Replacing Head Gasket-M50 Vanos-Questions

[Hallmark]

I finally decided the time has come to replace the head gasket on my '95 525. I read through the Bentley, got the torx sockets from Autozone, and dove in. I have a couple of questions:

1. Bentley says the head bolts have to be replaced. Yes or no?

2. Since I have the head off anyway, should I have valve job done or just have it checked for straighness? The engine has 196K miles on it.

3. Somewhere I have seen articles about setting the Vanos when I reassemble the head, but I haven't come up with the search words that trigger anything from the archives. Can someone give me (or direct me to) the information I need. I don't have the special tools, but I'm a pretty good shade tree mechanic and I seem to recall there's a way to do it if you understand how vanos works.

Thanks all,
Mark

[Bill R.]

definitely has torque to yield headbolts and they MUST be replaced anytime they are removed.

2. YES. you should have a valve job done at this point in time as well as check for straightness. You will notice the difference with a valve job. Winfred has posted info here about setting up vanos motors without the special tools.




I finally decided the time has come to replace the head gasket on my '95 525. I read through the Bentley, got the torx sockets from Autozone, and dove in. I have a couple of questions:

1. Bentley says the head bolts have to be replaced. Yes or no?

2. Since I have the head off anyway, should I have valve job done or just have it checked for straighness? The engine has 196K miles on it.

3. Somewhere I have seen articles about setting the Vanos when I reassemble the head, but I haven't come up with the search words that trigger anything from the archives. Can someone give me (or direct me to) the information I need. I don't have the special tools, but I'm a pretty good shade tree mechanic and I seem to recall there's a way to do it if you understand how vanos works.

Thanks all,
Mark

[Hallmark]

I've tried a half dozen different combinations including vanos and settings, but no luck. I know I've seen it.

[632 Regal]

try this one
http://www.bimmernut.com/wwwboard/e34/si.html

[Hallmark]

Is there a good link to the procedure somewhere?

[bjl4776]

http://www.pelicanparts.com/BMW/techarticles/E36-Camshaft-Timing/E36-Camshaft-Timing.htm

Ive used this article several times and it workes fine.

[632 Regal]

excellent!

[Hallmark]

:)