If I were to guess is your car made by GM, I had to do that on both a Malibu and Colorado. The Colorado needed me to take the air intake off but it was not that difficult.

Had to replace the starter on my moms Toyota sequoia. Idk if it's a common design on V8, but I had to take the manifold off just to get access. Read every that I should replace the knock sensors while I'm in there. Didn't. 2 months later, check engine light for one of the sensors. FML