F46;
Go Ahead and pull the panel and the floor board to take a look and get some wiggle room, but you can probably get the flywheel off without doing it. It will allow you to clean and paint the panel before putting it back. The same goes for the floor board.
I pulled my flywheel by going through the transmission hole and the bottom of the bell housing. I bent the locks back, used a c-clamp to prevent the flywheel from turning and a breaker bar to loosen the bolts. You will have to manually turn the flywheel to get to each section of bolts. Your replacement will only go onto the alignment pins one way, I think. Mine did. Need some confirmation from the rest of you on this. I recommend cleaning, sanding and reconditioning the floor boards and the tranmission while you have them apart. It is a quick fix and is a visible sign of progress, gives you hope when things get to look overwhelming. My guess is your Transmission is OK. Don't be afraid to power wash anything. A clean undercarrage makes life a lot easier.
