Exhaust manifold nuts suck

[bimmerbumm193]

Do you have to remove the whole exhaust manifold to replace the manifold to midpipe studs? (M52 328i) I am assuming they are pressed in and splined (and rusted fast).

Man i fucin hate those nuts, i got two off, two studs sheared and i stripped two nuts.

I guess i have to cut the remaining two studs off.

I have gotten those bastards off on 3 other e36s, these nuts were the rustyist.

[flyfishvt]

I just crawled underneath with a dremel, cut the broken ones off and drilled them out, Now I have bolts instead of studs. I prefer the bolts. They're easier to deal with and replace in the future.

[TCarlisle]

I dremeled mine off to, but didn't have much luck drilling out the remainder of the studs. I had to remove exhaust manifolds and take to a shop where they had acetylene (sp?) to get the studs out.

I didn't replace the studs either. Galvanized bolts work fine. Makure sure you use galvanzied. I have had these nuts/bolts/washers in for 2 years now and they have not rusted up.