DIY: Replace Starter Motor [PICTURES]

[Seveliua]

Originally Posted by TheRussski

Thank you for write up. My M sits in garage and gets driven once every 2-3 days and I notice that it takes longer to crank...not sure if it’s because it’s been sitting between those days or battery or the starter going out. Once I drive for an hour it will crank right up fast.

Definately saving this for future DIY!

Sounds like a battery. But, I'm new to this world. I've only had my E90 M3 since January. Getting the original starter out was, as stated, the hardest part of the DIY. I ordered a new starter a few weeks before my original OEM went out. I tested the new starter with my M3 battery. That tested good with the bendex gear doing it's job, so I ruled out the battery. I'm sure there is a much cheaper option than getting a starter to check your battery...😛

[eswaroop]

Originally Posted by TheRussski

Thank you for write up. My M sits in garage and gets driven once every 2-3 days and I notice that it takes longer to crank...not sure if it’s because it’s been sitting between those days or battery or the starter going out. Once I drive for an hour it will crank right up fast.

Definately saving this for future DIY!

Have a similar issue with long crank on Cold start have heard fuel leak due to leaky injectors so replaced those but issue is still there - maybe leak in the line is next check for me.. let me know what you find on yours

[NeverL8]

Originally Posted by eswaroop

Have a similar issue with long crank on Cold start have heard fuel leak due to leaky injectors so replaced those but issue is still there - maybe leak in the line is next check for me.. let me know what you find on yours

I will, going to check the battery first.l

[angy]

This write up is great!! Thank you!! I just replaced my starter using it and it's the first time I've worked on this car. Only issues I had were getting starter itself off (too short so had to get help). And then putting back on the big air collector thingy on top (still working on this).

Is there a trick to this? Or a certain way it needs to go on? I get some of them to go in ..but then others pop out. It is probably something simple but so far my searches on this haven't gave me much help. Any tips on how to do this would be greatly appreciated. Can't believe I was able to do most of this myself.. only to get stuck on this part lol!

[Ajolives]

Originally Posted by angy

This write up is great!! Thank you!! I just replaced my starter using it and it's the first time I've worked on this car. Only issues I had were getting starter itself off (too short so had to get help). And then putting back on the big air collector thingy on top (still working on this).

Is there a trick to this? Or a certain way it needs to go on? I get some of them to go in ..but then others pop out. It is probably something simple but so far my searches on this haven't gave me much help. Any tips on how to do this would be greatly appreciated. Can't believe I was able to do most of this myself.. only to get stuck on this part lol!

Make sure all the alligator clamps on the individual throttle bodies are loose. Should be able spin each by hand. The plenum (big air catchy thingy - is what I'm going to call it from now on btw, haha) should pop into place after a little shove down. You should feel it "plop" into place.

If you have to bang and force it the alligator clamps aren't loose enough. Also make sure there aren't any lines preventing it from going all the way down.

[angy]

Haha ! I wasnt sure what it was called but you knew what I was talking about so I guess that worked?!

Thank you so much!! I'll check clamps and try again..

[pbonsalb]

Make sure the hose you disconnected at the front or rear is not in the way.

[Scores]

Perfect write up! Used this to remove and replace my old starter. Also replaced and relocated a ground I broke off at the same time.

I'm pretty handy and prefer to do most of my own work, and this guide made that easy!

Thanks a ton

[dickchow]

Thanks for the DIY, just done this and it wasn't so bad.

tips:

1) the 3 bolts on the starter on mine were 2 x e12 and 1 x hex5
2) the hose at the back can be easily removed from the driver side to give you more space
3) one you undone the e12 initial torque, you can use a 10mm ratchet wrench to remove them, took me only few minutes with the right tool.

[rg1220]

I definitely got to Step 20 and was like "That wasn't too bad! Shouldn't be too bad to get these three bolts out. Hmmm, where are they though? I just see these studs.... ohhhhhh crap."

Don't be me. Look closely at the diagram in Step 20. Don't remove the e12's that you can see. The two you need to take out are e12s (MY2011).

[rg1220]

Finished up the job and she started right up! Hit a few minor snags: The 13mm ground bolt is aluminum and can't be torqued like steel and the bolt snapped , I'll fix that when I replace the valve cover gaskets. Also don't use the old nut on the positive terminal of the starter solenoid as the thread pattern might be different... don't ask me how I know.

[Mike6699]

So did this totally fix your problem? I may tackle this along with the valve covers this weekend.

[MikeBlaszczak]

I did this last week on a 2009-build 2010 M3.

For me, a couple fasteners were a bit different. The starter itself had two E12 bolts (not E14), and the B+ connector on the starter was a 13mm nut (not a 10mm nut).

Gearwrench makes some box-end ratcheting external torx wrenches, and I used those. As atruelunatic says, you'll get about one or two ratchet clicks at a time, and it will take all day. I couldn't get my hands into the secondary air valves deeply enough to release them. If you can do that on your car, I think you'll have a much better time getting the starter out. I just couldn't make it happen. My 3/8ths flex-head ratchet is 12 inches long and too long. The "folding" 3/8 inch ratchet I have was too big to fit into the valley, so I couldn't get that to work. Maybe an 8-inch flex head would be fine, but ...

Maybe more importantly, the symptoms I had were not starting intermittently. The car would show "A0C1 - CAS: Output, Terminal 50" and I could clear it, but it would eventually return. Sometimes I'd start a dozen times in a row no problem, sometimes I'd try four or five times before it started.

With the starter replaced, no problems since: no codes, starts every time, starts strong.

This writeup is great, otherwise. The picture with the connectors indicated is very helpful. At reassembly, I went very slow, laid everything out first then snapped it together and screwed it down and double double checked checked that it was all connected.

[Shredicus]

Thanks for the writeup and the recommendation by someone to use a ratcheting 10mm wrench to get those rear bolts more easily.

Just gonna toss this out here even though it's possibly been mentioned before, but before you dig your starter out check your ground strap's condition. It will have many of the same symptoms as a bad starter and even show up with many of the same codes.... ask me how I know

[Scythe17]

Hey guys, I am about to tackle this job on my M3 and I am struggling with just one thing.

Every video, post, article, etc. on this particular job mentions something along the lines of, "You may be better off using a (flex head/offset/angle head) E12 wrench to reach the E12 bolts on the back of the starter but I had to use ___ and ___ with a ___ on the ___ to turn it"

Does anyone have an actual link or know of a place where I can find this elusive E12 flex/angle/offset wrench?

It seems like the entire internet does not have one even "not" available, I am starting to doubt this thing even exists... I think it may be a tool that the "I really need to throw a tool right now" brain thinks up in the thick of the struggle just after you slip off the breaker bar on your wench and slam your knuckle on the metal "thing" that hurts your knuckle for the rest of the week while you say, "Why the **** did they design this like this?!" (lol!).

[Vuu]

Originally Posted by Scythe17

Hey guys, I am about to tackle this job on my M3 and I am struggling with just one thing.

Every video, post, article, etc. on this particular job mentions something along the lines of, "You may be better off using a (flex head/offset/angle head) E12 wrench to reach the E12 bolts on the back of the starter but I had to use ___ and ___ with a ___ on the ___ to turn it"

Does anyone have an actual link or know of a place where I can find this elusive E12 flex/angle/offset wrench?

It seems like the entire internet does not have one even "not" available, I am starting to doubt this thing even exists... I think it may be a tool that the "I really need to throw a tool right now" brain thinks up in the thick of the struggle just after you slip off the breaker bar on your wench and slam your knuckle on the metal "thing" that hurts your knuckle for the rest of the week while you say, "Why the **** did they design this like this?!" (lol!).

I did this job with my buddy with no special tools. The space you have is limited and honestly, having a second set of hands was more helpful than anything. Once you get to the step where you need to take those bolts off, you honestly just start improvising. I just remember break the bolt free with a small ratchet and loosened it enough until we could turn it with our fingers.

[Scythe17]

Originally Posted by Vuu

I did this job with my buddy with no special tools. The space you have is limited and honestly, having a second set of hands was more helpful than anything. Once you get to the step where you need to take those bolts off, you honestly just start improvising. I just remember break the bolt free with a small ratchet and loosened it enough until we could turn it with our fingers.

Yeah I figured, I did end up buying the gearwrench 10-12mm Etorx wrench just in case they are really tightly in there, my baby's got over 130k miles and a daily driver so I figured that would give me the best grip on it, better safe than sorry! I wish the tool did exist though, I really don't wanna end up snapping those bolts, its my only ride to work and the extra bolts I bought won't be here till Tuesday...

If anyone does know where to get one, I'm sure this thread would love to know still!

[Vuu]

Originally Posted by Scythe17

Yeah I figured, I did end up buying the gearwrench 10-12mm Etorx wrench just in case they are really tightly in there, my baby's got over 130k miles and a daily driver so I figured that would give me the best grip on it, better safe than sorry! I wish the tool did exist though, I really don't wanna end up snapping those bolts, its my only ride to work and the extra bolts I bought won't be here till Tuesday...

If anyone does know where to get one, I'm sure this thread would love to know still!

There's two of these https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...lt-07129904681

But for some odd reason, the diagrams only show one bolt lol. Can't find the T30 anywhere.

[drrust]

Thanks for the write up. You were correct about removing the starter being the hardest part. I got the gear wrench ratchet set as recommended that was a big help. However I need a flex head ratchet with a cheater bar to get the bolts loose. Took care in making sure all the electrical connections were tight when reassembling. Started right up!

[chocstraw]

Just did this job and I would like to commend you for your efforts in writing this thread and including some pretty great pictures.

A few notes:

- I would highly, highly advise that you disconnect several, several more connectors than mentioned in this DIY. These cars are getting up in age, and BMW had a CFO who was notorious for cost cutting, down to the insulation material of various wires, most notably in the earlier years. If you can unclip it, you should. Mark everything with a slashed paint pen mark or, if you must, a screwdriver score / scratch, as some of them are identical connectors in very similar places, most notably around the cams.

- Also unclip several more pieces of piping, this makes accessing the rear of the engine block so much easier. This is difficult as well, but saves you time and packaging concerns for the two E-torx holding the starter in.

- It is ~not~ necessary to use 3/8ths drive or a special socket handle. I removed the starter with a tiny 1/4 socket handle with a 3/8ths step up for the E-torx. Mine was not on tight at all. Probably to the order of 15 lb / ft or less, if I were to guess.

- those clamps for the idle control valve can be re-used with some finesse. A small flathead can lift the retaining clip off, loosen the bend slightly, and needle nose + channel locks can gently be used to cinch everything up again.

- Removing the strut tower supports could prove pretty helpful in this, and might be a good time to couple this with the free camber mod you can do on E92s, where you jack up one side, remove a pin under the strut tower brace, and move the struts and supports inwards a little bit. It's on the forums, would recommend it. Not enough to cause worse tire wear, might even improve it.

All in all, I was able to do each half in about 80 minutes, say ~3 hours total. I am not including the 20 minutes I had to search for a damn T30 that was somehow missing.