No idea why you would pull the engine to do either of those jobs.
The X5 has more room in front than an e39 or e38 with an m62 and no one removes the engine in those either.

If you really want more space you can remove the radiator support, front fan, condenser, trans cooler, etc but that is going to require ALOT of unnecessary work and recharging your AC after the job is done. You mention doing the VC's as if its a separate job even though you have to remove them to lock the cams. Remove the cooling system and go at it.

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