Time for some work...

[David.X5]

Simple Green does work, but needs agitation to be effective. It also needs to be rinsed with water, so this time of year that might be challenging. If you leave it on the car, it will etch and discolor aluminum.

I use the foamy engine degreaser from the auto part store. Collected as much as I could in my oil catch pan and dropped it off on one of those household hazardous roundup days.

[weiln12]

@TECN1K - OK, just reviewed the procedures for doing the beisan seals and yeah, that doesn't look like fun AT ALL. I may do the DrVanos instead. That brings up another question. DrVanos has two options, either buy them up front and get refunded when your core gets there, or send them in for rebuild. From reviewing everything, if I buy them then either GAS kit works. If I send them in, I need to lock everything in place on both heads at once which means I would need the Master Kit to do both VANOS at the same time. Is this correct?

Second question, I'm assuming the "Jesus" bolt needs to come out for the timing chain guides? The procedures on Beisan didn't mention even removing the lower timing chain cover I don't think. So then my question is, will the GAS master kit work for the timing chain guides, or is there another kit somewhere I need to replace the timing chain guides in addition to the Pro/Master Kit?

[TECN1K]

I bought them and sent back my cores - much faster turn around, and you won't need the master kit.

[weiln12]

@TECN1K - OK, so then I could just use the pro kit and do one side at a time. That's what I was thinking. Plus, those things do look like a beast. I know David said they weren't bad, but after reviewing the procedures that doesn't look like something I want to try. I tend to be a bit heavy-handed with things like seals.

[weiln12]

@David - Does this look like the right tool for the job? It's actually hard to find that specific tool. Searching the part number 112450 usually comes up with a timing kit.

BMW M60 M62 Crankshaft Pulley Holding Tool | eBay

[David.X5]

It's good to know your limitations - if that VANOS procedure seems painful, then definitely get someone to do it for you.

About the crank bolt - it has to come off if you want to replace the front main seal and/or the main timing chain. The Beisan guide shows you how to replace the guides, but leave the original main timing chain in place (I am saying "main" as there are also smaller chains on each head). Since the miles are adding up, I wasn't going to go so far as replace the timing guides and VANOS and not the main timing chain, and my front main seal was definitely leaking.

[David.X5]

Yep, that's the same tool, different manufacturer.

[weiln12]

@David - I was curious about that. While I have 150K on it, I wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to replace the timing chain or not. I did see there are two, and I understand which you're referring to.

Part of me says to just replace it since I'm already going to be in there. But, the frugal side says that if the chain is fine, don't waste the money...

[TECN1K]

Chain stretch is a thing, although it tends to be minimal. That being said, I did not replace mine. I'll add - my engine is as quiet as a mouse now, with no startup rattles (primarily from vanos bleeding off oil) or chain slap. Prior it suffered from a 1-2 second startup clatter (and a big cloud of oil smoke from the OSV coupler being cracked in 2)

One of those things you'll need to assess once you're in there.

[X-cellent]

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...-once-all.html

This may provide some useful tips - even if it's a different engine ...