[hummvee2134]

Hey folks,

Still a little new here, but i'm about to really get my feet wet.

I just ordered the stock turbo replacement. My wastegates are loose to the point of no return so i opted for a set of fresh turbos.

I've done a bit of research from the bentley manual and forums and i think i'm pretty well prepared to get this job done. I do, however, have a few questions/concerns...

1. I'm really worried about the condition of the exhaust manifold bolts/studs on my car. I was under there yesterday and those guys are looking pretty rusty (i live in new england btw). Has anyone broken these guys off in the head and had to deal with extraction or are they usually more compliant than they look? I'm worried that if i break one off, i'm going to have to take the head off to extract them. I'd really really like to be able to do this job in a weekend.

2. How long realistically does this job take? I'm a fairly expierenced shade tree mechanic. I'm planning on doing this in my garage on jack stands. I have an XI and i'm also replacing the oil pan gasket so i'm going to have to deal with dropping the front diff and pan. I'm thinking a friday, saturday and sunday would be more than enough time if i'm starting early and staying organized?

Thanks in advance! I'll be sure to get some pictures up once i get this job underway.

[Mike@N54Tuning.com]

Just soak the bolts with a penetrating oil the day before. Thats a big jon for jack stands.. Good luck!

Mike

[hummvee2134]

Thanks Mike. I'll be sure to do that. It would just be a nightmare to break off one of those bolts in the head

And yeah, it's going to be tough but saving money is nice. I think i'm going to invest in a better creeper before starting this job ahahaha

Thanks again,

[CeeWhizzle]

How many miles on your engine? I did an ST swap on my 335i that has 45,000miles on it. Studs and bolts came off with no issues at all (they did have a small amount of "rust" on each nut) I always found BMW's exhaust studs and nuts to be of good quality to not snap or stay seized. On other vehicles, I would spray the studs/nuts with PB blaster or anything alike the night before, then 2 hours before beginning the job, I start up the engine and get it to operating temps then wait a few and carefully loosen each nut if they look to be really bad.

[zmon1300]

They shouldn't break off. Seems to be pretty decent quality. Ive heard a stud extractor would help when removing those studs.

GL!

[specialist]

what size stud extractor do i need?

[BeastMode335i]

Did mine at 65k miles on jack stands in the drive way.. Soaked bolts and studs in white vinegar the day of, than sprayed with penetrating oil, scrubbed with a wire brush, and rinsed with wd40 before reuse.. No problems here..

[sloweste9x]

Hey man, I just swapped the turbos on my car on jackstands in my garage a few months ago. My car had 97k and the studs were totally stuck. I soaked them in liquid wrench, stripped them, tried vice grips, nothing would work....that is until my friend brought his stud extractor socket. They came right out! Literally took a few minutes. I believe its a 6 or a 7mm stud.


As for the time, I'm RWD and manual and it still took me a while. I started Thursday night, worked all day friday from 8am-1am, spent about 12 hours working Saturday, and probably 5-7 Sunday and maybe an hour or two Monday and drove the car to work Tuesday. If you have any questions lmk, I also made a little video series on the swap. In hindsight, I should've done the oil pan gasket because mine is slowly seeping but alas, we can't have it all. Good luck and if you have to have a few tools, I would say stud extractor for sure, a good electric impact gun, various extensions and swivel joints, and a ton of gojo and gloves to keep your hands clean!

[mweisdorfer]

Originally Posted by hummvee2134

Hey folks,

Still a little new here, but i'm about to really get my feet wet.

I just ordered the stock turbo replacement. My wastegates are loose to the point of no return so i opted for a set of fresh turbos.

I've done a bit of research from the bentley manual and forums and i think i'm pretty well prepared to get this job done. I do, however, have a few questions/concerns...

1. I'm really worried about the condition of the exhaust manifold bolts/studs on my car. I was under there yesterday and those guys are looking pretty rusty (i live in new england btw). Has anyone broken these guys off in the head and had to deal with extraction or are they usually more compliant than they look? I'm worried that if i break one off, i'm going to have to take the head off to extract them. I'd really really like to be able to do this job in a weekend.

2. How long realistically does this job take? I'm a fairly expierenced shade tree mechanic. I'm planning on doing this in my garage on jack stands. I have an XI and i'm also replacing the oil pan gasket so i'm going to have to deal with dropping the front diff and pan. I'm thinking a friday, saturday and sunday would be more than enough time if i'm starting early and staying organized?

Thanks in advance! I'll be sure to get some pictures up once i get this job underway.

I wouldn't get new turbos. I would send them to this guy.

He can refurb them for about $750.00 or less from what I have read.

Get some Kroil oil soak them overnight, and you won't have a problem.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000F...YML&ref=plSrch

An air gun is really handy for taking things off, but don't ever use it to put things on.

Dewalt makes a sweet one for about $110.00. At least that's what I paid. Lowes sell them, if want one like "now".

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00OK...dewalt+air+gun

[feuer]

Originally Posted by zmon1300

They shouldn't break off. Seems to be pretty decent quality. Ive heard a stud extractor would help when removing those studs.
GL!

Oh, they break! Stud extractor doesn't really work. Welding a nut does. Just ask sirdaft1 and mojobmw_e90, both local to us.

[hummvee2134]

Originally Posted by mb21111

If you have any questions lmk

Thanks for offering man! i'll PM you when i'm closer to starting the job. You're not far off, i'm about an hour west of boston down rt 2.

[sloweste9x]

Originally Posted by hummvee2134

Thanks for offering man! i'll PM you when i'm closer to starting the job. You're not far off, i'm about an hour west of boston down rt 2.

Oh word man. My gf goes to Tufts so I used to take rt. 2 all the time down to the somerville area. Definitely come to one of the Shake Shack meets in Newton one of these days! The next one's tomorrow night at 7.

[sirdaft1]

Not to freak you out, but I literally just experienced your worst case scenario during my turbo swap this past week. One stud snapped in half while still in the head. We spent 10 hours with multiple sets of vice grips, propane and map gas torched it, half a bottle of PB blaster.... NOTHING. We wound up having a friend with a mig welder come over and weld a nut on the stud. This finally broke it loose. Here's the stud in and out of the head...





If this option wouldn't have worked for us, the two options are... 1) pull the entire engine, bring to a machine shop to remove the stud/drill out and do a helicoil or 2) keep the broken stud in and roll the dice with installing the turbos with only 7/8 studs on that manifold.

[hummvee2134]

Originally Posted by sirdaft1

Not to freak you out, but I literally just experienced your worst case scenario during my turbo swap this past week.

Wow nice. Good work on getting that out. At least there was enough sticking out where you could get a nut onto it.

I have a feeling I'm going to wind up with a few of these. I'm just expecting the worst.

I do have a MIG welder so if I snap any off hopefully they don't break flush with the head and I can just do what you did.

We're the others relatively compliant?

Thanks for sharing!

[sirdaft1]

Originally Posted by hummvee2134

Wow nice. Good work on getting that out. At least there was enough sticking out where you could get a nut onto it.

I have a feeling I'm going to wind up with a few of these. I'm just expecting the worst.

I do have a MIG welder so if I snap any off hopefully they don't break flush with the head and I can just do what you did.

We're the others relatively compliant?

Thanks for sharing!

You're welcome! The other studs were relatively uneventful. That said, we're relatively confident that the broken stud was due to it being cross threaded in the head by a previous owner. We had to re-tap the hole where that stud was and it was heavily cross threaded.

That said, keep your fingers crossed that some previous owner didn't crossthread those studs for you!

[Mike@N54Tuning.com]

Originally Posted by sirdaft1

You're welcome! The other studs were relatively uneventful. That said, we're relatively confident that the broken stud was due to it being cross threaded in the head by a previous owner. We had to re-tap the hole where that stud was and it was heavily cross threaded.

That said, keep your fingers crossed that some previous owner didn't crossthread those studs for you!

That probably would explain the issue you had... creative solution to get it out though!

Mike

[Nitrousbird]

Use a GOOD penetrating oil, not Liquid Wrench or PB Blaster crap.

https://smile.amazon.com/Kano-Kroil-...keywords=kroil

Kano Kroil is the go-to stuff. It works.

[Milan]

double up on the nuts and they will come out no problem...welding a a nut on? LOL I swear the bmw world sometimes...

[sirdaft1]

Originally Posted by Milan

double up on the nuts and they will come out no problem...welding a a nut on? LOL I swear the bmw world sometimes...

Don't understand your comment.

Have you ever removed an N54 exhaust manifold stud? The N54 exhaust manifold stud has an unthreaded "hip" that makes a two nut method difficult, if not impossible. In my case, impossible as it broke just above the hip, leaving zero room to thread on a nut. In which case we welded on a nut which was one of the only viable extraction methods available to us without pulling the motor.

[YoungBlood]

Seen welded nuts in plenty of other automotive groups too, not just here lol

[Jeef]

Eric the bolt guy!

[Milan]

Originally Posted by sirdaft1

Don't understand your comment.

Have you ever removed an N54 exhaust manifold stud? The N54 exhaust manifold stud has an unthreaded "hip" that makes a two nut method difficult, if not impossible. In my case, impossible as it broke just above the hip, leaving zero room to thread on a nut. In which case we welded on a nut which was one of the only viable extraction methods available to us without pulling the motor.

Yeah I've removed all of mine...and I didn't have to weld anything to do it either.

It's cool bro, you tried. Modding cars isn't for everyone...