What is the best way to remove the Half Shafts.
I stopped by the BMW house to get parts for "other car" and asked a tech. They said they use an air hammer. I don't have one(but may be forced to get one) so is there another way?

aldedmon,
Which model car? On my 82 W123 body I did not need any pneumatics to replace my axel shafts.

Rick

half Shaft Removal
 

1992 400e 124 body

What is the best way to remove the Half Shafts.
I stopped by the BMW house to get parts for "other car" and asked a tech. They said they use an air hammer. I don't have one(but may be forced to get one) so is there another way?

I would not recomend using any pnematic tool removing the half shafts, in my humble opinion. There is probably a fair amount of crud in the cavity of those pesky cv joint fastners. Mine are 'triple square' fastner heads which strip very easily if the tool isnt firmly and deeply in the hole. I have seen many with a built in 'loctite' goop on the threads that could slow ya down some.

My advice, clean the fastner heads well,make sure the tool is in all the way, make sure perfectly aligned with tool, go slowly and you may not strip any.

Those six capscrews all come with factory applied "locktite" and can be difficult to get out. Certainly flush out the central cavities before trying to remove them, use a new tool...but..you still may have trouble getting the ratchet into a good enough position to get enough leverage applied to get them moving w/o stripping out the shoulders in the cavity. I have had good success with an impact hammer on these fasteners. Have never had one strip out. It may seem to be a rather unelegant way to do it, but it's quick and it works.

Done
 

Thanks for all who contributed.
Actually it was the only the spindle that I needed to remove.
I first tried a "2 Jaw " puller to no avail, but was able to get it out with the use of (GASP!) an air hammer. The vidrating affect of the tool backed the spindle out very VERY easily.(less than 10 secs per side)