E30 Zone

Hi all, as above, I went to remove the allen head bolts last night and they wouldn't budge. Is there any method you would recommend?

I've lathered them in penetration fluid.

Heat that close to the fuel tank is probably not the best idea??

Cheers

Try turning it to tighten slightly, shock it with a few hammer hits on the end of the socket and then try and remove. Captiv nuts on the rear side so soak them also.

If the above fails, just drill them out/cut them off, and remove the captive nuts from the brackets as well.
When you refit, use ordinary hex bolts or cap screws, and ordinary nuts on the inside. The nuts aren't inaccessible, so there's no reason for captive nuts to be used.

I've probably drilled more of those out than I've successfully removed them

i struggled to remove mine,and that's on a relatively rust-free car.2 out of the 4 came out ok.

i finally did the other 2 by fitting the allen-key(or torx-bit or whatever)so that key was pointing towards the rear wheel on the n/s,and towards the front-wheel on the o/s.

slip something over end of key to extend its length by,say,20cm.then use car-jack underneath to slowly start to undo the allen-bolts.

even on my car with bolts in good condition this method only just worked-the bolts let go with a bang only after severely stressing/twisting the key.

Hi all, thank for the responses, I thought about drilling but as they are spotless = no sign of rust, I thought I was missing something. I'm going home from work this evening via a tool selling outlet to get a proper Allen bolt headed socket, mine is 1/4". That may be part of the problem too.....

Got them out with a bigger socket set. Easy!

Cheers folks