I'm replacing several steering components (tie rods, drag ink, steering damper, idler arm bushings) on my 1995 E320 coupe and ran into a problem: It looks like I can't remove the idler arm bolt because it will hit against the cat converter on exhaust pipe!

Is there anyway to remove this bolt without having to disassemble exhaust?

The manual doesn't say anything about having to remove the exhaust. I'm thinking of cutting the head off existing bolt and inserting the new one upside down so that the bolt head is under the idler arm and the nut is above it. If I do this I also could drill a small diameter hole in bolt above the nut to insert a cotter pin thru it to prevent bolt from falling out is somehow the nut lossens up.

Also, do I need a special tool to remove the bushings? The manual says I need the extractor (tool # 129 589 00 33 00) and the press-in tool (# 115 589 08 61 00). Is this absolutely necessary?

Any help/advice is appreciated!