The BMW 525i, apart from being a reliable, luxurious car to drive, has got its share of quirks. If you find yourself needing to repair BMW's mid size luxury car yourself, it pays to have a repair manual nearby, as well as a fearless heart. While German cars are among the most well engineered cars in the world, they are also some of the most difficult to service. Removing the head of a BMW 525i, thankfully, is one of the easiest services to perform on a BMW, this side of an oil change.
Remove the fuel pump fuse by first starting the car, and then removing the fuse. Remove the ground wire from the battery, drain the coolant system, then jack up the front of the car and place the jack stands under the frame. Remove the hood to gain the best possible clearance to the head and set it aside.
Remove the bolts which hold the exhaust manifold to the engine, but do not remove the manifold itself. Lower the car to the ground then to more easily access the engine. Remove the air filter and hose, plastic timing belt cover, oil dipstick tube, and the throttle body.
Disconnect the fuel lines and the throttle position sensor, then remove the heater hose and the upper coolant hose. The removal of these parts will open a path to the car's head.
Use the socket set to remove the head slowly, removing one bolt at a time. Remove the bolts from the center outward to help avoid any potential problems with warping the head. To replace the head gasket, clean the old gasket material completely from the block and the head, making certain to avoid gouging the metal or dropping anything into the cylinders of the engine. Replacement of the parts is the opposite of removal.
