Posted by Mike W. on December 28, 2003 at 23:38:19 from 152.163.252.130
In Reply to: Camshaft and idle issues posted by Daniel on December 28, 2003 at 16:20:38:
Lift won't cause you problems, although duration could. It's hard trying to figure out what someone was trying to do with their car. If it is just the dual Webber downdrafts, they were more put on just for driveablility. The factory Zeniths were a vile device I spent many an hour cursing at. The headers do kind of throw a question mark in there though. Anyway, the lift can give you some idea of what kind of a cam is likely to be in there though. Check my FAQ on Cylinder heads for specifics on what lift means what. For measuring, you are trying to figure out the difference between the smallest portion of a lobe and the largest. Not an easy task with the cam installed but you might get some idea measuring from one lobe to another if you can go high to low. And carbs can run relatively well with a "hotter" cam than FI can, so those Webbers may have been feeding a hot cam. I would guess if it has more lift than a 528i cam it is aftermarket and has more duration and could be the source of your problems. But measuring duration is very difficult, I don't have an easy answer for that one.
Mike