Cam installation concerns

[ebida3]

I removed the chain then removed the crankshaft bolt. It was a bear. In fact I broke the hub doing so by bolting a piece of strap seal to two of the bolts. The early chain removal was a brainfart move and once I got the bolt off I had moved the cams, etc. Don't ask. I tortured myself for two hours trying to turn the crank back to TDC only to be meet by a valve. I tried moving a cam and the crank. There comes a time when you just gotta go forward.
So Realizing fourty nuts could stop this madness I pulled the cams. Now I moved the crank to the 45 degree OT mark and put the number one intake lobe straight up. The exhaust number two lobe straight up. On the left side I put the intake number eight lobe up and exhaust number six. If I messed up this writing it's because I'm working from memory. All cam caps restored to their respective perches and torqued to 10 lbs.
Is there anything I missed.

Actually if I rotate the crank to TDC and the number one pass cylinders valves are closed with the piston up I should be okay. Right?

[racer2086]

The ##1 cylinder cam lobes should be pointing 45 degrees toward each other.

Be sure the crank is at TDC and not 180 degrees out.

The writing on the end of the cams and the pilot holes on the cams should be facing upward 90 degrees to the plane of the head. The locking tools should fit on the back of the cams and sit flush on the head. Then you are timed.

[cazal740i]

the lobes on pn the cams on Bank2( driver side) have no significance in position as Bank 1`s lobes pointing at each other....As long as you have ALL 4 cams with the 1- 4 A and 5-8 E pointing 90 degrees upward..then your ok.. But to be safe?
Install the chain back on and rotate the crank about 4 times to TDC and see if it measures up and 2 if theres no interference.. If you have interference then I would say you have deep deep issues

[ebida3]

The book says to insure no interference to set crank at 45 and when installing follow which lobes should face up.
Now I bet when I do move the crankshaft to TDC the lobes will slightly face each other.
Cazal740i you are referring to the stamping on the cams. The stamping should be straight up on all four cams when the crankshaft is TDC?
Racer the lock blocks only fit two ways. The stamped side or the 180 of that side. It wont fit in the ground flats. Or the smooth flats.
But 90 degrees, where would they face towards the hood, left fender, right fender or ground?

The book says set crankshaft 45 degress opposite engine rotation while installing cams.

[cazal740i]

When at TDC 3 out of the 4 cam Ends should have the Stamped engraving at the ends. Only 1 will be off
That's bank 1 passenger side Intake cam.
You have to straighten out intake cam 1-4 With 27mm wrench to fit cam blocks

[racer2086]

Cazal has it. Those stampings will face straight up from the plane of the head, so imagine taking a ruler and sitting it on the gasket surface for the valve cover -- they should point up perpendicular (90 degrees) from that.

[PiotrC70]

When at TDC 3 out of the 4 cam Ends should have the Stamped engraving at the ends. Only 1 will be off
That's bank 1 passenger side Intake cam.
You have to straighten out intake cam 1-4 With 27mm wrench to fit cam blocks

Correct. And if I also recall, when I was trying to get the cam blocks in place, I had to wiggle one of the other cams with a 27mm because of how the cam sits on the lobe. As long as all the markings are facing up so you can read them, flywheel locking tool in place and crank at TDC, then you're good.

Also, word of advice because I got really lucky... when trying to torque the left threaded components like cam bolts & nut, test your torque wrench on a really light setting against a random bolt. Most torque wrenches ONLY torque CW and not CCW. You'll have to unscrew the head of your torque wrench and flip the head(really easy to do) and then it will become a left/CCW torque wrench.

[ebida3]

You guys are the best! Thank you all.

Okay I went up to BMW. I opened the door to the service dept employee entrance walked though the shop and approached two techs. I gave them ten bucks for lunch and this what they said...
The 45 OT mark is just for cam installation. It guarantees that when you install and tighten the cams there is no interference. Once installed you move the balancer to TDC and use the cam blocks. The pass number one cylinder gets the lobes, intake and exhaust at approximately 45 degress towards each other. The cams all have stamping on them. Only on one side of the cam boss. The 5-8 cams get locked down with the blocks with the same stamping straight up. Set VANOS install chains and turn engine twice to make sure all's well. He did say I could just slap the chain on now with the way the book says installation but he doesn't do it that way.
I got confused. I was thinking the 45 degree thing was timing, it's not it's just to insure no damage whilst installing cams.
There!

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Hadn't thought of that. Torque wrench is of coarse right handed.

[cazal740i]

You guys are the best! Thank you all.

Okay I went up to BMW. I opened the door to the service dept employee entrance walked though the shop and approached two techs. I gave them ten bucks for lunch and this what they said...
The 45 OT mark is just for cam installation. It guarantees that when you install and tighten the cams there is no interference. Once installed you move the balancer to TDC and use the cam blocks. The pass number one cylinder gets the lobes, intake and exhaust at approximately 45 degress towards each other. The cams all have stamping on them. Only on one side of the cam boss. The 5-8 cams get locked down with the blocks with the same stamping straight up. Set VANOS install chains and turn engine twice to make sure all's well. He did say I could just slap the chain on now with the way the book says installation but he doesn't do it that way.
I got confused. I was thinking the 45 degree thing was timing, it's not it's just to insure no damage whilst installing cams.
There!

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Hadn't thought of that. Torque wrench is of coarse right handed.
+1... I apologize.. I thought u knew the differences.... Yes..Cam alignment @45 degrees and Timing at TDC...
I still would rotate the crank still after chain is on JUst to make sure

[PiotrC70]

I still would rotate the crank still after chain is on JUst to make sure

Don't know if it's an e38 thing or V8 thing but on my Nissan (V6), I never had an issue rotating the crank 2 full revolutions to make sure there is no interference. On the e38 however, I felt a hard stop and had to loosen my spark plugs so I wasn't fighting the compression.

[robo740il]

+1. Loosen or remove the plugs to make the hand cranking a lot easier.