Dropping the engine out of a 2012 X3...

UncleJ By the way to fill you in on the Air Bags. The force from the hit from the passenger side towards the front caused the air bags to go off. They detect the force of the impact and with the more force and from what side the car gets hit predicts the air bags go off. Does that makes sense? That was kind of wordy on my part lol.

I've been doing this out side of work. This is my side business... I'm not sure if you guys are into Honda's much but here's what I do for a second job. This is my love and passion. My buddy and I own a company together that does wire tucks on Honda engine bays. Here's what we've been doing the past couple weekends...

Before: (95 Honda Civic Hatch back with a dual cam motor in it)



After: (Still in the works) We've relocated all wires and fuse box and battery. Installed a Vtec head on it also known as LS Vtec. But that our other project! I just love sharing car stuff with car guys!




Thanks again everyone!! Keep the input coming! Hope your all enjoying the rebuild!!

Very clean! Let's see you do that on the bimmer.

lbjgh HAHA!! I don't know if my boss's would like that too much!!

Update: 12.05.12

Hello all! Today i will be unbolting the exhaust and drive shaft, disconnecting the fuel lines and draining the oil. Then a final inspection of the cradle and engine to make sure we are clear to drop it and possibly have the engine out today!! I will have pictures up as soon as i'm done!

TK thanks for the update on the airbags. Made sense. Nice Honda project too -- very clean. They are remarkable cars!

Thanks for the photos. You're seeing parts of the X3 that we don't normally get to see.

UncleJ Thanks man!! Put a lot of hours into that car!! Glad the airbags made sense!!

02420X3 Man i've seen a lot of interesting stuff on this car that im about to share with you soon!!

Update 12.06.12

Man you guys i've got some cool stuff to show you!! I'll have pictures up after work tonight!! Hope you're ready!!

I'm guessing that the vacuum line you encountered on the driver's side harness was the line for opening/closing the flap on one of the exhaust pipes...

MetaX I just went and looked and the vacuum hose your talking about runs around to the front on the motor and goes into the exhaust. This vacuum line runs over the motor and to the top of the valve cover. so i'm really not sure what it goes too?

Ah...then I am at a loss. My second-best guess would be that it is for the turbo charger vacuum control?:

http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?...72&hg=11&fg=45

MetaX I'm at a loss for what its for. i cant see where it goes, it disappears into the valve cover wiring mess. lol

Update: 12.07.12

Sorry it's taken so long guys! Been busy with Christmas shopping!

OK so who's ready for up dates!?

We finally got the motor out!!! I did a final inspection of the harness and lines that run across the motor and go the drive shaft and exhaust off. The exhaust by the way is an easy 120 lbs!!! Sooo heavy!!! And i found a few interesting things on the car I'd like to show you guys!!

So here we go with some pictures!!

This was my view for 2 days



Here's the exhaust... not where we dropped it from... We had originally planned to drop it from here but that didnt go so well sense the exhaust welded itself from heat here... So we ended up taking it off the back side of the Turbo...



Here's the plate that covers the fuel lines...



Here's the drive shaft hiding behind the exhaust and exhaust heat shield...



Here's a better picture of the Trans bolt to put it into neutral...





We had to unplug both O2 sensors to drop the exhaust here's the plugs for both of them... They are located on top of the valve cover.



Here's a top view looking down at the turbo from where we unhooked the exhaust.



Bottom view... We took the O2 sensor out to get the exhaust out easier...



Here's the exhaust out... It all one solid piece! So if you need to buy an exhaust for this thing... that going to be $$$$$$$!!

Now that the Exhaust and heat shields were out of the way it was time to take the drive shaft out...



When i was looking at the drive shaft i noticed something above the drive shaft. It looked like an access panel to the interior... then i started thinking... do they make an X3 in a stick?? This looks like a cut out for a stick shift... what do you guys think??



So i marked the drive shaft in 2 places to line it up in case it was balanced a certain way...



Found the Air Conditioning drainage tube above the trans as well...





My views...





Drive shaft unbolted... You also have to unbolt the 2 bolts back a little bit the free it up and give you some playing room to slip it out...





Sense we dropped all the front suspension with the cradle i had to disconnect all the suspension wiring harnesses in the wheel wells and unbolted the calipers so we wouldn't have to mess with bleeding the brakes sense you have to do it all with a computer now...





Now that we did one last final inspection and made sure we were all clear we unbolted the struts and cradle bolts and slid our pallet jack with a skid and some wood under it and slowly set it down on the wood and raised the car up and we slid the motor out...









These are pinch weld rollers we bolted to the car wo we can move it onto the frame rack again to section the frame rails...






I'm Shocked at how long that trans. and transfer case is!!




That's all i have so far! I'll post pictures up as theyre rebuilding it and when i put the motor back in!! Thanks again guys!!

Amazing views of the X3 that I never would see. The things are amazingly complicated but seem very well put together. Now I have a better feel for how outlandishly expensive repairs can be!

Holy crap! That is amazing to see all that! In North America the X3 can not be bought as a stick shift, however, outside the U.S & Canada I believe it is an option. That would explain your cut out you found.

UncleJ Complicated is totally the word!!! haha This car is a wiring nightmare!

Want the Thrill That explains the hole! Thanks!! I was wondering what that was! Well that cool that they're all based off the same platform! Maybe i'll find a maul trans and and suprise these people when they get their back... hahahaha

Wow!!! These are great pictures! I still can't believe this car wasn't totaled. The labor and parts alone has to be over $30k! Math is math though. It looks like you and your team are doing the repair the right way so it will be as good as new when done.

x3brian We're shocked it didn't total too!! Yes the repair is very close to that amount! We're trying our best on this thing! It's a learning experience!

Update 12.10.12

Hey everyone! Hope you're weekend was good! We're back at it too! The X3 is just sitting on the frame rack for now waiting to get 2 new frame rails put in! I'll have more updates soon!!

NEED HELP!!!!! Can someone please take a picture of the left front ride height sensor plug i need to see where the 3 gray wires go in the Pin Holes. Anyone who can help it would be awesome!!!

OR Could someone find me a wiring diagram!?

TKO88,

Have a look at this site: http://realoem.com/bmw/select.do?vin=LK59054

If you change the last seven (7) numbers in the above link to the last seven numbers of your X3's VIN you will get the information for that car. I don't know if it will help you find what you are looking for....

lbjgh Thanks for the help but sadly I didnt see any pin outs =( BUT! My boss has an 07 X5... Identical wiring for the ride height sensor!! I got lucky!!!! Thanks for the help though!!!

I can't believe they didn't total this vehicle. I sure as heck would not want if back after this surgery, nothing against you or your skills. Why didn't you guys tow it to BMW and have them pull engine and you guys stick to the body work. This is a nightmare in progress!!