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Hello, 1997 318ti. work will be performed in my home's garage, have metric wrenches sockets, Haynes and 3 series service manuals in the mail now, M44 engine (1.8l 4 cyl) Purchased extremely inexpensively with several issues.

First, when checking it, there was no heat from the heater but gauge was reading hot, and partway through diag, something on the firewall side of the engine blew (steam, coolant everywhere, etc). Shut off engine immediately. So I imagine the heater valve is bad, and a hose or one of the plastic fittings gave to pressure.

Towed home using a two wheeled Uhaul dolly (rear off the ground), now have a reasonably troubling oil leak, unknown origins. Also, the front sway bar, all mounting bolts are sheared/missing from the stabilizer supports (was like this before the tow). Sway bar just hanging there.

And there are the numerous little things: brakes, rotors, window issue, radio repair, spoiler off, etc.

For the repair of the coolant issue, my thoughts were to remove the upper intake manifold, and replace all hoses/components for coolant system, knock sensors, temp sensor, crank and cam position sensor, clean the injectors/replace the o-rings, water pump/thermostat. I will investigate the oil filter unit as the source of the leak and replace if needed.

I have 6 months to complete all repairs, will be doing them in steps starting with the engine issues, and will do most of the work myself (unless you think it is too much for someone that has never done it before)

Is this too much for a novice to do?

Am I missing anything in my parts list to replace while I have the manifold/fuel rail off the engine?

I appreciate any and all feedback that you have on this. Thanks!