e46 330Ci convertible exhaust take off

[curry]

Yes I know it's a bad thread description. I'm changing out a drivers side rear wheel bearing and have come up with some issues. I have to drop the exhaust system to remove the half shaft. How much of the exhaust system do I need to remove to get enough room to remove the half shaft? This is complicated by having a Dinan exhaust. I've done this job on e34s and e36s. The convertible has many more frame supports than other models, but they seem to come off easily. All the You Tube videos on this job I've found are on the passenger side with no exhaust system. Will I have to remove everything behind the exhaust manifold or can I split the system behind the Cat. The bearing job itself is straight forward, but I need to remove the exhaust or at least some of it.

If anyone here has done this particular job please let me know how you did it. I'm not too bad with a wrench, but the Bentley book is rather weak on convertibles. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Please.

[dworthy]

Normally all you need to do is just drop the muffler from it's mounts, and use a strap to support it. I like to take a strap around the tail pipes, and throw the rest into the trunk, then close it to keep it from hanging too low.

Now on some of those replacement mufflers, you can just remove the clamps and pull it off the mid pipes.

[curry]

Thanks for the comment. I've got the muffler clamps loose, but the pipes don't move out of the way. They did on my e36. I'm wondring if there are issues because it is a Dinan exhaust, but Dinan doesn't answer my emails or phone calls. I sure don't want to cut anything. I'll be back under the car today.

Normally all you need to do is just drop the muffler from it's mounts, and use a strap to support it. I like to take a strap around the tail pipes, and throw the rest into the trunk, then close it to keep it from hanging too low.

Now on some of those replacement mufflers, you can just remove the clamps and pull it off the mid pipes.

[dworthy]

Well if it has been on there for a long time, you may need to use a rubber mallet to "loosen" it up. Otherwise, just drop it down and support it so you get enough room to slide out the half-shaft. Also since you live where they love to salt the roads, I would recommend replacing the backing plate as well.

I have family that live in/around Portland.

[curry]

I live near the town of Sandy. Luckily we don't salt roads here. That's a great help. However some people want to start using salt. They'll regret it if we do. I much prefer working on cars that aren't rusty. Thanks for your info.

[dworthy]

Then consider you and your car's lucky! The Germans here use it whenever the temp gets below freezing, snow or no snow, they are out with the salt trucks.

[curry]

I've been all over southern Germany, but only ing the summer. I'll be in Munich in a couple of weeks. We will be visiting my wife's family in Croatia. Will probably drop in on the Oktoberfest too. We haven't been to that since 1985. I bought a car once from Chicago. It was a Datsun 240Z. I've never bought a car from a place that uses salt since then.

[dworthy]

The last time I was at Oktoberfest was in 89' and I don't plan on going back. Too many Auslanders, and the beer is just way too expensive now... lol

Croatia is always a nice place to visit, it has been a couple of years since I was last there, the people are very friendly.

[curry]

Thanks for all your help. I got it to drop enough and the bearing is replaced.

[curry]

Thanks for all your help. I got it to drop enough and the bearing is replaced.

[curry]

oops

[dworthy]

Sometimes the system double posts.

Again, no problems, I like to help out when I can