R&M Racing BMW M20 Adjustable Camshaft Gear

[Paukert11]

R&M Racing BMW M20 Adjustable Camshaft Gear is the product I’m reviewing. This place is a new company that a buddy of mine is starting up and of course he had to throw all of us e30 guys a goodie! J Upon first examining the part, it’s pretty well made, really well made actually! It’s all anodized aluminum that has been CNC’ed out of one piece of aluminum. The adjustable part is the big key to this thing but also since its all aluminum, it obviously weighs less which is also a pretty good advantage. I decided to install it while I was doing my timing belt, what better time then that of course! One thing that is noted regarding this part, its designed for motors 87 and later HOWEVER they have a part you can order from them for an additional 20 bucks that will make it bolt up on ALL M20 motors ALL years. I had to go that route since my motor is an 85. With the adapter, everything lined up great and was a pretty straightforward bolt-on mod with no modifications required to your vehicle which is what we all are looking for.
Now onto the fun part. The point of an adjustable camshaft gear is that you can play with your VALVE timing to get more (or less) power. This gear actually has little lines marked on it with an “A” to one side and a “R” to the other side. “A” stands for advance, “R” stands for Retard. So with this gear, you can basically loosen the allen bolts on the gear and dial in your valve timing in a different place, either more retarded or more advanced and see how you like it. And if you want to change it back its pretty easy to just loosen the allen bolts and move it back… kinda self explanatory. With it all said and done I am now running my motor a hair advanced which is giving me what feels like a little more power but I think im loosing a hair of torque. Obviously with different mods on your motors, it will give different results J
So heres some pictures of the gear itself before its installed.


And heres some pictures of it installed on my motor. Please excuse the grease bomb of a motor behind it. But hey, at least the gear looks nice right? Lol.


And I think that’s all of it! Again, heres the product page on R-Mracing:
R&M Racing BMW M20 Adjustable Camshaft Gear and their main website is http://r-mracing.com
Hope this is helpful for somebody out there!

[guibo09]

thanks for your review. did you snap a pic of the backside of the gear?

[Paukert11]

no but i will do that when i go to my buds house, because im helping him put his in.

[guibo09]

checked the website, great price!

question: why is it EXACTLY the same as the IE one?

[r-mracing]

reply

checked the website, great price!

question: why is it EXACTLY the same as the IE one?

Paukert,
Thank you for reviewing our product first and foremost.

Guibo09,
I will provide a picture of the backside of the gear here and for anybody else who is interested.

Also, as far as it looking like the IE Cam gear. We at R-Mracing have suppliers that we use to source our parts. This particular part is from a manufacturer that specializes in high quality CNC'ed all aluminum adjustable cam sprockets and is based overseas. We are an importer and the manufacturer of the gear has delivered the product to us unbranded so we can call it as we like. I hope that answers your question. My GUESS is that IE has the same source as me, but that is my assumption, I have NO proof of that though, this is just an assumption. Regardless, thankyou for your interest in our product. We hope to have more and more products come available as we continue to grow.

If anybody has any questions or comments about any of our products feel free to send me a pm on here or to view the contact us page on our website. Thankyou for your time!

[nando]

well it's $30 cheaper and you don't have to buy from IE. Not as nice as the stuff from the likes of PPF but it doesn't look terrible either. how many degrees of adjustment does it give you?

[Justin B]

By the indicator it looks like 10 each way, marked at least, that is if it can use that whole distance or less. Should though..

[r-mracing]

By the indicator it looks like 10 each way, marked at least, that is if it can use that whole distance or less. Should though..

It will let you advance full to 10 degrees but will only retard up to 6 degrees.

[E30 Racer]

It will let you advance full to 10 degrees but will only retard up to 6 degrees.

Any results from dyno testing to show what the adjustability can actually do for you?

[r-mracing]

reply

Any results from dyno testing to show what the adjustability can actually do for you?

Dyno results are COMPLETELY different case by case. While some cars could only benefit in very small hp or torque increases others it could make a big VERY noticeable difference.

The most important part about this mod is that it gives the ABILITY for a tuner to make QUICK changes to his valve timing while at a dyno session or other event. Without an adjustable camshaft sprocket, the ONLY way to change valve timing is by removing the timing belt and setting it a tooth off or whatnot which OBVIOUSLY isnt really feasible if you are dyno tuning your car or in a limited time situation. So in reality, this gives the user the ability to "play" more with his settings and chose a valve timing degree that he feels works best for him and allows him to change it if he so feels like it.

I hope that explaination helped you realize the true purpose of adjustable camshaft gears. :)

[E30 Racer]

Dyno results are COMPLETELY different case by case. While some cars could only benefit in very small hp or torque increases others it could make a big VERY noticeable difference.

The most important part about this mod is that it gives the ABILITY for a tuner to make QUICK changes to his valve timing while at a dyno session or other event. Without an adjustable camshaft sprocket, the ONLY way to change valve timing is by removing the timing belt and setting it a tooth off or whatnot which OBVIOUSLY isnt really feasible if you are dyno tuning your car or in a limited time situation. So in reality, this gives the user the ability to "play" more with his settings and chose a valve timing degree that he feels works best for him and allows him to change it if he so feels like it.

I hope that explaination helped you realize the true purpose of adjustable camshaft gears. :)

Thanks for the reply. I understand what an adjustable sprocket is (I've used them before on VW motors). My question pertains specifically to the M20B25. Have you installed one on a basically stock motor and made a few pulls at +5, 0, and -5 degrees? I'm looking for a bit more low end torque, but would like to know how much top end hp is affected.

[nando]

it's basically just going to move your torque curve around, there's nothing free to be had here. also useful for an aftermarket cam, or a head/block that's been shaved. I'm guessing BMW got it pretty well right with the stock cam timing.

$90 is a good price point though. May end up picking one of these up. :)

[E30 Racer]

it's basically just going to move your torque curve around, there's nothing free to be had here. also useful for an aftermarket cam, or a head/block that's been shaved. I'm guessing BMW got it pretty well right with the stock cam timing.

$90 is a good price point though. May end up picking one of these up. :)

Agreed that the price is decent. Again, I understand what it does (or rather what it should theoretically do), but I want to see some data before I commit.

[Paukert11]

I put it on my car. and yes right now it is stock. I moved in up a notch and i lost a little torque but a higher end speed. nut thats with a stock m20b27

[guibo09]

it's not clear in the picture alone... is the tooth part remachined out of aluminium, or is it just the original steel gear that has been cut?