Ok so make no mistake this job is horrible. however, with some patience and a lot of luck it can be done!
the best vid i saw was on you tube of some american folks that had cut away the roof to show the technique in action. follow it religiously and you will achieve great things
the trickiest part for me was actually re-fitting the hinge clips...
whilst i was there i fixed the loom serving te high level brakelight as it was not working. one of the wires had severed so i jointed it and heatshrank it and then wrapped the whole lot in tesa fabric tape
best place to buy the parts is atp - berlin based motor factors selling through ebay. a set of the correct spec and model stabilus dampers (oe supplier to bmw) is less than 90 inc shipping. much much more if you go the bmw route.
other than a set of pry bars you wont need much else.
on removing the old parts both the sprung dampers for the tailgate had snapped. the struts for the glass were serviceable but i didnt want to be doing a repeat procedure!
E39 touring bootlid/glass struts DIY
E39 touring bootlid/glass struts DIY
Porsche 997.1 GT3 CS I Alpina E46 B3s Coupe I Alpina E46 B3 3.3 Touring I Ducati 749S Mono I Ducati 748R I Ducati 749 Track Bike I Ducati 916S