What else to do while in am in there

[cat97628]

So I have been putting off a bunch of small mods and general engine bay refresh things for some time now but am itching to do them now that I have a new garage that I can finally work in.

I had a intake manifold and valve cover powder coated a few years ago and they are just sitting waiting to go on the car along with a pair of ceramic coated exhaust manifolds just to get rid of the ugly rusty ones I have now. So I know I want to do those things. I also know that I have some issue to address like a timing belt that is going on it 8th year but way under 50k miles. I also have been told that my engine mounts my be shot. My upper rad hose gets nicked by the fan blade if its not zipped tied back far enough. No idea if this is true or not but a member here a long time ago came up with it so it must be true. Regardless 165k miles I am sure it wouldn't hurt replacing them. I also know that something is leaking from the bottom end. I wouldn't really call it a leak its more like a weep and can only really tell after the car sits all winter but I do have a ton of gunk and grime low on the engine by the oil pump housing. So with all of that said I am thinking of ordering the following

top and bottom gasket kit
timing belt kit
water pump
thermostat housing
motor mounts

so I am already committing to both top and bottom work on the car. so a couple questions for the group.

would you do the head gasket if there wasn't a known problem?
would you do trans mounts while you were doing motor mounts?
would you do guibo if you did trans mounts
its an auto would you refresh fuilds (never had an issue)
what else under the hood would you do? belt, plugs, wires, hoses (cooling, vacuum) (silicone for both)

also the big question I have would be, would you just pull the motor or work around it with it raised in the bay. (Hate working under cars, watched a 72 Nova fall off a jack on top of my father when I was 6. He got lucky and the garage door stopped it from rolling any further back) (Also I am a big dude and getting a bit older so getting up off the ground kills my knees)

tons of questions and thanks in return. This car btw is not a daily driver and can be parked in the garage until the work is done (No hurry but would be bummed out of a nice day)

[Yungbimmer]

After doing basically everything you just listed i would definitely take a look at your starter. The starter on these cars are IMHO the most notorious bitch to replace. For some odd reason BMW decided it would be a good idea to use bolts and nuts to hold the starter on the block instead of bolts that thread into the block. Other than that everything is up to you and what your bank account looks like. Resealing the engine with fresh gaskets is never a bad idea considering you can get every single gasket/seal for the engine (other than oil filter housing o-ring) for around 80-90 bucks. But to answer your questions, yes i would do head gasket if i were there. If you are going to change your timing belt, install a new exhaust and intake manifold then you already have everything off to be able to pull the head, other than the head bolts. Im sure a lot of people would say do otherwise because "a broken in head gasket will do a better job than a fresh one". But you're already there so why not take advantage of it. Definitely do tranny and motor mounts! Theres plenty of upgraded after market mounts these days that you can get in harder durations so they will last longer (not talking about solid mounts). As far as everything else you listed such as belts, plugs, wires, hoses, etc. All of those should be changed based on cosmetic appearance. Holes in any of your hoses (coolant or vaccum) then replace. Hahah it kinda sounds like your on the edge about whether or not you should just do a full rebuild hahah.
Pulling the engine will always make working much easier but thats a big commitment you have to make for yourself. I hope some of this helps buddy!! Have fun!!!