That damn top transmission bolt

[Sagaris]

.....
You could try another inverted torx socket. Some are tigher fit than others and would do the trick, I'd suggest borrowing/buying a high quality american made one if you don't have one in your tool set.

did you soak the bolts in PB blaster or similar?

Not a bad idea, It really doesn't fit nearly as snug as I would expect it to. I will try another one to see how it feels.

I did soak the bolts in PB blaster which seemed to really help in comparison to the lower inspection cover bolts which did not receive any PB and were much more difficult to break free.

I do have 1 other bolt in place to relieve the stress ( the one on the 9 o-clock side of the bell housing, though I may put the 3 o'-clock bolt back in place as well.

[Sagaris]

This! If you have an engine hoist and load leveler you can pull and replace the engine & transmission faster than you can get the bolts out of the transmission with the engine in the car.

The thought of disconnecting all those connectors and hoses over this last little bolt is a little overwhelming, though I am pretty sold on the idea of pulling both if I ever need to bother with it in the future.

[jlevie]

The hoses yes, but the only connectors that need to be messed with are those for the relays, AFM, and starter. You disconnect the DME connector and pull it through the firewall. The harness remains attached to the engine. To avoid confusion later, mark the hose that goes to the fuel rail.

[Sagaris]

The hoses yes, but the only connectors that need to be messed with are those for the relays, AFM, and starter. You disconnect the DME connector and pull it through the firewall. The harness remains attached to the engine. To avoid confusion later, mark the hose that goes to the fuel rail.

I had a hunch that the DME harness could be disconnected to do just that. Thank you for confirming this.

[LJ851]

Updates?

[Sagaris]

I just got back from giving it another whirl actually. The problem wasn't gripping the bolt today, it was getting enough force on it.

I went armed with a tighter fitting (see also higher quality) Snap-On E14, a snake camera to ensure that things were fitting squarely and monitor the condition of the bolt head.

The Snap-On E14 socket fit well enough to allow me more attempts with the conventional breaker bar+extensions. I could not get enough force on the breaker bar to make it budge (even though other trans bolts were helping to distribute the load of the trans). I added some leverage, still nothing, at least it wasn't slipping off the bolt though. So I tried an impact gun (electric) I wasn't able to track down a single long extension so I had 3 connected together which pretty much defeated the purpose of the impact gun.

I got to the point where I was just going to put all my force into it, risking bloody knuckles once something broke free but I just had to stop because I really thought I was going to break my collar bone if I tried any harder.

I will just remove the engine and will do so if I ever have to bother with the trans again.
The exhaust, driveshaft, and intake are all disconnected so really all I need to do to get the rest out is drain the coolant, disconnect the coolant hoses, the DME, the O2 heater and DME relay connectors, and the oil cooler (from what I can visualize at the moment).

I had just always hoped that the day I removed the engine was the day that something with ITB's was going in. It will give me a chance to get the bay all cleaned up nice and give me a fair chance at that bolt without having tons of extensions on it.

Next weekend I should begin removing the engine.

[Wanganstyle]

Time for s54 shopping??

[Sagaris]

I would like to see videos of one, I really cant find anything decent on youtube.

[LJ851]

I would like to see videos of one, I really cant find anything decent on youtube.

Search s54 e30 m3, there are several of a VAC built car.

[Wanganstyle]

YouTube. S54 e30 is old hat! Engine is over a decade old.

[LJ851]

YouTube. S54 e30 is old hat! Engine is over a decade old.

Point out a better one, please.

[Wanganstyle]

I came across this thread a few years back, it was the rosetta stone for my prior S54 conversion. European member uses entire S50b32 euro wiring+sensors+DME to run a S54b32 engine. IN AN E30!!!

there are multitudes of e30's with real M power S50 euro ITB engines; stateside and overseas. S54 is the same thing just newer/smarter/better.

some e30 s54's found on google, etc.

bimmerworld 2009 e30 alpina s54 conversion; where the bimmerworld kit originated from.

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1367566

[CabbE30]

Use a dremel and the extension and put a grinding bit on there. Squeeze your arm in there with the extension and cut that bitch off. That's what I did after I rounded mine off. I posted in a similar thread about a year back on how I did it. I'll search.

[codrum]

Maybe too late? I did mine from the top of the engine bay. A 7/16 crescent wrench fits on the E14 male torx bolts perfect and snug (I think it's a 7/16, if not, it's one of the standard wrenches). I dropped the transmission down an inch or so and could fit that crescent wrench with a minor bend in it back there. Pulled the two top bolts out in five minutes.

[110stx]

Damn. I'd rent air and an impact gun to try again before I pulled the motor. Maybe get the correct extensions etc. to complete the job with the motor in place?