@cabdolla I took me about a day to get the head off, then another day to reinstall. The machine shop took a couple of days to rebuild and plane the head. So for me it was just under a four days, but If you have a new head all laid out it can be done much quicker.
@cabdolla I removed the radiator for a little extra wiggle room, but I didn't bother flushing it. The VANOS unit was a bit of a trick. Convincing that double helix sprocket on the end of the unit, to go into the camshaft took me a while. I actually found it helped a little to take apart the VANOS unit just to get a feel for how it works, that helped a little when reinstalling. As long as you have the correct tools for turing and holding the cams, it just takes patients.
why did you replace the head gasket?
did you resurface anything?
idusclothing 3 months ago
@idusclothing The head gasket developed a leak next to the exhaust manifold and started to make a little steam.
I just resurfaced head, left the block untouched and it worked like a charm.
kaoshonen 3 months ago
@kaoshonen I am in this process now. My head was cracked so I had to get a used one. Comes in next week, hope it runs as well as yours does!
idusclothing 3 months ago
Star to finish, what was the time this job took?
cabdolla 8 months ago
@cabdolla I took me about a day to get the head off, then another day to reinstall. The machine shop took a couple of days to rebuild and plane the head. So for me it was just under a four days, but If you have a new head all laid out it can be done much quicker.
kaoshonen 8 months ago
@kaoshonen How hard was it to get the VANOS timing back correct? Did you also have to take out/flush the radiator?
cabdolla 8 months ago
@cabdolla I removed the radiator for a little extra wiggle room, but I didn't bother flushing it. The VANOS unit was a bit of a trick. Convincing that double helix sprocket on the end of the unit, to go into the camshaft took me a while. I actually found it helped a little to take apart the VANOS unit just to get a feel for how it works, that helped a little when reinstalling. As long as you have the correct tools for turing and holding the cams, it just takes patients.
kaoshonen 8 months ago
How hard was it to change?
Nazgul001 1 year ago
@Nazgul001 It was a tough job, I spent about $300 in special BMW tools alone . It was worth it though, you learn a lot about how the engine works.
It's well documented too, so it can be done at home.
kaoshonen 1 year ago