Is it easy to remove cylinder head?

[uflnuceng]

Im not going to be doing anything just yet, but I was wondering if anybody had any experience with pulling cylinder heads? Is it easy enough to do while the engine is still in car, or would it make my life easier if I did it when the engine was pulled. Here is what I am looking at:

M30 3.5L engine. I could pull the head and get it really agressive and optimize my combustion for that displacement.

If it is an ultra pain in the ass to pull the head anyway, I could just pull the engine at some later date, disassemble the block, get the head taken care of and try and increase my displacement a few 10ths of a liter.

I could potentially get up to about 3.9 liters... but for all the work that would entail I don't think it would increase horsepower dramatically. The M20 gets increase by 20-24% when people go for a 3.0 or 3.1L modification. 3.9L would only be an increase of only about 11% and would probably be at a loss of compression.

I think it would just be best to get a nice aggressive cylinder head, a turbo kit, and leave the M30 at 3.5L of displacement.

However, if I wanted to go for some pauter 4340 I-rods and custom forged pistons I may as well get the head bored to its max potential. Ugh... I just finished one project and already Im thinking of 2 or 3 more!

Opinions?

Thanks
Jared

[rs4pro3]

it wasn't to bad back in March when I yanked my m30 head due to some bent valves. If you have a front strut bar in place remove it. Also the 3.5 intake dosn't like going back onto the head as it will hit the brake booster. But a sledge hammer took care of that. I've yanked at least 15 bmw heads so for me it's no trouble.

[uflnuceng]

Thanks Ely... Im just going to start PMing you whenever I have a question 8)

And don't worry... I got plenty of BFHs and I know how to use 'em.

[pig4bill]

I've yanked at least 15 bmw heads so for me it's no trouble.

How long would you guess it takes to remove an M20 head, in the car? Judging from the Bentley, which always leaves out half the steps anyway, it looks like a major pain in the ass.

[finch]

How long would you guess it takes to remove an M20 head, in the car?

Took me and two others about 1/2 day.
That wasnt working fast either. We had a carton of rum to help us through aswell.

[nando]

it took me about 4 hours with the help of a friend, first time. then I spent another 4 hours cleaning shit..

[hamann318is]

Taken me a week just to get everything off, but I work VERY slow. Today is the day to have the head off, cleaned, and back on.

[EtaSport]

Yeah, shouldnt be too bad. Had mine off in around 2 hours. Then had to take the front of the motor apart to double check alignment of cam gear (do this!). All said and done 2 days (had lots of other things to do) to swap head, probably 8 total hours with putting back together and all. Along with taking a rocker arm off my other head to replace a trashed one. Whoever is doing this on m20s will probably want to change timing belt and h2o pump.

[pig4bill]

It takes me 3 hours to change my oil, so it sounds like I could get the head off and back on in maybe 30 to 40 hours. I just need to change the head gasket, not disassemble the head or anything, so would it be better to leave the intake and exhaust manifolds on?

[finch]

Not sure if that would work.. intake was a bitch to get off for me..

[nando]

I left the exhaust and intake on the head when we pulled it off, the location of the ix brake booster is such that it would be impossible to remove the intake before the head.

I removed the intake from the head later for cleaning but left the exhaust on the head, I'm having my exhaust done later this summer anyway so I didn't feel like messing with it. replace those intake gaskets while you have the head off, it's not hard to remove the intake so there's no reason not to.

it is a bit heavier that way, you'll probably need two people to lift it off the block.

[rs4pro3]

Ya I can ussualy yank an m20 head in a little over an hour at the junkyards

[pig4bill]

I removed the intake from the head later for cleaning but left the exhaust on the head, I'm having my exhaust done later this summer anyway so I didn't feel like messing with it. replace those intake gaskets while you have the head off, it's not hard to remove the intake so there's no reason not to.

Would I be able to leave the intake manifold more or less in place in the car? I hate the idea of taking all that crap off the manifold and then putting it back on.

[nando]

I don't think so, none of that stuff is really all that hard to remove anyway and it would make removing the head a lot harder.