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Had a 3.0l E85 in the Zedshed Cymru Shed today, starter motor had died but bump started to get it to the shed. Battery disconnected to begin then the starter cables removed. Access to the connections made from under the car having removed the underside alloy skid plate.
The Starter is quite buried so apart from the two retaining bolts being accessible from the top the unit has to be pulled out from below. The locating dowel on the bellhousing is a really tight fit and put up a fight to get it to release the motor. Fought back putting the replacement back in but managed to tighten the retaining bolts evenly to pull it back in. Reconnected the leads, reconnected the battery and gave it a first start, fired up first turn of the key. Oil and filter change followed and a full diagnostic scan using my Launch Tablet. A few codes cleared, will see if any come back after some driving cycles. Road test carried out and no codes appeared so far.

Was this an M54?
Always managed from the top but I do have small hands.
I found removing the sound generator gave room to pull it out to the passenger side.

I’ve done a 2.5 from the top (normal sized hands here). No reason to think the 3.0 would be much different.

2.5 is easy from the top but the 3.0l M54 is buried under the inlet manifold so you can't see the terminal connections, these are accessible from underneath once the skid plate is removed.

colb wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2024 12:28 am 2.5 is easy from the top but the 3.0l M54 is buried under the inlet manifold so you can't see the terminal connections, these are accessible from underneath once the skid plate is removed.

Oh I just removed the sound generator and did it by feel. Never occurred to me to try ftom underneath. Limitations of a gravel drive I suppose.

Repair manual does it from the top with the airbox removed. There is a bit of blind fiddling about required though!

Should have had a look at TIS before I started, just did a visual and decided to go in from underneath since it was on my lift and easy to get to once the skid plate was off using an Impact Gun on its 17mm bolts. Assorted spanners and sockets needed to extract the starter retaining bolts as space is limited at the firewall.

colb wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2024 10:06 am Should have had a look at TIS before I started, just did a visual and decided to go in from underneath since it was on my lift and easy to get to once the skid plate was off using an Impact Gun on its 17mm bolts. Assorted spanners and sockets needed to extract the starter retaining bolts as space is limited at the firewall.

Not criticising at all! Probably just garage envy.

Chap who did mine made a right meal of it and took the inlet manifold off.

Rockhopper wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2024 10:16 am Chap who did mine made a right meal of it and took the inlet manifold off.

A lot comes down to the individual.
Some people do it exactly by the book, especially if it's a warrantied job.
Some people dive in without thinking and bodge it.
Others look at it and instinctively see an easier way.

It also relates to experience levels.
First time I do any job I RTFM first, then assess if there's anything I can ignore (usually due to the aforementioned small hands).
Practice teaches you work-arounds too.

When pvr asked me to change the starter on his I had never done an N52 before. A pre-emptive read of NewTIS made it sound quite complex, but once I got hands on I found completely removing the inlet manifold wasn't required, just unbolt it, move a couple of pipes and plugs, lift at the front and slide my hand in.

I did the starter motor on my S54 a few weeks ago, from the top without removing the airbox.

It wasn't much fun, but doable with patience. Removing the airbox would help a little aligning the starter on refitting, but the real struggle remains with the bellhousing so not a great help. A long 10mm ratchet spanner is your friend.