Good choice going the Beisan route. 500 clams for a whole new VANOS unit is totally not worth it IMO. I did my pistons recently and found the job fairly simple and straightforward, you just need to be patient and give some attention to detail. +1 on Beisan having a great, thorough write-up for the procedure.

What do you do as a BMW employee?

 

Parts

 

Oh. Not to rag, but how does that make your perception of the Beisan seals/VANOS rebuild any different from the average member's?

 

:thumbsup: nice write up. be sure to follow up after break in.










wtf is going on with the tags??:rofl:

 

Ciand,

On the code you got...

Nothing personal at all...but I got a code (can't remember the one) after doing vcg and vanos seals too...lived with it for a week and brought it to my indy. When I opened the hood, the mech looked inside and said, "I see the problem." I looked again...and sure enough, I'd forgotten to plug in the vanos solenoid...that one connector hides beautifully behind the solenoid...on left side of vanos head. If that's it, you're welcome! If not...nothing personal!

Oh, one other thing...I also take great pains to clean every side of every elect connection really well with plastic safe elect. cleaner...getting in where you got, very easy to get a drip of this or that into connection and that might be enough to throw off signal.

I don't think that connection is exhaust side as the code indicated, but it seems to me that sometimes codes are thrown coz of issue 'upstream' so still could be that one connection...but could be another one too...sounds like something about that simple to me...hope it is for you!

Doug

 

Looks like it's that time of the year for everyone to do their seals. Good work!!

 

i want to do this.

 

mine threw a cam sensor code but it went away after the rings, now its back (thankfully its my 2nd one at 40k miles :censor i could feel alot more low end power in my 323, i dont know if you would feel it as much with a 3.0 though, i still have to do my zhp-im going to try to install my headers and schrick cams my next oil change with the vanos seals

 

No codes here after doing mine and letting it sit for like 8 months before turning it on or driving it. :hi: I expected worse...codes and maybe performance loss, but I do not notice any differences from before doing it nor after. The seals definitely needed to be replaced though and glad I never have to do it again. :woot:

 

What code do you have?
A vanos exhaust side code can also be caused by a sticking vanos exhaust solenoid piston. Remove the exhaust solenoid. You'll need a 32mm deep socket. Cover the belts and be ready to catch oil. Under the solenoid is a spring loaded plastic piston. Press it in and release. It should press in with some resistance and spring back when released. Check the piston movement. It should be very smooth. If the piston is sticking that's likely the problem. Take out the piston and clean it and its cylinder. You can also replace the cylinder with a redesigned part from BMW.
If the solenoid piston is not sticking maybe the oil passages are clogged.
In some cases the new rough finish Teflon rings can cause an exhaust code. But this will go away after the break-in period. Drive the car hard to break-in the seals.
You'll not likely receive benefits from the new seals until the problem is resolved.

 

when i was doin all of it, i forgot to take off the exhaust solenoid and check it, i'm just lazy. I wanted to do the seals anyway and the exhaust solenoid is really easy to get to so i may mess with it again this weekend.

 

i did this recently as well. approaching the 200 mile marker. i have to say the idle is smother, lower, and the car pulls better over 4K. however I also did the oil, plugs, seafoamed the engine, and cleaned the air filter when i did the vanos. so the moral of the story is simply this. be good to your car and it will be good to you,

 

I also did the vanos seals process, and the difference was night and day but you have to break them felt complete power gain at 170 miles after i did the procedure.

 

Run a test with either GT1/ISAD or Autologic it will give you a pass fail and you can see the vanos move to verify the soliniod without swapping. leave the parts swapping diagnosis to the DIY you have access to the right tools use them!

 

this is true

 

the seals did not fix the code. code returned as soon as it was cleared.

68 DME: vanos exhaust camshaft, end position not reached
adaptation value outside tolerance (p0014)
fault is relevant to exhaust gas
fault filtered
fault currently not present
sporadic fault

now time to test the solenoids

 

Code 68 is P1520.

The vanos solenoids don't fail. If you want to test them be sure to not switch the positive and negative leads as there's a diode that will be fried.

You need to test the exhaust solenoid piston.

 

I have had a few kits take 100-250 miles to "break" in the seals before I can get that code to clear

 

well, guess i'll drive it about 300 and try again before i dig into it anymore. I think i have about 80 miles on it so far. it came back up on the second start after clearing it. I shall try clearing again after the break in period, then if it comes back, i'll test the solenoids...

 

code 68 is p0014 because that is the printout that came off of isis at the dealer.....

 

I did seals and rattle repair about 20k miles ago (car has 105k now), and my car isn't throwing codes of any kind... To be completely honest though, I don't think it was throwing any codes before the repair either. However, even without the codes, it did feel like the car gained a good amount of torque in the lower bit of the rev range.

Do you have access to another car w/ an M54 or M52TU? Try swapping the entire vanos assembly from that car... if it still throws the code, then your issue might be something else.

I do have access to an E46 with 85k miles that's still on its original vanos seals... I can compare the vanos data from INPA between the two cars if anyone's interested.

 

we have a motor or 2 in the warehouse that had blown head gaskets and such, i was debating pulling one off of there and putting it on mine. I'm gonna go 250 miles first then try and clear the code just to make sure the seals are broken in.

 

need help

Hi Gentlemen!
I am totally new at this forum but after I've read this thread seems like this is right place to ask my question because all of You have an experience with VANOS and somebody might give me a good piece of advice.

So I recently bought my '02 330i and totally fall in love to this car <3 But so far I have a big problem. The thing is that there's a little crack on my Vanos unit. Don't ask me how I get that crack What a dumb ass I am? I was messing with one of those 3 bolts and completely forgot that it was aluminium frame. Now time to pay for that stupid mistake.
Actually I was replacing intake/exhaust CP sensors and had done that part quite well.
I'll try to show the spot on picture that I screwed. So here it is...

So now when I start engine the oil is leaking from that tiny crack pretty bad. So I did explain the situation for mechanic over the phone and he said that I got myself into big troubles. From his words that screw "is doing something for the gear in Vanos" or something like that. And also he said that considering that I was loosing and tightening that bolt It will be necessary to adjust valve timing while replacing Vanos. Obviously it will cost me tons of money:/
This is what drvanos.com says:
"The cam timing is not affected when removing or installing the Dual Vanos"

So now I have a doubts about that mechanic. BTW I found my Vanos Unit for $200 at "Bavarian Auto Recycling". And my mechanic said that I can buy a part and just bring it to him with my car.
As I can see a lot of fellows pulled out Vanos Unit and put it back. I think I could do that. Plus while replacing Vanos I could put some new O-rings and sealing. There was no problem with Vanos before me but I think It wouldn't bother at all. Plus car has 86K.
BUT THIS TIME I WILL BE VERY CAREFUL AND I WILL GET ALL THE SPECIAL TOOLS THAT I NEED!

So here's my questions for You guys:

1) What's that 3 screws are for?
2) According to mechanic If I am going to replace Vanos Unit in my case I will need to set up my valve timing. Is that so???

Thanks Y'all!!!

 

Hi Gentlemen!
I am totally new at this forum but after I've read this thread seems like this is right place to ask my question because all of You have an experience with VANOS and somebody might give me a good piece of advice.

So I recently bought my '02 330i and totally fall in love to this car <3 But so far I have a big problem. The thing is that there's a little crack on my Vanos unit. Don't ask me how I get that crack What a dumb ass I am? I was messing with one of those 3 bolts and completely forgot that it was aluminium frame. Now time to pay for that stupid mistake.
Actually I was replacing intake/exhaust CP sensors and had done that part quite well.
I'll try to show the spot on picture that I screwed. So here it is...

So now when I start engine the oil is leaking from that tiny crack pretty bad. So I did explain the situation for mechanic over the phone and he said that I got myself into big troubles. From his words that screw "is doing something for the gear in Vanos" or something like that. And also he said that considering that I was loosing and tightening that bolt It will be necessary to adjust valve timing while replacing Vanos. Obviously it will cost me tons of money:/
This is what drvanos.com says:
"The cam timing is not affected when removing or installing the Dual Vanos"

So now I have a doubts about that mechanic. BTW I found my Vanos Unit for $200 at "Bavarian Auto Recycling". And my mechanic said that I can buy a part and just bring it to him with my car.
As I can see a lot of fellows pulled out Vanos Unit and put it back. I think I could do that. Plus while replacing Vanos I could put some new O-rings and sealing. There was no problem with Vanos before me but I think It wouldn't bother at all. Plus car has 86K.
BUT THIS TIME I WILL BE VERY CAREFUL AND I WILL GET ALL THE SPECIAL TOOLS THAT I NEED!

So here's my questions for You guys:

1) What's that 3 screws are for?
2) According to mechanic If I am going to replace Vanos Unit in my case I will need to set up my valve timing. Is that so???

Thanks Y'all!!!

To be fair to your mechanic explaining over the phone its real hard to see what you are talking about. I get that all the time.

 

Those screws are there to cap access holes that were needed for machining purposes.
It seems you cracked your vanos body and now have purchased a replacement vanos.
Beisan Systems has a procedure for replacing the double vanos. You should also install new seals.
You did not disturb the timing by playing with the screw and you will not disturb the timing when replacing the vanos.

 

Thank You Rajaie !!!

 

I'd hate to take a sale away from Rajaie; his vanos seals and rattle repair kit made my engine nearly perfect - easily the best mod I've done so far to the car. BUT if you've gotta buy a new Vanos, you should seriously consider a Dr. Vanos unit. It comes with new seals preinstalled, and is modified so that it doesn't rattle. It'd be a lot less work to swap that in versus buying one through BMW and then doing the seals yourself.

 

now at 250 miles, will try to clear the code again this week.

 

opcorn:

 

oh, i'm definately testing the solenoids before i throw another vanos unit on it.

 

330ciandr6 how can I test my Vanos solenoids?
This is the code what I get:
21 Activation, Vanos solenoid valve, inlet

How can I find out if which solenoid is dead if it's dead?