Timing cover removal. M104
 

Any one know if I can remove the timing cover without removing the "engine hook"? The 5mm engine hook bolts won't budge even with leverage

Do you mean the 8 mm bolts holding the bracket for pulling the engine? Those bolts are 100 mm long and go though the front cover and into the head so they would need to be removed.

Yes, thanks. I may have stripped the heads. Mine have a 6mm Allen.

You can hammer a 12 point socket over the allen bolt it may loosen then

I tend to use a large flat nose punch to reform the inhex then hammer in the allen bit.

Hammering the head of the bolt also helps compress the part a bit and takes some of the tension off.

You can also hit the head 90* in a few places to walk the head around, this will break metal stiction.

As last resorts, use vise grips to turn the bolt or a chisel to spin the bolt.