urcat pe elevator ceva prelungitoare bune si iese . cum zice aici: On my car (m52tu engine, almost same configuration as m54), the starter is bolted to the transmission bell housing with two medium-size external torx bolts. You really have to get under the car to get to these with about two feet worth of extensions, but they're not the hard part... only takes a minute to get them out if you can reach them. The bitch is, there's a dowel pin in there that's right in the center, between those two bolts, that you cannot see. It rusts and freezes the starter to the bell housing, so if you plan to do this, you'll want to get some PB Blaster in/along the facing between the starter and bell housing a couple days in advance. Endless stories on BMW e39/e46 forums about removing the bolts and still being unable to get the damned starter to release .... If that's the situation, you can pry & wiggle the starter away (carefully) from the housing with a flat-tip screwdriver until the frozen rust lets go. Do this in small incremental steps and you won't damage anything. (Put some anti-seize on that dowel pin before bolting the new starter on....) If your car gives you enough hand-room with the air intake etc. out of the way, you might be able to disconnect the electrical cabling on the front side of the starter housing from above. Get these things done and you should be able to pull the starter out but it will probably be easier finagling down/out from under the car.