E36 M3 Engine out - am I mad?

[benm3evo]

Hi all.

I have an E36 M3 Evo which I will be taking off the road soon(ish) for a year or so. While it's off the road I'm considering taking the engine out. The main reason for doing this is it runs perfectly fine but does have a few very minor niggling oil leaks that are a pain to get to but I'd like to sort out & then give the engine & bay a good clean up.

This would be done in the garage by me & my Dad (who is a mechanic by trade) with the aid of an engine crane. My question is is this a stupid idea? My Dad said he is willing to do it but I'm just concerned how difficult a job it is to do? Time taken would be no issue.

Does anyone have any experience of removing this engine at 'home' & could perhaps advise if it's a daft idea or not please?

Thanks, Ben.

[duff]

Might be some useful stuff here towards the bottom of the page:

http://mukerji.co.uk/category/m3evo/

[TheEnd]

It's not that bad actually, bumper and front panels off, and it'll slide forward.
Most of the companies that do engine work will do it that way (tilt and lift does work too).

[benm3evo]

Thanks for that mate, an interesting page.
Cheers

[benm3evo]

Yeah from the bit of research I'd done I figured taking as much of the front of the car off as possible was the best bet so that's the way I'd go.
Think we will give it a go then...unless someone suddenly comes up with some horror stories about it!
Cheers

[TheEnd]

I think the worst bit will be lining up the nose panel gaps afterwards.
If you can handle that, you'll handle anything.