I spent the day trying to get the rear bolt out for the starter. Even removed the front drive shaft to see if I could get over the transmission to get on the bolt but no joy.
Ended up cutting the starter off.
Cut through front starter housing where bolt protrudes to the front. Got it to pry loose on the opposite side and ultimately was able to break the remaining housing
That bolt either takes a couple very long extensions to go from the back of the bell housing up and over, and/or a flex head ratchet and socket from the top. Not the easiest bell housing bolt of the bunch.
Ohh gosh yes that bolt is a pain. I ended up remove it by putting a small ratcheting wrench on the bolt and let it rest at 2 or 3 o’clock, which allows me to use a small pipe to go over the wrench and use it as a breaker bar. This is before I found out years later you can get it with extensions from under the car.
Also I put together this kind of stuff with Wurth CU800. That tube will last you over a decade - the tube is nice because it is much easier to apply sparingly to bolt threads and nut holes vs the brush and tub. That said @barry@3DM made a pretty compelling argument for a general preference to use Loctite 242 over anti-seize. I won't make the points as well as he, so I'll let him chime in if he feels inclined.
BTW I can't believe you cut off the starter, Jim ... mad man! lol
To go over the top would require dropping the exhaust, the shielding and perhaps lowering the trans a bit? which means disconnecting the real drive shaft?
I have done the E92 trans/clutch/ect so was familiar with going over the top to get to the bolt but on this 535xi it seemed like it was turning into disassembling the car.
My biggest mistake was getting the wrong size wrench on there the very first time. Once it slipped the first time that sh$tty little head for such a large bolt never again let me get anything one it. The rear inlet being in the way didn't help either. Considered removing that but that then turned into removing the down pipes... which would have required pulling an axle...
Cutting it wasn't so bad. My only regret was waiting so long to just do it instead of talking myself out of it.
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