Sorry for not putting on an update sooner! I actually never did the repair. My biggest issue was passing smog here in California. I ended up using 10/30 (vs. 5/30) oil and an additive. The smoking disappeared completely and it passed smog. It was never a performance issue just smog; my minor leaks went away also. I am personally going to continue to use this approach and change the oil more frequently.

As far as the repair goes, the biggest challenge for me was finding a proper manual with specs etc. I have a bently manual but it is absolutely zero help. I posted on their site but no help was suggested. I also paid for a 24 hr subscription to bmwtechinfo.com and it was no help either. I figured about 1000.00 us dollars including the required special tools.

Good luck to anyone with this engine! Also if anyone has any sources for a manual I would appreciate info.