Just thought that I'd post some pics and other Z4M related stuff when doing my vanos upgrades.
First of all, picking out a 24mm wrench to rotate the camshafts, make sure to get a wrench that is 9mm thick or less. I did this at the store by taking a 9mm wrench and seeing if it would around the open end of the wrench. I ended up getting a Northern Tools Klutch wrench.
I roughly measured the space between the camshaft at the hex. Just over 9mm.
The First thing I did was to remove the radiator cover and electric fan. It only takes around 10 minutes and opens up a lot of space (thanks to Kapt for the info in his thread).
I did run into some problems during the vanos rebuild, the first being my ebay crankshaft alignment pin didn't fit into the guide on the harmonic balancer. So I ended up ordering what I hope is a shorter BMW version. I called a local local dealership and gave them a tool number and they were able to cross reference that to a part number. It just shipped today and I'll post the number and some pics when it arrives. I didn't want to order an alignment pin from BMW and have to hack it in half.
Following the Beisan procedures (removing the solenoid, and the cable clip for the hood latch), I was able to remove my vanos unit without removing the inlet filter from the unit.
Nice and clean.
My next problem came when I removed the intake piston from it's cylinder. Even though I was using VERY LITTLE pressure, I managed to eject the piston from the vanos and onto my garage floor!!
When you remove the pistons be sure to have your hand on the other side to catch the piston or this might happen.
Here is the aftermath! The garage floor won that contest.
Raj from Beisan is a really stand up guy with AWESOME Customer Service. He was away from the office on vacation and answered my emails, and also got a friend to stop by his shop and ended up mailing me a replacement. I should get the replacement in a couple of days.
Since I had some free time (without a crankshaft pin and waiting on an intake piston), I decided to buff up the vanos a little. Not completely done, but it is coming along nicely.
I'm also putting in some Stoptech brake pads and changing belts while the car is down.
I'll post more as I get to it.