I'm about to start on replacing the engine in an R50. I gave the engine bay a look over from top and bottom, and the only thing that doesn't seem clear to me are the drive axles. Once the engine/transmission are loose and lifted, is there enough free play to get the driveshaft splines disengaged from the transmission without having to remove the axles from the wheel hubs?

There are a few shots in this video that certainly look like the axles remained in place throughout: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...plXgTkw#t=341s

I know the Bentley manual says to fully remove the axles and set them aside, but this is the same book that thinks it's easier to remove the fuel rail than disconnect a single fuel line; the same book that would rather evacuate the refrigerant than carefully swing/hang the compressor and condenser out of the way... so I take everything in that manual with a grain of salt.

Thanks for any advice or experience.

 

its super easy to pull the axles from the trans. it takes like 10 minutes. 32mm on the axle nuts, 13mm on the outer ball joints, 15 on the tie rod ends, 16mm socket with 17mm wrench on the sway bar end links, hammer the lower control arm to remove it from the knuckle, hammer the knuckle near the tie rod end to remove the tie rod. 13 wrench on the axle carrier and a prybar to remove the driver's side. loosen the lower engine mount, remove the ps fan, disconnect the ps pump wiring while youre down there.

 

you don't even need to remove the axle nuts. Just separate the outer ball joints as described above and then after pulling from the transmission, just swing out of the way and tie up with bungee cords.

 

I tell you what, I just did a clutch on mine, and I think it is better to remove the axles, as the bungee method does not gain you much. If you are planning on take the axles out, you can count on fixing the cv boots if there is a problem. Get the boots from pelican if you need them. The outside boot comes with new axle nuts. I know that my motivation was to make it so that I did not have to tear my mini down again in the near future... I found one boot with a small tear, so I replaced them all. I think I was penny foolish and pound wise.