Trickiest part of S52 head removal

[Ara]

Hey guys, I'll be pulling the head off my S52 to get new valve stem seals and the whole top end stuff

To the guys that have done this, what would you say are the trickiest part ( especially those special BMW tools ) of the procedure.

I'm an S14 guy and that motor compared to the S52 is pretty simple, just way more expensive =/

Any help would be great.

- Ara

[StereoInstaller1]

VANOS does make things tough. Spend a bunch of time on http://www.beisansystems.com/ looking at "Procedures"

[ck_taft325is]

Removal and installation of: VANOS, cam's and timing gear probably. The valve springs require a "special" type of "C" clamp valve spring compressor to remove the retainers and split collets. Find yourself a reputable machine shop that'll disassemble for you, honestly. That would be your best and easiest bet. Not that it's un-doable but, you pretty much must have the special BMW cam removal/installation tool to really insure you don't fracture your cam(s) into tiny worthless pieces of scrap metal. If you do, hang 'em on a wall and look at them when you feel peppy. You'll tear up almost instantly.

If I had to pick one thing, VANOS timing installation is pretty tricky but by no means impossible or even hard once you've done it once or twice.