Got the passenger side manifold off! But crikey, what an ordeal.
Ground down an already-thin-wall socket, to fit into the recess, thinking that it was 12 outer hex in there.
https://www.rs6.com/attachment.php?a...id=19017&stc=1
Only to find that it is not a 12mm outer hex. It's 13mm. No way is a 13mm socket getting in there (it would have to be ground so much that the integrity of the socket would break at the slightest bit of torque).
So what's a lad to do? A 7mm hex just turns freely in the inner hex.
So, I took an 8mm hex, ground off the end-bevels (to give it a more aggressive bite). ever-so-slightly ground off .5mm off each flat side of the shank and hammered it in.
https://www.rs6.com/attachment.php?a...id=19018&stc=1
And, got the little bugger out.
So with the manifold off, I could then get to repositioning the turbo oil line so that it would not interfere with the starter.
Q: The image below shows how I have bent the bracket 90 degrees moving the oil line position from where it had been (shown by yellow circle) to its new position (red circle). By doing so, I have moved it very close to the manifold - it's hard to see, but there is about a 1 to 2mm gap between the line and the manifold. Could this become an issue? (I'm worried about heat exchange from the manifold). Before moving/bending the oil line it was running with about 5mm clearance.
https://www.rs6.com/attachment.php?a...id=19019&stc=1
And then as it comes around the front, it is just kisses the manifold (whereas, before bending, it had about 3mm clearance).
https://www.rs6.com/attachment.php?a...id=19020&stc=1
I do like getting it well away from the starter solenoid - but I am a little worried about heat induction from the manifold into the oil line (although, to what extent that it be greater than what it was before - I don't know). Or, am I just overthinking all of this?