Cam Chain Tensioner/Intake Manifold

It'll be easy they said. Managed to get the oetiker clamps off, clean up the leaking gasket, remove the bolt and replace the gasket/washer and then about 40 minutes to get the bloody bolt to reseat while keeping tension on that spring. I think BMW missed a trick here, they should have put razor blades around the bolt just to make it more interesting. Rant over.

Couple of questions

1. I have the spring type CCT - I read in another place that BMW has moved to a non spring type. Im on a 2012 GSA - is it worth going through all this faff again to replace or just do it if I get a rattle off the chain?

2. These oetiker clamps - my god. Trying to retighten them is a roll of the dice with how narrow the bands are and the access is minimal for the one against the frame. I read another post about replacing with worm drives but there was mixed opinion and no clear answer. Is there any way of getting these things to tighten (Im using pliers at present but the grip is tricky to say the least without buying some specialist tool. Any reason nt to bin them and replace with worm drives?

Thanks in advance

Rob

Reference oetiker clamps, I ground up an old ( scrap) pair of side cutting pliers so they ended up almost like a fine parrots beak at the end.
Using these makes removing and re-fitting the the clamps a couple of seconds job.
prior to this using all types of stock pliers was very frustrating.

Oetiker clips make sense on driveshaft CV joint covers but little else. Even with suitable pliers I find them a pain in the ...
The replacement carburettor rubbers on the Suzuki GT750 came with 9mm wide worm clips. I went on eBay and found some narrow band clips big enough to suit the BMW intakes. Job done.
Normal Jubilee type clips absolutely will not do (far too wide). You also have to be sure the clips are seated correctly before nipping up. Don’t over tighten.

Great replies - thank you both. I will try and get some narrow worm clamps. Cable tied at the moment.

I have a sykes-pickavant set of pliers for these that make the job a doddle. Had them years, cost about a fiver IIRC.

Pukmeister said:

I have a sykes-pickavant set of pliers for these that make the job a doddle. Had them years, cost about a fiver IIRC.

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All I could find was top quality professional spec tools that I could never justify. The correct width worm clips are fine but don’t even think about using ordinary jubilee clips.

Using a pair of long nosed pliers the clamps seemed to go back on without too much hassle