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Just did this to my '07 328i. The issues for my car began a few weeks ago with trying to start my car in the morning. I pressed the START button and the car didn't respond. In fact, it didn't respond until I tried it a few more times. I thought maybe I had not pressed in the clutch pedal far enough. It happened a few more times and then the car began to require a lot more effort to start. Normally, I press START and the engine turns over once and starts up. When the starter began to go, it was taking about 5 turns and it sounded like it was struggling to turn over.
Anyway, the whole repair wasn't as bad as I thought it would have been, but I did watch the video and it was immensely helpful. I also condensed the video into a 19-slide PowerPoint with one large pic on each slide and simplified instructions. I printed the whole thing and put them in sheet protectors. I figured this way, all I had to do was flip the page and I didn't have to worry about getting grease on my computer or it going into screen protector mode.
Total time was 1.5 hours for the disassembly and 2.5 hours to reassemble. I broke one of the vacuum tubes, but I had to get the car ready for work tomorrow so I can't wait to get a new one in. I repaired it with that self-vulcanizing tape (we called it F-4 tape in the military), plus some zip ties for strength.
Some tips...1. use blue painters tape to label every cable you disconnect. I Sharpied each cable tape with a number, then Sharpied the same number on the other end of the connector. It was then just a matter of connecting male-8 to female-8 and so on. 2. Keep this in mind for the wire harness bracket that is attached to the intake, below the throttle body - the two retainer screws face down slightly, so removal and installation requires you angle the tools. 3. The rear starter bolt is a bitch. You don't have to use an E14 socket though as an 11mm 12-pt combination wrench fits perfectly. If you can't get enough leverage on the wrench, use the two wrench trick (11mm box end on bolt, 9/16 box end on 11mm open end, pry). 4. This is a great opportunity to put some dielectric grease on all connectors - be prepared. 5. I always manage to kick bolts I've organized on the floor, so I used ziplok snack baggies to hold the nuts and bolts and labeled each bag. 6. I disconnected only the negative on my battery and only lost the trip odometer, clock, average mpg and mph info. I didn't lose the radio presents or get any unusual faults on the display. 7. There's a large blue o-ring that seals the throttle body to the intake manifold. Be careful you don't drop it or pinch it.
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