Hi and TIA

I am building a Maximus VII Gene machine which I want to boot from M.2; I have a SATA M.2 which it seems will never work (long story was originally going to build on ASrock Z97M OC) anyway, I fitted the 2260 M.2 drive I have into M.2 slot between the PCIe x16's but what I have found is that it will not lie flat because of a raised diode / voltage regulator(?) that also sits in that space, the card sits at such an angle that the provided screw will not engage to secure it.

Questions

1) Is this normal for this board or its the board faulty

2) If I get a longer screw and secure the SSD (or buy a 2280) the chips on the M.2 are going to be touching this diode, is this safe for motherboard or M.2 card.

3) Does the Maximus VII Gene boot to Windows 7 from M.2 anyway

4) Are there any other compatible PCIe cards out there apart from the Plextor M6e and Samsung X941

Thanks

JMB