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      03-08-2010, 11:11 PM   #1
smidley
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How to: Replace Starter and Solenoid Switch on a 2003 2.5i

2003 BMW Z4 2.5i Starter and starter solenoid switch replacement guide.

This will take you probably about 2 hours to get everything disconnected and then reconnected.

First, disconnect the battery.



Some people say to remove the air intake filter box and pipe. This is not neccisary, but I do recommend it because it gives a little additional working room. I did this first by unbolting the two airbox bolts and disconnecting the sensor.







Next there are two large torx style bolts that need to be removed. These are the ones that connect the Starter to the bell housing of the transmission. They are 10mm.


This picture shows 3, but you only need to remove two. When you look at them, it will be obvious which ones you need to take out.

Next you will need to remove the starter from the bell housing. It needs to slide towards the front of the car. You will probably need to tap on it near where it makes a seal with a flat head screw driver or something else that will break the seal. Be careful though not to use something too sharp on a flat surface of it. It's made of aluminum and you can damage it fairly easily. Once you have the seal broken, pull towards the front of the car and wiggle a little. It shouldn't be too hard to remove it all the way. Try pulling a little on the attached wires to give some slack as there isn't very much.



Once the starter is removed, you will need to disconnect the cables from the solenoid switch that is attached to the starter. There is one positive cable coming from the battery (where you would jump the car under the hood), and on positive cable from the starter to the alternator. There will also be two small black cables that need to be removed. The two positive cables are secured with a 13mm nut. One of the small black cables is secured with an 8mm nut and the other is secured with a 10mm nut. Remember or take note of where each of these is connected.





Once these are removed, you can lift the starter up and out of the engine bay.









To install the new starter, just follow these steps in reverse order.

Here's an image of the inside of the bell housing that it fits in.



Have fun!
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      12-14-2011, 10:27 AM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by smidley View Post
2003 BMW Z4 2.5i Starter and starter solenoid switch replacement guide.

This will take you probably about 2 hours to get everything disconnected and then reconnected.

First, disconnect the battery.



Some people say to remove the air intake filter box and pipe. This is not neccisary, but I do recommend it because it gives a little additional working room. I did this first by unbolting the two airbox bolts and disconnecting the sensor.







Next there are two large torx style bolts that need to be removed. These are the ones that connect the Starter to the bell housing of the transmission. They are 10mm.


This picture shows 3, but you only need to remove two. When you look at them, it will be obvious which ones you need to take out.

Next you will need to remove the starter from the bell housing. It needs to slide towards the front of the car. You will probably need to tap on it near where it makes a seal with a flat head screw driver or something else that will break the seal. Be careful though not to use something too sharp on a flat surface of it. It's made of aluminum and you can damage it fairly easily. Once you have the seal broken, pull towards the front of the car and wiggle a little. It shouldn't be too hard to remove it all the way. Try pulling a little on the attached wires to give some slack as there isn't very much.



Once the starter is removed, you will need to disconnect the cables from the solenoid switch that is attached to the starter. There is one positive cable coming from the battery (where you would jump the car under the hood), and on positive cable from the starter to the alternator. There will also be two small black cables that need to be removed. The two positive cables are secured with a 13mm nut. One of the small black cables is secured with an 8mm nut and the other is secured with a 10mm nut. Remember or take note of where each of these is connected.





Once these are removed, you can lift the starter up and out of the engine bay.









To install the new starter, just follow these steps in reverse order.

Here's an image of the inside of the bell housing that it fits in.



Have fun!
Hi I am about to work on this project this weekend hope you can help. Thank in advance
I was looking for the tools to remove the 2 screws that hold the starter but was a little confuse. Do you mean those screws are E10 or 10mm.
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      03-14-2015, 01:17 PM   #3
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Excellent write up; helped me a lot changing the starter in my Z4.

Just wanted to share some more details for those who run into starting problems.

Car: 2004 Z4 3.0i manual sport

Car would show no sign of cranking but all ignition lights, radio seemed fine. To rule out battery, I tried jumping the car but same thing. Next I wasted $75 on the ignition switch as there are reports suggesting that could be worn out but that wasn't bad in my case. Next, took a hammer and tapped on the starter solenoid (yes I should have done that before I changed the ignition switch) and that tapping brought back some life to the starter but it sounded really sick!

I ordered the Bosch Starter SR0448N for around $140 from Amazon plus a External Torx Socket E12 to open the bolts that hold the starter to the bell housing.

My model had the sound generator pipe which was easily removed, it's held in place with a metal clip on the bottom side.

Also, another difference I noticed was that my starter solenoid only had one black cable attached to the bottom terminal. So, two red cables to the middle terminal and one black to the lower.

I would recommend using a ratchet with a flexible head otherwise it will be a lot of struggle to get a good grip on those two torx bolts.

Thanks for the author for this DIY post!
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      08-26-2015, 10:40 PM   #4
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okay so first off i have to say i succeeded and thanks for this thread.

now the bad. this was the single hardest thing in car maintenance/modding i've ever done and i'm not sure if it was just harder on the 3.0 or what, but it took me about 2 and a half hours and a lot of sweat, some blood, well lots of lost blood from the 25+ mosquito bites (these are the ones i cared to count on my chest and back, a few bruises, cuts and scratches, and some very sore spots.

if i had to do it again i don't think i would, but i think i could do it in about 90 mins maybe.

if there was just a little more slack in the two positive wires connected to the starter i think it would have made the entire process much much easier. since there wasn't i had to dry hump, well actually i was extremely sweaty since it was 90 degrees and about 99% humidity in my car port in front of the ocean, basically i was on my belly on the engine block for about an hour (the majority of the work) loosening, removing, and replacing the starter.

car is all good now so after i heal in a day or two i think it will be all good. it took me all my strength and multiple tries to loosen the left side torx bolt. i finally just sprayed it with some wd40 and worked it back and forth until it finally broke loose.
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      08-28-2015, 03:00 PM   #5
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I found removing the manifold made it much easier
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      08-28-2015, 03:22 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 3002 tii View Post
I found removing the manifold made it much easier
Yup, I had my IM off last winter, (albeit an M54)saw the starter and had thoughts of swapping it out while I was in there. Decided against it at that time
Much easier to do I would imagine.
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      07-05-2016, 01:58 AM   #7
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Great thread. The procedure is simple and can be done without removing anything else in the engine bay. On my 2004 Z4 2.5 there is just one black wire, not two. The starter, while fixed with two hex bolts, is also supported by a third steering pin which is a very tight fit and makes the starter hard to remove and put in. Also, get a small ratchet wrench (stubby or similar) as the space is very tight.
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      07-27-2020, 03:14 AM   #8
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Just in the process of changing mine out after it died, I didn't remove the air box there is enough room to get it out without removing anything else. Battery negative removed the red power cables were removed and the signal wire from ignition removed. Torx bolts holding the motor to the bell housing were removed using a Torx ring spanner, not enough room to get a socket ratchet head on them. A 10mm ring spanner will fit on these but I prefer the correct torx spanner for a better fit on the bolt heads. Once they were wound out and removed a few clouts with an alloy headed hammer freed the motor and it was easy to wigggle it out of the car. Bench test revealed it was totally dead, new one on order from Carparts4less a UK online car part supplier, will have to send old one back as there is a surcharge on the new item. Just under £50 without the surcharge.
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      10-13-2020, 08:42 AM   #9
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Thanks for the great write up! Changed mine yesterday in about an hour! $121 for a reman starter and I'm good for a while. Car fires right up now!
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