It happened at last! Got the beast back today after 5+ weeks awol.. really happy with the result!

I am a little surprised just how quiet the engine is at idle and there is absolutely NO ticking, clicking. Makes me wonder how many vids of S54 owners saying "yea my engine is pretty normal, these noises are totally fine....". Before the work I know mine was ticking like mad so the contrast is evident.
The Schricks I have are the 280s CSL spec and are perfect at idle, no lumpiness. They seem to perform without any issue at all with the standard ecu map. I will report back once the custom map is applied in a week or so. All the smoothness checks out and he had no issue sorting the timing/vanos hookup.
I am loving the eventuri - it sounds lovely better in the flesh than any vid I have heard. And the throttle response is really sharp, I can't say how much more than before as not driven her for a while.
In a way the cams/followers needing replacing was a blessing in disguise. At 91,000 miles my head gasket was not damaged really badly but was showing signs of thinning and some wear patches that looked dodgy. And we know how dramatic it can be when that goes... so happy to get that sorted too. I said to Paul at the garage to treat the car like his own and do anything he wasn't happy with. He is a perfectionist so the result is spot on.
The summary of the work I was charged for was:
Labour for replacing head gasket, fit DLC followers, Schrick cams
Labour for Shimming to the 0.25 spec
Labour for OEM strut brace fitting and intake
Welding repair to catalytic convertor heat sheilds
Part head gasket, rocker cover gaskets, replacement timing chain tensioner, exhaust manifold and downpipe gaskets, strut brace, ebc pads
I supplied the cams, followers and eventuri
Total cost for everything 4k.

I am still to get the shells replaced at the bottom but I ran out of time before the track event next week
