as much as possible. It still won't come off at this point so you then need to take a long pry bar and put the tip right at the end of the hose and use the intake as a pry point and push the handle of the pry bar towards the driver side of the car (make sure you don't pinch the PCV hose or vanos solenoid. Hopefully this makes sense.

 

 

On a non-turbo R56 (my wife's is a 2010), removing the intake manifold requires not only removing the 10mm bolt securing the upper part of the rear support bracket, but you also have to remove the 13mm bolt at the bottom of the same support bracket! Or at least maybe it has to be loosened. What a major pain! It was VERY difficult to get the 10mm bolt off with my 1/4" ratchet with swivel attachment as well. That bracket is so deep and angled in a position that makes it impossible to get at from the top of the engine. And still is VERY difficult from below the engine. Be ready to swear a lot. ;-)

 

I know I'm resurrecting an old one here, but I'm at this point in a thermostat/crossover pipe/walnut blast job and I've been working on the intake pipe to the throttle body for an hour. I'm afraid to pry on it too hard because the how-tos I've read warn against cracking the TB housing. I considered leaving it on but I can't get to that stupid bracket bolt with it in the way.

This is the most frustrating car I've ever worked on. To think I was aggravating having to pull the intake manifold to do the thermostat on my 300zx...at least it didn't have any bolts that I couldn't see.

 

Try have a look in here to see if it helps

https://www.pelicanparts.com/techart...eplacement.htm

 

Thanks! I jumped the gun with my post, I ended up getting it. Worked my way around with a narrow flat head screwdriver and it finally broke loose. Up to that point I was just using pick tools and they weren't stiff enough to get between the hose and the TB.

 

While replacing the thermostat housing and water cross over pipel, I had to remove the intake. All three of the eyelet tabs on the water pipe had wire loom tied to them. No biggy. I removed the passenger wheel, wheel well liner, using a socket with a swivel and a 30cm socket extension able to remove it without much issue.



Picture of my access view on the rear side of the front passenger brake rotor. Here at the bottom going up you can make out the lower control arm, the outer tie rod, the sway bar and above that the 10mm bolt (magic bolt).

 

I battled to get that 10mm bottom bolt off too so just figured I’d chime in too for anybody else figuring out how to get at it. I’m not a mechanic so this is for the normal DIYer type dudes. I kept trying to get to it from the top and trying to find it using a boroscope but had no success. I tried the passenger side tire well route and got it. Basically just get your tire off, get some light to the underside, look past your brake rotor and up past your tire well towards the engine and you’ll see the bolt. I tried various combinations of extensions and wobble extensions but it was a royal pain in the ****. First, it’s a pain because it’s a long ways to the bolt and you gotta have the right extensions. And second, the bolt is at a right angle to where your extensions are coming from so it’s hell to get a socket on the bolt. And third, there some sort of stiff flex cable right on top of the bolt head... which kept knocking my sockets off... if I was ever able to get one onto the bolt. Eventually I scrapped the whole extension method once I figured out my arm was just long enough to reach the bolt. So I wound up just using a 10mm box end wrench and squeezed my hand up through everything and loosened the bolt. Fortunately my bolt was not seated super tight, so I was able to get it loosened and then voila, the intake manifold could be removed. In my case I was just trying to get the manifold removed so I could access the PCV hose and in particular the PCV hose connector that attaches to the throttle body. Basically Mini routes that hose under the intake manifold where’s it’s impossible to disconnect without taking the entire manifold off.