Need Engineering advice on Camshaft removal (without BMW factory tool)...

[Wayne@PelicanParts]

Hi everyone. I've got a thread going on over on the Pelican side of things, where I'm trying to figure out how to devise a procedure to remove the camshafts without using the $1200 tool.

Here's the thread here:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showt...threadid=93194

I'm posting this on a bunch of other sites too, in an attempt to find someone who has done this before.

Many thanks,

Wayne

[joe325i]

sorry this is a litte OT
whats involved with removing the head???
is it extremely difficult?
what do you do if you knock the cams out of the position they were in? will that throw the timing of?

[Wayne@PelicanParts]

The head removal is not that difficult - I wil have a tech article on this whole procedure when I'm done. I will tell you that it's not difficult - only if you know what to do and what goes where. We all have a Bentley manual, but particularly in this case, the manual leaves out a lot of little steps (like how to get the intake manifold off without disconnecting EVERYTHING!

Not too difficult. I would recommend the TDC tool, the camshaft timing tool, the chain tensioner holding tool, and the fan belt tool. These are about $200 (I think), and well worth it. Plus you can always resell them on eBay if you're not going to do anything with them again.

To answer your question, the cams are aligned with a special alignment tool, which locks them into place when you reassemble them. I would not attempt to reinstall the camshafts without this tool...

Hope this answers your questions...

-Wayne

[Jgent]

First I know nothing about cam shaft removal in the M3 other than I would be better off paying someone to do it.

However, BMP sells a camshaft removal/installation tool kit. If I remember correctly they want something like $267 for it.

Don't know if this helps, but might be worth looking into.

[kiley_sean]

The valvetrain is the next step that I wish to understand more. I applaud your effort on finding a more realistic way of changing out the cam shafts, and hope this happens. This will help out alot of us DIY guys.

Good luck,
Kiley

[jsp98m3]

Step 1. Borror tool from Dealer or rent factory tool from Koala Motorsport

Step 2. Have local machine shop copy it for $175

Step 3. Sell to local shop for $250

Step 4. Repeat until market is saturated.

Doing the camshaft install into the head and replacing it without the tool or a close approximatino of it has it's problems. On some cars you have room to get the head onto the block pretty easily. On most BMWs there is a bit of a clearance issue and unless you are pretty tall and have really good upper body strength, it's difficult to do in one fluid motion because it has to tuck under the firewall and wiring chase area. So all of the times I've seen it done it's taken two guys (don't wannna drop it) and two steps to get it in. Lots of room to shift the cams.

What makes the tool so nice is that you can't put the tool onto the cams before removal unless the motor is at TDC on #1 as it should be. This ensures that all is aligned (remember to pin the flywheel) before you pull the head out. And then having the tool installed on the cams at reinsertion checks to ensure that alignment is again correct. Cool tool but not anything that can't be copied. I know of two or three copies of the original tool floating around San Diego. Just remember to always make copies from the original and not clone a clone as the tolerances start making the things a bit sloppy.

[Wayne@PelicanParts]

Right-o Jim. I have locked the flywheel into place, and that head with the cams on it is WAY heavy. I'm no Ahhrrnold, but I was able to remove the head in one swoop. Although my back is hurting slightly.

Okay, I do have some news. I was able to safely remove the cams from the heads without cracking them, using both methods of removal. The first one involved the use of the rope located inbetween the valve and the seat on two valves that relieved the pressure. This worked really well. A few even strokes on each nut, and the cam came right off.

The second method involved me putting the cam so that the number one cylinder was the only lobe under pressure. Then I removed all of the other cam caps. Then I started to remove the one under pressure. One thing I forgot is to hold the cam and stop it from spinning. It did spin and cock the cam, but since it wasn't held in with the other caps, it did not crack. The solution? Have a helper hold the cam while you are loosening it.

I'm trying to come up with a plan to remove and install the cam without taking off the head, and without breaking the cam. This seems like it will work - we'll try the install when the head comes back from the shop.

Here is a link to the photos:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showt...threadid=93628

Enjoy!

-Wayne