Tips for removing the Exhaust Manifold

[mustard]

Can anyone give me some tips and hints for removing the exhaust manifold as I want to replace the gaskets/heat shields (M20 Engine on a E28 525e though I may do the on the 325i to if succesful!) and the last thing I want to end up with is some broken studs!

Thanks

[Brianmoooore]

Penetrating oil over several days, and don't apply too much torque. Grind or split the nuts off any that prove stubborn.

[munky30]

When i took mine off my spare engine half the nuts came off no problem, the other half took the other bit with them from the block

[Brianmoooore]

Good idea to replace all the studs in any case. Cheap from your friendly dealer.

[munky30]

studs!!! I knew they had a name

[mustard]

Penetrating oil over several days, and don't apply too much torque. Grind or split the nuts off any that prove stubborn.

All going well so far with all nuts removed bar one (2nd one in from front of car, underneath manifold) not the easiest to access

Can you give a numpty some tips for grinding or spliting

Thanks

[e30Alex]

yeh go to halfords and ask for a nut splitter - made by a company called laser.Cheap and cheerfull.Woud try this before grinding if clearance is an issue. If splitting dosnt work try hammering the next size down socket in imperial size, if you follow me.Make sure u heat the stud with a blow torch first thow!(dont do what i did and end up with two broken studs recesed in the head because i didnt bother heating 15yo studs!)Alex

[Jon_Bmw]

Surely if you are worried about the studs snapping and you use a nut splitter you think that the studs might be quite weak. What happens when you retorque your new bolts on the old studs(I am presuming you don't want to take them out because of the risk of them snapping.)

When I did it, I did pretty much as brian said, 2 days penertrating oil and treated the studs and nuts with respect In other words don't get heavy handed with them and try and get the job done in 5 minutes. All of my nuts and studs came out in 1 piece

[e30Alex]

nut splitter wont effect the stud if you use it correctly, then if you decide to replace the original studs - reccomended as there only a couple of quid iirc - you can use a stud extracter.Good luck

[Jon_Bmw]

nut splitter wont effect the stud if you use it correctly, then if you decide to replace the original studs - reccomended as there only a couple of quid iirc - you can use a stud extracter.Good luck

I understand this, what I meant was that people might think that a nut extractor eliminates any chance of a stud snapping which isn't true if the studs are left in the engine and new nuts torqued onto old studs

[e30Alex]

yeh yeh sorry, i understand,and agree with you Jon_bmw.

[Jon_Bmw]

No worries man, I think we were agreeing anyway