[jlindsey86]

2006 BMW 330i w/magnesium valve cover.

I have done a ton of searching and read through multiple tutorials. Several that I have seen show pictures of the wiring harness laying way off to the side away from the valve cover. None of the turtorials show what you have to do the give it enough slack to do so.

I have unplugged all of the connectors on the front of the eninge except for one. I found one post that says it goes under the engine to the water pump. Also, I can barely get any slack from the rear of the wiring harness, certainly not enough to lift the valve cover up high enough to clear the engine.

Did I miss something? Is there a trick that will allow me to move the wiring harness completely out of the way?

This is the line at the front of the harness that I cannot get any slack on. It run down underneath the motor.


This is the line at the rear of the harness. I think it connects to the fuel injector harness but I am not sure. I have pulled upwards on it with a good amount of force but I cannot get more than about 2" of slack.


What am I missing to be able the lay the harness over like this to get it out of the way?

[kkasson]

I've only done the valve cover on my E60's N52 (with the plastic cover), so I don't know exactly what's the same between them but since nobody else has responded yet I'll see what I can do for you.

Have you removed all the connectors from the injectors? I don't remember running into any problems with the harness being stuck - I disconnected everything on the driver's side and then it pretty easily moved out of the way.

I did remove the ECU cover and lifted the harness out of the guides there to give it some extra room.

[jlindsey86]

Originally Posted by kkasson

I've only done the valve cover on my E60's N52 (with the plastic cover), so I don't know exactly what's the same between them but since nobody else has responded yet I'll see what I can do for you.

Have you removed all the connectors from the injectors? I don't remember running into any problems with the harness being stuck - I disconnected everything on the driver's side and then it pretty easily moved out of the way.

I did remove the ECU cover and lifted the harness out of the guides there to give it some extra room.

Yes, I have all of the connectors removed from the injectors. My problem is with the harness on the passenger side of the valve cover. It's the harness that has all the connections to the spark plugs. I cannot get near enough slack in it to move it out of the way. Thanks for the tip about the cover. I do have it removed as well. I

[El Cheapo Loco]

You don't need to disconnect the one at the front, you can see in your third picture that it's still connected. The one at the rear of the engine is held onto the block by a couple clips. You just need to unhook it from the clips to give you the slack you need. I don't think you can see the hooks so you just need to put your hand in there and feel for it.

Now that you mention it, I think I forgot to hook it back to the clips. Oh well...

[jlindsey86]

Originally Posted by El Cheapo Loco

You don't need to disconnect the one at the front, you can see in your third picture that it's still connected. The one at the rear of the engine is held onto the block by a couple clips. You just need to unhook it from the clips to give you the slack you need. I don't think you can see the hooks so you just need to put your hand in there and feel for it.

Now that you mention it, I think I forgot to hook it back to the clips. Oh well...

So there is a clip at the back of the block I need to release the wires from? I have reached around to the back of the engine but didn't realize they were held secure by a clip. I will check it out again this evening after work. Thanks for the heads up.

[El Cheapo Loco]

Originally Posted by jlindsey86

So there is a clip at the back of the block I need to release the wires from? I have reached around to the back of the engine but didn't realize they were held secure by a clip. I will check it out again this evening after work. Thanks for the heads up.

I believe there are two clips if I remember correctly. They are like an open-ended loop. You just push the wire out of the loop.

[jlindsey86]

Originally Posted by El Cheapo Loco

I believe there are two clips if I remember correctly. They are like an open-ended loop. You just push the wire out of the loop.

I tried feeling on the back side of the engine and wasn't able to get the wires loose. I found a picture online of the back side of the engine. I have highlighted the wire that I need more slack from in order to move the ignition harness out of my way. Do those look like the clips you are talking about. It almost looks like the wires run though a bracket that is hard mounted to the engine.

[IMG][/IMG]

[El Cheapo Loco]

Move the wire in the sequence and direction as shown in my picture.

[jlindsey86]

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. For some reason I just was not able to unclip the wiring from the back side of the engine. I came across an old thread where another guy was having the same problem and he ended up disassembling the ignition wiring harness to get the valve cover off. This is what I ended up having to do. It provided just enough room to remove the cover. Thank God this is done. There was no reason a valve cover gasket should have been this big of a pain.

[jlindsey86]

One more question concerning this project. Does the magnesium cover have the breather connection that is prone to falling off during removal? I didn't see that it did nor did I see a rubber grommet laying in the head of the engine.

[El Cheapo Loco]

There is no connection inside the Mg valve cover like the plastic ones. You disconnect the breather hose from the outside and lift off the valve cover. All you have left are two orange gaskets, the perimeter one and the one on the spark plug wells. If you already have the cover out, you have done 70% of the work. Should be smooth sailing the rest of the way.