M30 head rebuild and porting. Bimmerheads, other options?

[BONDOSPECIAL]

Hi, I have an M106 head from a 745i that I want to send out to be rebuilt and ported. I have identified Bimmerheads as one option for a shop who can perform these services. They seem to get good feedback from the few reviews I have read of them. Are there any other shops I should be considering? Thanks, Steve

[SlickDizzy]

VAC does them too (they have multiple “stages,” this is just an example): https://store.vacmotorsports.com/mobile ... p1002.aspx

Also Metric Mechanic: http://metricmechanic.com/engine-heads/

I had a local guy do my B35 head with parts I supplied but if I was paying a shop I’d probably send it to VAC.

Bimmerheads seems good but they claim their regrinds don’t require oversized eccentrics (???) and one member here got a head back that had a big gouge in it, looked like it had been dropped after resurfacing.

Metric Mechanic has a long and controversial reputation that I could not even begin to touch on in one post.

[BONDOSPECIAL]

Thank you! The difference in price between those two options is huge. I appreciate your feedback

[BONDOSPECIAL]

An update of my thoughts on who to send my head to. I talked to Bimmerheads and learned that they are refinishing valve seats with stones, not a Serdi. This bugs me. I own stone seat grinders and have used them and know that obtaining perfect seat concentricity even with well-maintained equipment can be tricky w/ stones. This is not to say they aren't doing a beautiful job - they might be. My personal preference means I am looking for a shop that has a Serdi type seat cutter.

VAC has a Serdi and can even CNC port M30 heads, so it looks like they are certainly well-equipped. However I know a friend who had VAC do machine work his M30 block, and he had a lot of issues with customer service lying about the time line they were on, that ultimately ended in him having to drive to their shop to get his block back. I read a bunch of similar stories in forum threads and online reviews about VAC taking forever and customer service not being transparent about what was going on. This scares me if I commission a $2500 head job.

Has anyone used VAC for a head rebuilt in the past year or two and did you get it back in a reasonable time frame, and was the work done what you expected? I am still tempted to use VAC because I am not in an extreme rush and they look to be so well-equipped.

[jhh925]

This isn't responsive to your last question, but I'll throw this out there anyhow:

• I've heard great things on this board about Memphis Motor Werks, though mostly in the context of getting S38 heads redone. You can search on that name here to get some feedback.
• I used Star Machine in Emeryville, CA for my M30-B35 head. Excellent results. 10/10 would use again.

[Nebraska_e28]

Bimmerheads did all my machine work. I assembled the motor myself. Though I didn't do before and after flowbench #s, I was very impressed at their port/polish work! I did this along with a few other tricks.