cam-ing a standard 2.5 bottom end

[tonyppe]

what cams are available that will happily be set up on a standard bottom end?
the last engine i built i had to mill the pistons a few thou so that the valves didnt hit. although i didnt follow the manufacturers guidlines i had advice from harris performance (his mk1 escort is 11.97 1/4 mile from a 2.1) and i had no problems.
i know manaufacturers exagerate the amount u should get milled for saftey margins etc. i was told that i could run the car without milling at all! but i doubt i would of been able to rev as high as i liked.

say worse case my limiter is at 7000, do our valves stretch much under normal running?
i only want a mild cam anyway, i mean really mild. like next one up from standard.
cheers again. tony.

[Templ8e30]

Hi, Catcams do a 264 or 273 or a 283 degree cam that works without any other mods to the engine. http://www.qep.uk.com/

The standard 325i cam is 260 degrees according to the Febi Bilstein website.

Cheers,

Iain T

[tonyppe]

hi mate,
who are catcams? what are they like? normally i would use kent cams as they are highly recommended and their products and service are excellent.
the cams you listed, i take it the lift does not differ from standard then?
does anyone know what the 6cylinder likes? i mean, the transit pinto loves high lift short duration, the more exagerated the better. is our engines the opposite? or is just that extra degrees duration help.

[M5pilot]

Most of us use Schrick and have a very good experience with them.

The quality is very high and they are probably the best on the market.

Kent cams are also good but no ones really tried them with E30's.

Ant and Myself recently did a car with 6 branch manifold and Cam (284/272) and got 180bhp. The car was very under powered before.

The best 2 cams to go for without worrying about piston/valve contact are the Schrick 272/272 or 284/272.

[tonyppe]

thanks, i have heard of shrick before
how much head work did u do to that car? what are the 2.5s standard? its torque im after the most. i dont really like revving the nuts off it hehe

[astondg]

Would getting another camshaft place to make up a camshaft to the same specs as the Schrick be almost as good? The Schrick ones are kind of expensive. I will pay for it if it is noticably better but it means I won't be getting one for another year or two, I have other things I can spend the money on first.

Aston

[tonyppe]

well i have been told the e30 6cyl are prone to fucking the cam, because of poor oil lube.
if shrick are good, and their material is strong then its probably worth the money.

pay cheap pay twice comes to mind...

[Brianmoooore]

well i have been told the e30 6cyl are prone to fucking the cam, because of poor oil lube.
if shrick are good, and their material is strong then its probably worth the money.

pay cheap pay twice comes to mind...

Any design of engine that regularly lasts 250,000 - 300,000 miles with no attention at all except normal servicing can't have that poor of oil lube!

[tonyppe]

i suppose, but may be if oil is on minimum it runs a great risk?
thats coming from a perfomance engine builder of many years experience.