BMW Repair: oil pan replacement, chilton manual, shock towers

Question
hi there

Couple of weeks ago I hit a rock and to a big chunk out the oil pan on my 89 325i

I bought another oil pan from eBay and started taking everything out of the way to get the old oil pan out and at the same time the car was due for a new timing belt and water pump.

I got the saw bar out of the way but I am nit sure how to get the steering rack out because it is in the way the pan won’t move  

Do I need to lift the engine and if I do where and what would be the proper procedure to do that

thank you

Answer
Hani, Never done an oil pan on an M20 motor. Question is better off posed to one of the older experts. Sorry I took so long to respond. Most of our vehicles we use a devise that we call a cradle to hold the engine from on top of the engine bay while we lower the subframe. The devise spans the shock towers and we hook a chain to the front of the motor and hang it. We remove the motor mount bolts and steering column shaft from the rack. This lowers the subframe far enough to snake the oil pan out. Again I've never done it on your chassis or motor. I would also pick up a bentley or chilton manual.
-Evan