cam install

[SpecM]

hey m30 gurus...

does the head have to come off of an m30 to replace the cam?

thanks

[yert315]

IIRC it doesn't. BUT it is much easier to do with the head removed. Otherwise you would have to drill through the firewall and deal with a lot of clearance issues. Not to mention clearing the rockers and all that fun stuff

[SpecM]

drill holes in the firewall?

its in an e28 if that makes a difference

[nando]

cam comes out the front of the motor, not the rear. you don't have to drill through anything.

it can be done. You'll need to get the rocker shafts and rocker arms out first, and possibly remove the radiator or jack up the front of the motor. But, with all the struggling you'll do to get all that out with the head on the block it probably is easier to just pull it.

[RickSloan]

if you can find a tool that will lift all 12 rockers for you and you raise the motor just a bit you def can do it n the car.

[yert315]

drill holes in the firewall?

to knock them out from behind. I'm not sure how you would pull the rocker shafts from the front?

In any case, remove the head. It will be 10x easier

[Flash]

Certainly no offense, and at the risk of sounding like an ass, just remove the head, doing otherwise is just plain stupid and a waste of time. Buying the tool to depress all the rockers? Waste of time and money, its not hard to remove the head at all, doing a head swap on an m30 is a joke if you have the tools.
While the head is off, replace all the valve seals, and give it a fresh head gasket set, id replace the head bolts as well since they are cheap and not 20 years old.
You cant drill holes in the firewall unless you remove the ebrake console, shift console, hvac AC box, dashboard, glovebox, kick panel and heater core....that is BEYOND labor in itself. While someone does that, i will already have the head off and torn down, not even kidding.
In the end its all nuts and bolts, get some shade, some water and have at it.

way more than enough room

[nando]

to knock them out from behind. I'm not sure how you would pull the rocker shafts from the front?

In any case, remove the head. It will be 10x easier

you NEVER hammer rockershafts out. the proper way is to remove all the tension on the rockers. if the rockershafts or head aren't bent/warped, they should slide out easily.

this only requires rotating the cam so the lobe points down, and sliding the rocker over. you shouldn't need to compress more than one or two springs, and you can do that with a screwdriver.

[yert315]

I don't see how one could pull the rocker shafts by hand. I was told to use a 3/4 extension to lightly punch them out (e28 community advice), which worked great for me. But, do it the "correct" way if you must.

The point still stands, remove the head.

[nando]

with no tension on them from the rockers they slide right out. you can hammer them out with the rockers in but that just mushrooms the end of the shaft.

[Flash]

use a wooden dowel if you have to hammer them out, so it doesnt mushroom the shaft end. I use a liberal amount of PB plaster beforehand.