Article by: author unknown
Article applies to: all BMW models with the M30 engine.
Head rebuilding procedure for M30 engine requires application of special press designed to depress the valves to provide unhindered removal of the camshaft.
The press is expensive and is not easily found. Here I explain how to utilize regular clamps of 4 inch span found at a hardware store along with fabricated pins that anyone able to use a file can make…
1 – one buys 6 regular clamps at hardware store – I used 4 inch span, smaller sizes do not fit.
2 – the cap must be taken off the clamp screw – I used a pipe wrench to grip the cap and turned it off the ball joint.
3 – the ball joint must be flattened with a file so that one can machine a dip on its end – I used dremel rotary tool to make the dip. It’s conceivable that one can attach the screw in a vice and drill the dip at the flattened ball joint using drill press.
4 – the dip is used to securely hold a pin that one also machines using a file. I used steel rod 1/4 inch in diameter, filed on both sides.
5 – One also has to file a notch within the limit of pin diameter away from the tip that will be engaging the dip at clamp screw flattened ball joint. When the pin is pushed down fully it tends to incline almost perpendicularly to the clamp screw. The notch makes sure the dip has something to engage over still. Perhaps, this is most important detail that one has to attend to.
6 – the pin is placed into the rocker between the ears that hold the eccentric. It is the space between the ears that made me file the pin on two sides – otherwise it would not fit. The eccentric must be in place but the bolts must be loosened so that the setup finds optimal position on its own.
7 – the base of the clamp is placed into the port using rubber sheeting cut out as a square of an inch by inch size. The pin sticking out of the rocker is engaged into the dip of flattened clamp as one turns the screw to push the pin and therefore the rocker down to create clearance at camshaft.