Vanos broken

[Mark CSL]

Well thats my CSL in BMW for its second vanos unit in 4 months not looking good the old E36 problem looks like its back :banghead:

[_Nathan_]

More like they didn't fix it properly first time!

What did they replace first time round?

[Mark CSL]

The vanos unit but not the gears

[E46ACS]

How do you know if the vanos is gone?

(a mate has just had his replaced on his E60 M5)

[Mark CSL]

When you rev the engine it rattles as the revs drop
And it sound like a pice of shit :hahaha:

[NZ_M3]

I am starting to wonder if you have the highest number (and most $$$) of warranty claims of all the CSLs in the world Mark :hahaha:

[_Nathan_]

So it hasn't gone again, they just didn't replace enough stuff first time round. Happened to a guy on MTorque too. Replaced unit and gears and all was fine.

[Mark CSL]

I am starting to wonder if you have the highest number (and most $$$) of warranty claims of all the CSLs in the world Mark :hahaha:

Yip I do get a lot of problems sorted under warranty :thumbs:

So it hasn't gone again, they just didn't replace enough stuff first time round. Happened to a guy on MTorque too. Replaced unit and gears and all was fine.

We shall see today when the cam cover comes off :whistle:

[sailorbaz]

When mine went almost 2 year ago, I hadn't noticed any change in tone, fuel consumption and most importantly BHP. It was when it was in the workshop at BMW someone said it didn't sound like the 'other' CSL that was in and sounded a bit 'rough'. SO they brought the 'other' CSL in, a certain Stevie Gill's, and right enough, mine was a little more rattly. As it was under warranty, they removed the required parts and found it was indeed on its way out and replaced everything that looked sh1t!

This was when Stevie not long had his CSL so it was sounding standard back then.

After track days mine always sounds really tinny and rattly, anyone else get that?

Good luck with yours Mark, in at the usual dealers?

[glendog74]

After track days mine always sounds really tinny and rattly, anyone else get that?

Mine has started making a very slight rattle on tickover from cold since my recent track day at Donny. Gonna see what it's like after this weekend's fun and if its worse take it in!

[Mark CSL]

Yes baz at the garage i always use :thumbs:

They can do a vanos test on the unit when it is on the car
The tec said it was grinding when he ran the vanos test and it failed the test
he wont know if it needs the gears till he removes the cam cover and can see if the gears have any ware :whistle:

[XPorker]

Yes baz at the garage i always use :thumbs:

They can do a vanos test on the unit when it is on the car
The tec said it was grinding when he ran the vanos test and it failed the test
he wont know if it needs the gears till he removes the cam cover and can see if the gears have any ware :whistle:

Normally (as I understand it) a Vanos test is run first. If the test is failed the gears are replaced. If after their replacement the test results don't fall within the specified parameters the Vanos unit is replaced.

The lads at Simpson MS said mine was noisy and I thus took it to my local dealer and they replaced it (under warranty) The improvement in power at the top end of the rev range after its replacement was VERY noticeable.

[NZ_M3]

Vanos delete kit group buy perhaps?? :hahaha:

[Thorney]

You can ignore a bit of noise but if the noise changes or gets louder over time then its worth investigating. Failure is mind numbingly rare on 46's but that doesn't mean that BMW dealers dont like to change them willy nilly to keep the business going ;)

[thegingerninja]

I was under the same impression that they can go a little bit rattly and it is nothing to worry about. Apparently it is quite obvious when they are on the way out -but like you say, BMW will do anything to make some money.

[alexk]

I am the guy from mtorque with the vanos issue.
Mine was making a lot of noise, with 47k km.
They changed the full vanos unit.
When I went to pick it up, I was saying that it still makes noise. They said it's ok.
Some days later, the csl sounded like it has a hammer inside.
I went to another dealer, they had to change the gearbox of the vanos.

So, with vanos unit and vanos gearbox (some... 8000 CHF later) the engine is perfect. BMW paid everything.

Don't worry. It's something extremely rare, but it might happen.
The space shuttle blew up in front of the world, a vanos unit has the right to fail.

[leonb]

Hmm, I remember a couple of years ago posting about the vanos problem on mine over on Mtorque, and most people shot me down saying 'they don't go wrong on E46's'

2 vanos units on mine and 1 sets of gears later.... :whistle:

Both units were tested and both were faultly.

[_Nathan_]

Did they replace the gears first time round?

[leonb]

Did they replace the gears first time round?

Nope.

[_Nathan_]

I bet if they had the 2nd vanos unit wouldn't have needed replacing, same as Mark...

[Mark CSL]

Old Vanos
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii14/markcsl/IMG_0273.jpg

New Vanos
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii14/markcsl/IMG_0274.jpg
Engine with Vanos OFF
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii14/markcsl/IMG_0271.jpg
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii14/markcsl/IMG_0272.jpg

The car should be back on the road soon parts on back order :whistle:

[sailorbaz]

Looking at those photos confirms that I didn't have the gears changed last time, only the VANOS unit.

Parts on back order? How long are they expecting you to be off the road? Have you got a courtesy car???

[Mark CSL]

Baz the parts on back order are not for the engine.
But i told them to keep my CSL till it is all sorted before i get it back it would
just sit in my garage till it was sorted :thumbs:

I have a BMW X3 M SPORT :supz:

[adliz]

Don't worry. It's something extremely rare, but it might happen.
The space shuttle blew up in front of the world, a vanos unit has the right to fail.

:thumbs::beer:

[sailorbaz]

I have a BMW X3 M SPORT :supz:

That's what I had when I had my brake issue last year from that Dealer, a Black one. Diesel. I actually liked it, was handy for the camping anyway. :thumbs: Shite on the twisties though, :banghead:

[Jaw_F430]

Any of you guys get charged for a courtesy car?

[sailorbaz]

No, if its under warranty, the Warranty company pay for it.

If the car is getting serviced, I think you're supposed to pay £10 insurance but thats it. Normally I sweet talk the lassie into letting me off though!

[Mark CSL]

Yip i am the same as Baz :thumbs:

[bryce]

I never pay for a courtesy car whether its service or warranty.

I rarely take one anyway cos I dont need it.

[MQP]

on my e36 m3 3.2 i change the vanos & vanos gearbox. does on E46 M3 only the vanos or also the vanos gearbox?

[Mark CSL]

Its just the vanos the gear box is not the same :thumbs:

[MQP]

:) sorry was to late, i mean the vanos gear

[shimmy]

just picking up on the vanos issue, i have heard talk of some simple changes that can lengthen the vanos life (jdjd reminded me at Silverstone)

On the webpage below one item is item 4-6 (filter cartridge):

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BL96&mospid=50641&btnr=11_2993&hg=11&fg=15

and the two others I cant remember but i think it might be item 14 (oil strainer) on here:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BL96&mospid=50641&btnr=11_2991&hg=11&fg=15

and then something to do with the breather hose

Anybody shed any light?

[mole]

No idea sorry but for that price it's probably worth changing those bits anyway just in case it helps :thumbs:

Edit: Just looked at where they go, not that easy to change!

[alexk]

just picking up on the vanos issue, i have heard talk of some simple changes that can lengthen the vanos life (jdjd reminded me at Silverstone)

On the webpage below one item is item 4-6 (filter cartridge):

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BL96&mospid=50641&btnr=11_2993&hg=11&fg=15

and the two others I cant remember but i think it might be item 14 (oil strainer) on here:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BL96&mospid=50641&btnr=11_2991&hg=11&fg=15

and then something to do with the breather hose

Anybody shed any light?

I know about the filter cartridge.
It's a small oil filter for the vanos unit.
I will change mine soon.

[NZ_M3]

Items 4, 5, 6 and 7

5 and 6 are O ring item 4 is the filter - 7 is the sealing plate for the solenoids - the O ring in the sealing plate dries out over time causing issues with the Solenoid unit (item 2).

Some have even gone to the length of swapping out the Solenoid unit entirely on higher mileage cars.


The other one is the Constant pressure valve .. can't be bothered looking this one up - but basically just replace it when it breaks (or starts to leak) - I wouldn't go as far as to replacing it like oil.

The vanos solenoid filter's definitely a good one to do on a regular basis.

[shimmy]

:thumbs: