I really appreciate all the advice! I'm on my way out right now to take a bunch of pics of the engine bay, drain some fluids and begin disconnecting everything.
Agreed on the nitrile gloves... they're great! Unfortunately I have 2 boxes of the crappy blue gloves right now... can't complain since they were free, but they seem to rip if you scratch your ass the wrong way... oh well.
The hoist is actually my neighbor's and as my car is conveniently in his backyard right now (where it will stay until it goes to scrap... I have a good neighbor :-), I have pretty unfettered use of it, so I'll probably hoist it out. He's also planning on putting a 2 lift garage back there in the not-too-distant future, so I'm going to hold off on making any big lift/hoist purchases for the time being... ha!
Anyway, if I have any issues, I'll be back. Otherwise I'll post some pics when I'm done.
Thanks again!
PS - just put up an ad parting out the car... let me know if you need anything.
http://www.bmw2002faq.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,50/page,viewtopic/p,628791/#628791