E30 Zone

Hi there ladies n gents i originally had an e30 but in july upgraded to a 728i and the other day the starter motor packed up. Iam trying to find the location of it or a diagram but tried everywhere and just cant seem to find one anywhere. So was wondering if any of the zoners would know where the starter motor is located on the 7 or if anyone has a diagram i would be very grateful
many thanks

Its under the inlet manifold.

thanks mate can i get to it from the bottom or is it a remove the manifold job

Here's a pic, its the black round thing zip tied up on the right of the pic.

cool so by the looks of it i can access it from underneath with the use of axle stands and stuff thanks for the info mate

Looong extensions and E10 torx socket, yours will be an auto so more awkward, I had to do my auto E34 on a two post lift, fcking nightmare..

DanThe wrote:Looong extensions and E10 torx socket, yours will be an auto so more awkward, I had to do my auto E34 on a two post lift, fcking nightmare..

I wasnt going to give him the bad news.

oh the joys of motoring

dazekru wrote:i originally had an e30 but in july upgraded to a 728is

You mean you downgraded surely?!

No more room in the seven and more smoother ride. When its able to start lol. Plus the 7 doesn't feel like a space shuttle reentering the atmosphere when iam the wrong side of 70 lol

snakebrain wrote: You mean you downgraded surely?!

well its thursday and ive offically given up i cant seem to access it from the bottom and cant see how the hell i would get to it from the top so thats it my car is fu*ked the whole issue has just given me the right hump with the thing

If dan struggled using a 2 post lift you've got absolutely no chance lying on your back with it on axle stands

Time to give it to a garage:eek:

to be honest i begrudge paying garage prices due to the fact they more or less all the time try and rip you off or tell you you need other stuff done. I suppose ill have to remove all the manifold and all the stuff on top and access it that way then if it dont go ill firebomb it lol

Taking the inlet manifold off isn't too bad a job on one of these.

All BMW starters are a bastard though.

Drop the gear box off its mount, A few long extension bars and a breaker bar will sort it. I'm sure there are no nuts on the back of the starter on these so removing the manifold wont help!

thats the problem cant get the car high enough to work under it surely you must be able to remove it from the top of the engine with manifold removed if not then who knows. why do bmw make it so complicated to get to things

Its a crap job, If i had to do it on my arse i would happily pay someone else to do it. Where abouts are you? It should not cost much more than a hours labour in a garage tbh.

i think thats my next step pricing the mobile mechanics round my area south london /kent hopefully wont cost too much

dazekru wrote:i think thats my next step pricing the mobile mechanics round my area south london /kent hopefully wont cost too much

Hopefully you'll find one who doesn't know what he's letting himself in for. If not your wallet will take a big hit.

What like a rover headgasket dezzy...goes a fortnight later again.

Iam not holding out much hope I think this is going to cost me

dazekru wrote:i think thats my next step pricing the mobile mechanics round my area south london /kent hopefully wont cost too much

If its that much of a cack job can't you find someone local with a lift ?

A mobile mechanic is going to have the same problems you are scrabbling around under axle stands - and you'll pay through the nose when they realise what theyve taken on.

just an update the manifold fold was removed yesterday and the car is now in pieces engine wise i have a replacement starter motor but yep you guessed it snap yesterday i broke two socket adapters trying to get the torxs nuts off.today weather was crap so hopefully sometime after new year i should have the car running again lol

If this is the M30 engine, i';ve done mine without removing anything.
Long extesion bars, and a rachet is all I used, had it off in half an hour, and back on in 15 minutes.
Can easily be got to from the inside the engine bay.

i think its the m50 engine 2.8 its giving me murders there are pics of a similar engine in this thread

Read the title again, your right it is.

i wish it did only take me 15 minutes aswell lol instead of a week and a half and still counting

The reason the bolts are tight as fook and your breaking sockets is because the bell ends that put these things together dont bother to grease or oil anything.
Can you get to the bolts from inside the engine bay? If so you would be better off with a long torx spanner

that my first port of call tomorrow or friday to go halfords and buy a set of torks spanners then hopefully will get the job done

While you're there, get a can of PlusGas releasing agent - far better for penetrating stuck threads than WD40!

well the old starter is finally off and the new one is wired and nearly ready to go the only thing iam missing is 2 nuts as the starter i removed was threaded and the replacement isnt so another trip to the halfords is in order. Then tomorrow i will replace the manifold and hopefully the car will be alive again . Starting to wish i never sold the e30

It should be threaded, what is it from? Did you check the teeth on the pinion gear to make sure its the right starter?

not 100% but most aren't threaded now are they i thought i would just get some nuts and washers to secure the starter to the position and the teeth on the starter are the same as the one i took off so should work shouldnt it

Are you 100% sure they are the same? Its only a very slight difference,,,,
If you get it wrong it will be gearbox off to change the chewed flywheel