According to the Bentley Repair manual I will need to remove the transmission first before lifting out the engine. With the engine seized, I won't be able to turn the motor to access the bolts that secure the torque converter to the fly wheel. My initial thought was to remove the engine with transmission which might be quite a challenge considering the available space. After removal I would need to start disassemble the engine until I am able to rotate the crankshaft, and then remove the transmission. According to the manual I also will need a special tool to secure the torque converter to the transmission in order to not damage the torque converter seal. It seems that tool is only available at a dealer for $300. My second thought is now to remove the transmission, pulling it off the converter and then replace the torque converter seal afterwards. This would also allow me (so I hope) not to disconnect the A/C lines from the condenser. As you can image with the engine not running and the car parked in my garage, I don't see how to evacuate the A/C system. Any suggestions? Thanks.
wow - ugh. Did a clutch on my E34 in the garage and dropped the trans from underneath. Used tall jack stands, getting the car up to max height on the jack stands was a several step process, and a bit precarious at that - the jack I had wouldn't go high enough, I think I used couple of 4x4's to add a total 8" height to jack the car high enough to use the jack's full height. In retrospect, I'm just now thinking larger pieces, like a platform of 2-3 8x8's longer than the jack and then put the jack on that _might_ be better than pieces precariously stacked on top of the jack pad. Ok, new idea, never thought of that before - past efforts have been couple large blocks of wood stacked on the jack pad to jack up. It just isn't ideal to have to rely on the hope that nothing goes wrong in the jacking efforts - with some caution, patience, and luck, everything worked out ok. I also used a transmission jack that was an adapter to work with a floor jack. Of course, there wasn't enough clearance to pull the trans out from under the car still on the jack - used to jack to support the trans separating it from the engine, lowered it down, then had to wrestle it off the trans. jack to extract it from under the car. If it wasn't obvious, best to use a full-size floor jack, not the cheapest, smallest ones. Transmissions are heavy, using a trans jack really helps minimize the risk of damage not only to the trans, but to you. I'm not familiar with the auto trans setup, but if it says you can pull the trans and leave the torque converter on the block, then ok. What I don't have any experience to relay is whether you really have to pull the trans to pull the engine in this car (E92). If you can get an engine hoist in place from the front or side, if you can separate the trans from the shifter, any shift linkage, etc, along with engine wiring harness, etc., once the driveshaft is removed, I would have to wonder what would be the constraint that keeps you from being able to pull the engine w/ the trans attached. I could see possibly having to put the car back down on the ground once everything's disconnected and the engine is supported by the hoist, so you could have more lift-height clearance. Have to be careful of the trans output shaft, don't want to risk getting that bent from dragging on the floor due to any angle needed to extract the engine & trans. I don't know the engine removal procedure for N54, but on older E30/E34's, you just separate the a/c compressor from the engine and basically get it secured out of the way without having to disconnect any a/c parts. I'd be a bit surprised if it wasn't essentially the same, although the compressor might be tied to the serpentine belt or something like that. I'd think whatever route you opt for shouldn't make any difference what you're supposed to do the with the a/c. Since I don't know in which ways/directions you're space constrained, hopefully any of that is helpful.
MGarrison, thanks for reply. One of my concerns pulling the transmission off the torque converter is damaging it. I will certainly damage the seal. Also, due to the turbos, there is very little room to actually access the bolts that mount the transmission to engine. And of course, removing the turbos is quite a procedure by itself.
