RRS 2.7 HSE Stornoway Grey
P38 4.6 HSE V8

Front and rear prop shafts off
Transfer case off
Gearbox being supported for now

Next steps, something like this...

Take starter motor off ? This enables to access TC bolts ? Take the four TC bolts out
Unbolt all surrounding bellhousing bolts and surrounding brackets ?
Do I need to prise the gearbox from the bellhousing back the way or will it drop down right away ?

 RRS 2.7 HSE Stornoway Grey
P38 4.6 HSE V8

Yeah

Remove plastic cap above the starter

Unbolt the exhaust cross over pipe bolts
Disconnect cooler fluid lines. 1 bolt

I assume you need to withdraw the gearbox

Contraption set-up to pull out and drop gearbox, the gearbox has came away from the engine by few inches, question is where should I support the engine about, I think I screwed up by not chalking up the engine first, how do I know the gearbox has actually safely cleared the engine, is there a spline sticking out the engine or gearbox ?

 RRS 2.7 HSE Stornoway Grey
P38 4.6 HSE V8

I think you need at least 6 inches gap.

I don’t know if the 4 bolts are what connects the drive or if there is a spline too.

Recommend you watch the bmw video

Some typos in your question so don’t fully understand.

Should be no need to support the engine

Ok thanks Andy I'm just about to give it another go  RRS 2.7 HSE Stornoway Grey
P38 4.6 HSE V8

Gearbox is out now. It is a 500570 model, do I strictly have to swap like for like ? As I do see 500460 on other similar aged gearboxes, on eBay ?

Just asking but there is a bit of play in the shaft of the gearbox, I take it that’s not good? Should there be no wiggle room in these or should I expect minimal movement on any 2nd hand gearbox ?

 RRS 2.7 HSE Stornoway Grey
P38 4.6 HSE V8

Well done

I don’t know sorry

Thanks Andy, was a relief to get it on the ground

Any idea if I need to program the car to any other replacement gearbox ?
 RRS 2.7 HSE Stornoway Grey
P38 4.6 HSE V8

Yes. Can be done with iid and support from pat at gap

Superb thanks Andy  RRS 2.7 HSE Stornoway Grey
P38 4.6 HSE V8

Putting things back together now....

TC is now bolted to the flywheel.

Should I bolt the exhaust bracket to the gearbox first before fitting the gearbox or bolt the bracket to the exhaust then lift the gearbox up and fit.

You'll see from my question that I'm just trying to figure out the best way to put it all back together with the least hassle. As I know there is not much room up there, so if I can figure out the small things, then it should give me a better chance.

 RRS 2.7 HSE Stornoway Grey
P38 4.6 HSE V8

Sorry. I’ve not done it before.

I think I would loosy bolt to the exhaust so it doesn’t get forgot

Don’t you need to align the Tc with the gearbox ? Not sure.
See if there is a location thing using the old Tc

Thanks Andy

Yes there's a female key/locator notched out the TC and a male key is located on the gearbox itself, hopefully that's what you mean ?

I was hoping that the gearbox would fit into the female locator on the TC when the gearbox is mated up to the bellhousing.

I had marked the position of the flywheel and bellhousing when the gearbox was dropped, my plan was to turn the flywheel back to this mark, good or bad idea ?

Is that what you mean by alignment ? And is there a very specific way it has to be done ?

 RRS 2.7 HSE Stornoway Grey
P38 4.6 HSE V8

That’s fine. Sounds like you have it covered