And there is a more elegant way to remove the vanos unit from the block than grind off the threads òr loosening the front subframe and bending it by (lots and lots of) force.
First of all the front vanos will not clear the threaded studs coming out of the block.
It's obstructed by the front subframe before it can clear the studs (see the red arrows):
First of all you remove the inlet vanos relais (32mm spanner):
After that, you remove the front engine mounts (you can obviously do this first before removing the vanos relais
):
First loosen/remove the nuts from the engine mounts (from the top and below).
Jack up the engine for about 1" (with a transmission jack if the car sit's on a car lift), by putting a block of wood under the sump and placing the jack on the block of wood (otherwise you damage the sump). Maybe an engine hoist or a large jack can be used if your car stands on wheel stands.
Then remove the engine mounts and carefully lower the engine on the lower subframe/steering rack. (If you're anxious, you can place a thin rubber mat between those, but my engine was OK)
When the engine is lowered, there is just enough space to clear the subframe on 2 threaded studs by tilting the vanos unit:
Then you can rotate the vanos unit (lifting up the side where you removed the relais) and the vanos clears the front subframe.
All done without permanent damage to any of the components.
I have thought about removing the studs in the block, but there is very little room to get two nuts on the threads and the threads are thin (m5) so damage is a risk. So I came up with this procedure.
Here you can see the bump in the subframe that prevents the vanos from clearing:
If you do the vanos you can also do the anti rattle. I had no rattle or vanos problems (I was installing schrick cams, so I did the vanos as a precaution (that is recommended when installing cams)), but there is alway's lots of play on the vanos bearings. The anti rattle kit fixes that very nicely:
Be shure not to get any oil from the vanos on the multi belts underneath