Is pulling the intake manifold pretty hard?

My e36 has been loyal as hell to me and it's time I give her some TLC back, I need to get a new radiator, hoses, intake hoses, water pump, fan clutch, fan, t stat, and VANOS seals to be done, which I've put aside as my task for spring, she's a '95 and all parts besides the Tstat are ORIGINAL and well...I know the cooling system isn't the strongest thing in these cars.

I'm sure the cooling system won't be too hard as I've done it before on my car to do the FDM, my aux fan has been working great all this time but lately I've become paranoid as I've moved back into the city and I hear the Fan kicking on more and more often, better to just go back to mechanical as I don't really want to build brackets and whatnot for a SPAL.

So sorry for going on so long, I've had a few Bouncing Idle problems (Specifically when braking to a stop, usually when it's cold, sometimes when it's warm but for the first few minutes of warming up), and I thought I should redo coolant and intake hoses. I'm just going to get a Kit of hoses from FCP Euro (Unless someone has suggestions), but I've read about taking the manifold off.

I haven't done that to this particular car yet, infact I've never taken a manifold off, am I looking at a few hours work here? Could I seriously mess anything up? (Specifically the Fuel System?).

Any help is greatly appreciated, After I get all the above done I will run the car for a few months to make sure I did a bangup job and then fix those VANOS seals, hopefully there's no surprises

Is it hard? Not at all. It's quiet easy actually.

It's just tedious and a pain.

Oh God

Brace yourself, Just saying.

Getting mad just thinking about it

These coolant and intake hoses under the manifold, pretty straight forward swap or is there some fancy entanglement of wires and harnesses down there?

The VANOS in the e36 isn't easily serviced like in the e36. Unless you're getting a rattling from the unit, it's probably working fine.

The bouncing idle is probably due to a dirty ICV, I would try cleaning that first. You could check your intake boots while doing this, I'm not sure why you would replace them if they're fine.

Good luck with the rest of your maintenance, sounds like you have the important things covered.


P.S. Why are you taking the intake manifold off?

Originally Posted by LaCrosse540i6

The VANOS in the e36 isn't easily serviced like in the e36. Unless you're getting a rattling from the unit, it's probably working fine.

The bouncing idle is probably due to a dirty ICV, I would try cleaning that first. You could check your intake boots while doing this, I'm not sure why you would replace them if they're fine.

Good luck with the rest of your maintenance, sounds like you have the important things covered.


P.S. Why are you taking the intake manifold off?

I actually got stranded on a 800 mile road trip and my ICV was completely stuck, was towed to a BMW dealership and really didn't have a choice and got the ICV replaced less than 500 miles ago so that unit is brand spanking new (What a waste of money, I was 150 miles from home -_-)

I removed and checked the boot several times, there's nothing wrong with it, so I'm thinking MAYBE a hose down there has something going on...who knows. But now that I think about it..I might just put the Manifold on hold since there's really nothing wrong, I just though I should get it out of the way as scheduled maintenance (Replacing hoses). It's just that I read so much about rotted hoses and leaks and hissing I think it just got to my head

I was thinking VANOS because sometimes it feels like I have a really slow car, and sometimes its quick, I'm thinking maybe it's stuck or doing something weird, and I do have a rattle, which I've been suspicious about, might be the Lower Tensioner, I've been running 0W-40, I'm thinking I might bump up to 5W-30 Mobil 1 to see if thicker oil helps after the winter passes.

Edit: Oh yea, I forgot I do have 1 major problem. After that Tow and the ICV being replaced (I was getting an Oxygen Sensor code and their diagnostics team chalked it up to the ICV which I knew they would), I noticed my Rev's drop slower, would that be a hose problem? Because it would totally be worth taking off the manifold if that's a Vacuum problem.

Well that's a bummer. I'm sure you would have mentioned this already, but do you have a check engine light on?

Can you localize the rattling? I would also recommend cleaning the VANOS solenoid. They can get a little gummed up and don't move quite as freely as they should.

majority of vacuum leaks can be solved without removing the manifold (unless the manifold gaskets need to be replaced)

I have taken off and put on my manifold twice in the past 3 weeks...the only hard thing about it is getting the last bolt off near the fire wall. you have to take the wire harness spice box off and the metal back plate. I would get an extendable pen magnet in case you drop one of those nuts, saved me many times. Make sure you disconnect the hose from the ICV to the intake manifold, the clip that holds it in place is easy to break. Other than that and the fuel lines that need to be unclipped from the underside, it isn't bad. When you take it off you should replace the gaskets, they can cause vacuum leaks that would effect your idle and cause a loss of power. Might as well do everything in one shot I think, if you have to take the Manifold off, do everything under there you can possibly think of so you don't have to do it again. Oh, there is also a little hose that goes from a nozzle on the intake to the fuel rail that had disintegrated on mine, honestly unsure what it is for, but I replaced it with a hose of the same size from the auto parts store. Good luck!

Nope, thankfully no Check Engine Lights, And there's really no problem with the engine besides the lack of power SOMETIMES, will definitely try the Solenoid and report.

As for leaks, I think I will try out that Carb Cleaner trick where you spray it on the boot/body/hoses and see if I get any surges. Hopefully the manifold won't have to be taken off heh, will have to get some swivel sockets I guess for the nuts and a magnet. Hope for the best

Hey thanks for being helpful guys, seems to be more professional here than bimmerforums -_-