Jobs that are normally easy, but on certain cars are horrible.

Wife has 2011 BMW 335xi (xdrive, whatever). Battery needs changing. The car is nice enough to tell me this. 

Steps to replace battery.

1. Remove trunk trim area covering battery.
2. Remove bracket that holds up trim area.
3. Remove negative battery cable using wrench.
4. Remove plugged in wiring going to power module on top of battery.
5. Open plastic cover to expose power module connection.
6. Remove power module connection using wrench.
7. Open plastic cover to expose positive battery cable connection.
8. Remove positive battery cable connection using wrench.
9. Spend 15 minutes undoing clips that lock onto either side of the battery that require you to shove a screwdriver into a small slot at just the right angle and push down. One of these clips is right up against the inner wall of the fender and so makes it extremely difficult to get anything into it.
10. Undo bottom bracket holding down battery.
11. Remove battery, replace with one that is exactly the same size or you are berkeleyed by the aforementioned clips.
12. Even though you got the right size battery spend another 15 minutes getting side clips back on properly.
13+ Repeat other steps in reverse.

Let's not even go into what you have to get to "register" the battery with the car, which IMO should just be something you can do from the iDrive menu.

Distributor cap on a 4-cylinder Fiero.

In a FWD application, the iron duke distributor is at the front of the engine bay.

Move that cradle to the back of the car and it ends up way down on the block, between the engine and the firewall. It's a bolt-down cap and you can't see and get your hand in there and see what you're doing at the same time so you have to do it by feel.

Good times.

Boxer engine spark plugs. 

Alterator on SC300..... since power steering leak continally kills them.

This may be considered as no big deal by some, but I really bruise up my left arm trying to reach the NB Miata oil filter.

Chrysler cloud cars put the battery behind the front bumper for some reason.

BMW E36s put the starter in a location that requires either removing the intake manifold or the transmission to change it. I've dealt with a lot of cars, from Chrysler slant sixes to V8s to Honda Civics, where you could just disconnect the battery and find some way to reach the starter directly.

MadScientistMatt said:

Chrysler cloud cars put the battery behind the front bumper for some reason.

I thought they included an access panel that made it easy to go in through the left fromt wheelwell after removing the wheel.

In regards to the BMW battery and having to program it, I didn't program my basic Autozone one for a good year and a half and only decided to finally program it myself because I was already programming something else.

Duke said:

MadScientistMatt said:

Chrysler cloud cars put the battery behind the front bumper for some reason.

I thought they included an access panel that made it easy to go in through the left fromt wheelwell after removing the wheel.

 

I always thought the Chrysler JA/JX bodies were easy. Once you pulled the left wheel and access panel everything was right there.  It was the LH bodies that had a top post battery on the right side behind the bumper were a pain. Had to take out the air filter box and pull the RF wheel to change them.

Floating Doc said:

This may be considered as no big deal by some, but I really bruise up my left arm trying to reach the NB Miata oil filter.

there is an app for that.

https://www.flyinmiata.com/fm-na-nb-oil-filter-relocation-kit.html

Water pump in a modern mini

Rear plugs on a fwd North Star 

fluid change in an X type transfer case. 
trasfer case swap in an x type. 

Changing out the turbo water cooling hose on a Mazdaspeed Miata. 

One of Santa's elves could probably get his hands into the space available to remove/replace the spring clips for this hose  but normal people need long handled needle-nose pliers and the ability to work by feel to reinstall this tiny, short hose.    This is after spending two weeks discovering that Mazda no longer stocks the hose but a modified water cooling  hose from a 2010 CX-7 turbo will work if you trim it properly.    

Alternator on a Saab NG900/OG9-3.

It's hidden under the intake manifold on the backside of the block, crammed between the engine and firewall, and held on with a bunch of Allen bolts that strip if you look at them wrong. Even if you manage to get it unbolted, good luck getting it out of that cavity.

I've never worked on one, but I have heard the GM LQ1 (3400 DOHC) timing belt procedure is infuriating.

Drivers side axle on 88-92 626/Mx6/Probe. Worst job on those cars. They never come out. 

mr2s2000elise said:

Boxer engine spark plugs. 

Just unbolt the motor mounts and get a jack under the engine and MUCH easier!!

Oil filter on a 3800 V6 GM.

Flywheel on an RX7.

Water pump on a 944.

Northstar starter.

Rear plugs on GM V6 FWD cars.

dean1484 said:

Water pump in a modern mini

Rear plugs on a fwd North Star 

fluid change in an X type transfer case. 
trasfer case swap in an x type. 

 

wasn't the starter in the N* in the valley between the heads?

Front swaybar on a mazda3/ms3/mz5. berkeley that noise. 

1uzfe starter. Same location as the north star. Ten times more gaskets to replace. 
 

Which GM product was it that required an eight hour day for a tech to change the front lightbulb?

dean1484 said:

Water pump in a modern mini

Rear plugs on a fwd North Star 

fluid change in an X type transfer case. 
trasfer case swap in an x type. 

 

Literally just did plugs on a northstar a few weeks ago and it wasn't hard at all. Rear plugs on a 3100 Malibu however are motherberkeleyer. #8 on an 4.6 2v SN95 with a 3 point strut bar is also mildly annoying.

Tune up on a late 90s+ 4.3 blazer/s10, oil change on a 15-18 Kia anything. 15+ bolts for a plastic under tray.   Oil change on a 2.2 (pre eco tech) cavalier 

Spark plugs on a 1999 Ford Expedition with a 5.4. I spent 8 hours on one one time. 

Cap (or rotor, or distributor) on a 4th gen LT1.

Tire rotation on anything that has lug bolts.

Fueled by Caffeine said:

Floating Doc said:

This may be considered as no big deal by some, but I really bruise up my left arm trying to reach the NB Miata oil filter.

there is an app for that.

 

https://www.flyinmiata.com/fm-na-nb-oil-filter-relocation-kit.html

I was expecting that. If I was changing it more often, I would consider it. I've put about 1000 miles on it since February.