<E36> Screws in Backwards

[austin wood <awood@xxxxxxxx>]

Hello, I had a little accident with a pot hole, and my lower engine=20
cover ripped off.  I thought no big deal, I'll just go to the parts=20
store and pick up a new one (Boy was I wrong!).  When I investigated=20=

the damaged further, I noticed that not only the cover broke off, but=20=

the piece it screws into.  To get this piece out is quite a job. So, I=20=

had to remove the bumper to get to this piece.  I also needed to=20
remove the front panel, but the side retaining screws holding it in=20
were placed in backwards by my mechanic (You would think for $71/hour=20=

you could put some screws in right!).  If you have the Bently Service=20=

manual for the 1992-1998 3 series cars, you can see a picture of these=20=

screws on page 510-8 figure 19.  The only way I could get the piece=20
out that I needed to remove was by breaking it.  So when I got the=20
piece out I was able to get the screws out that were on the passenger=20=

side (So the screws in the picture are not exactly the ones I'm having=20=

trouble with).  However, I am still unable to get the screws out that=20=

are on the drivers side (If you look at figure 18 on the same page, I=20=

am talking about the B, side retaining screws).  Can someone tell me=20=

how to get these out?  I've tried gripping the backside of the screws=20=

with channel locks, but to no avail.

Any help is appeciated.
- -austin wood =20

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