How to change a starter motor (4 cylinders engine)

UK forum for general and technical discussion about the Z3 roadster
Post Reply
Pierrick
Joined: Fri 31 Aug, 2012 22:47
Posts: 484

  Z3 roadster 1.9

How to change a starter motor (4 cylinders engine)

Post by Pierrick »

Hi everyone, I had to change my starter motor a few weeks ago, so I took some picture and for those who don’t know how to do it, here is a little help !
My car is a 1997 Z3 1.9L, M44 but I think this is the same on all 4 cylinders engines.

So, to start you will need some tools and a new starter !!
Tools are spanners (size 8, 10 and 13) for the wires. And a female torx socket size “E12” for the mounting bolts.

Image
The access to the mounting bolts is not easy so I’ll advise you to get a ratchet with the smaller head you can find. I had some trouble because the head of my ratchet was too big and I had to use other tools to do the job.
On the picture bellow we can see the tools I used:
Image

And here is the assembly which was the most helpful :
Image

So, here is a general view of the engine bay, the starter is on the right side :
Image

We only need to remove the oil stick holder and we have an easy access:
Image

To remove it you only need to unbolt a nut using a size 13 spanner and pull the holder. As soon it’s done, plug the hole with something to avoid anything to fall into the engine oil.
Image

Now we can start to work on the starter.
Image

Now unbolt the two mounting bolts:
Image

You managed to undo the two mounting bolts: Congratulations!
It’s now time to celebrate with the drink of your choice (it will be a beer for me…) but first unplug your battery, the alarm should ring for about a minute so go away and enjoy your drink!

Now the alarm is off, you can undo the three cables at the back of the starter starting by the biggest. The other two are not easy to access; you may need to rotate the starter to have a better access.
It’s easy to lose one of these nuts deep in the engine bay so to prevent this I used a piece of cloth that I put underneath the starter while working on it… just in case!
Image

You may have some trouble to remove the starter from his location. It’s because there is a locating pin which can be a bit rusty and hold the starter in place
Image

By using a hammer and a screwdriver you should be able to remove it whithout to much trouble, a bit of WD40 might help…
Image

Job done.
After all this you should have no trouble to put everything back together with of course a new starter.

Mountings torques are :
Size 8 nut : 5 Nm, size 10 : 7 Nm, size 13 : 13 Nm.
Starter mounting bolts : 47 Nm.

Good luck.
Hope it’s help.
Pierrick
Joined: Fri 31 Aug, 2012 22:47
Posts: 484

  Z3 roadster 1.9

Re: How to change a starter motor (4 cylinders engine)

Post by Pierrick »

My engilsh (and machanical knowleges) are far to be parfect... so if any moderator sees a mistake, feel free to modify it...
User avatar
colb
Joined: Sat 05 May, 2012 22:46
Posts: 690

  Z3 roadster 1.8 TU
Location: Newport South Wales UK

Re: How to change a starter motor (4 cylinders engine)

Post by colb »

Excellent write up and very good pictures well done and thanks, one for the z3 knowledge base I think.

Colb
Colb
1999 BMW 1.8 Z3
2003 BMW 2.5 Z4
1998 Honda Deauville NT650V
Pierrick
Joined: Fri 31 Aug, 2012 22:47
Posts: 484

  Z3 roadster 1.9

Re: How to change a starter motor (4 cylinders engine)

Post by Pierrick »

Hi all, I havent been very active in here for the last few years...

I have noticed that all photos from this topic are gone.

If a moderator has some time in hand I can forward then to him so he can spend a bit of time to upload them again.

Thanks.
Post Reply