M103 Starter Motor

I do wish I could win the lottery and start my own garage, I was sure before drafting you this reply, that the starter motor sat on the off side, but checking against the EPC; I stand corrected, it sits on the near side.

Not having my hand in the trade, I amaze myself on the amount I am forgetting.

Any how, your best bet to remove the starter, is to work from underneath the vehicle but use long extension bars with uj sockets or adaptors.  Do prop your vehicle using appropriate axle stands and work to health and safety requirements, if you can not, let a professional garage do the work.

As a measure, if you think your starter is difficult to remove, you want to try and remove one from a G400 Diesel.

Good luck,

What a pain! But as Rakesh says with long extensions (the wobbly type) you can get to the 2 bolts from below the car, and then removing the oil temperature sender (I think that's what it is, it is basically the bit right next to the oil filter housing) gives you just enough space to pull it up from above (at least it did in my case). I think I also disconnected the heavy gauge lines from it to make removal easier. Btw. this is an excellent upper and lower arm workout ;-)

You might spill a tiny bit of oil in the process, but I certainly didn't need to get the manifold off, maybe just the support that sits below it (you can feel around for the screws that hold it on).