#$@& What now?????

[new2bmw]

I am changing the timing belt on my 89 325i, was going well till i got here. One bolt left on the lower ting belt cover but cant get to it as it is blocked by the sprockets. I was told i have to remove the crank nut/bolt, which is crazy tight. I put in some pics to show the bolt i cant get to and the crank bolt i have to remove (i think.)
help please! how do i stop it from spinning if there is going to be crazy torque applied to it??

[rs4pro3]

you can pop off the large pulley with the teeth around the edges, then you can get to that bolt no problem. Just take a rubber mallet and tap around the edges off the pulley to loosen it and wiggle it off.

[AndrewBird]

Why can't you use a wrench?

[backtrail69]

Just use a large screw driver to gently pry around it and it will pop off. I have done two timing belts in the last few months.

[M5wanaB]

im not so sure you should be doing your own timing belt. no offense but are you sure your 100% mechanically competent?>??

[new2bmw]

timing belt

well In reply to that, i am new to this, i have the bentley, you guys and want to learn to fix my own e30 instead of giving it away to joe blow at the auto shop. its not rocket science, just need to do it once and then im set for doing it the next time.
So just tap arond the the pulley and i dont need to worry about the crank bolt in the middle then. is that right?
thanks guys!

[blunttech]

im not so sure you should be doing your own timing belt. no offense but are you sure your 100% mechanically competent?>??

WTF ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? A TIMING BELT IS BASIC SHIT AND HOW ELSE DOES ONE LEARN?

[Jand3rson]

im not so sure you should be doing your own timing belt. no offense but are you sure your 100% mechanically competent?>??

I love it when noobs try to dispense advice like this.

[1991 318is]

WTF ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? A TIMING BELT IS BASIC SHIT AND HOW ELSE DOES ONE LEARN?

+ on that! I had never turned a wrench on a car until I was fifteen. Before that it was bicycles. I am now 63 and I have made mistakes, ruined parts trying to fix something else, and done some plain old stupid shit. I leaned to disconnect the battery by frying a wiring harness. If you got the tools and a Bentley, have at it.

[new2bmw]

thanks guys

hey, glad to see some people have a little blind faith in me lol. and hey noob, you wasting all your cash to the man at the shop? if you arent that must mean you did a few thing the first time also. if all else fails read the instructions. so with this wheel, brute force and ignorance or is there anything i need to watch for when it comes to breakage? also, i am being told that the crank bolt there, came two different ways, a one peice and a two piece, any idea from the pic what i have? i think it was the two peice that you had to remove that bolt for. any info on this?
cheers
Larry

[Teaguer]

Thats the two-piece .

As far as what to do to keep the crank from spinning , just put the car into a gear and pull the e-brake .

Or you can take off the flywheel inspection plate and jam a large screwdriver or pry-bar into the flywheel's teeth to keep it from turning .

Ideally you'd want to use a impact gun on bolts like that , or at the very least use quick fast movements on the ratchet as opposed to trying to gradually brake it loose .

[Fanzotti]

When I was doing my timing belt I had trouble getting that big ass bolt undone also. I don't remember if you need to get it off to do the timing belt but I was replacing the front seals at the same time so I had to. If you need to get it off here's what I did. Tried everything. Put it in gear/parking brake and the car started slowly moving. It was on way tight. Read up and someone mentioned using a breaker bar. What you do is grab a 22mm? socket, put it on the breaker bar, put that breaker bar on the (I believe)
driver's side? frame rail/something SOLID. Put a piece of wood in between the bar and the car so shit doesn't get smashed. Take the spark plug wires off so the car doesn't start. Then turn over the car for a split second and it should break it loose. Don't know if this is a good way to get it off and I'm sure there's alot of people that will tell you trying this is idiotic but it worked for me.

[new2bmw]

crank bolt

ok, i am really confused,99% of the people are telling me its one peice and to just tap the thing off. the other 1 % is saying its 2 peice and the bolt must be removed. how do i tell, i dont want to waste an afternoon banging on the thing thinking it will pop off and then find out that the bolt needs to be removed. what years had 1 piece and what had 2 piece?

[Turf1600]

Buy an impact. when I do car work, i spend half the money on parts and half the money on tools. the tools last longer.

[SchnellerVert]

Rubber mallet and if that doesn't work a common hammer. Light tap to break the rust bond loose. The slowly work it off. Easy job.