Vanos Noise

[Stumpy]

Hi

I see reference to the Vanos unit in a number of threads, and regular problems with this also possibly a problem with tappets, but nothing more than that.

What are the general symptoms of one or other please?

Is this mileage-related, or simply a specific issue with the E46/CSL ?

Ta muchly.

[select]

All S54 Vanos suffer from the same three main issues.

Vanos Coil Solenoid can go wrong, if this happens your Vanos just won't work anymore, no harm to the engine.
The other two vanos related failures are, a rattle caused by loose intake sprocket mounting bolts, and vanos malfunction caused by broken vanos oil pump disk. As far as i am told, the CSL has the redesigned bolts which aren't notorious for becoming loose, but the oil pump disk wasn't ever changed as BMW claims there is no issue with it. And if the oil pump disk fails or the bolts coming loose, in rare cases, it can lead to total engine failure.

I just booked my csl in to get the vanos fixed, once and for all. It recently developed a rattle but they told me its not because of the bolts, but because of something else. I will report back, when i have understood what he means.

[Stumpy]

Originally Posted by select

All S54 Vanos suffer from the same three main issues.

Vanos Coil Solenoid can go wrong, if this happens your Vanos just won't work anymore, no harm to the engine.
The other two vanos related failures are, a rattle caused by loose intake sprocket mounting bolts, and vanos malfunction caused by broken vanos oil pump disk. As far as i am told, the CSL has the redesigned bolts which aren't notorious for becoming loose, but the oil pump disk wasn't ever changed as BMW claims there is no issue with it. And if the oil pump disk fails or the bolts coming loose, in rare cases, it can lead to total engine failure.

I just booked my csl in to get the vanos fixed, once and for all. It recently developed a rattle but they told me its not because of the bolts, but because of something else. I will report back, when i have understood what he means.

That sounds ominous, but thanks !

[GregorFuk]

As usual the internet turns reactively rare failures into dead certainties. I'd not worry.

[select]

Originally Posted by GregorFuk

As usual the internet turns reactively rare failures into dead certainties. I'd not worry.

That is true but he asked about symptoms. And i specifically said that those symptoms rarely lead to a total engine failure, but i rather have not bits of metal flying around the timing chain while hoping that it drops to the oil pan without inducing any damage to the drivetrain.

@Stumpy does your vanos rattle? Other Symptoms apart from noise can be loss of engine power and hesitation especially around 3.000RPM. There is a specific test routine for the vanos on the BMW tester. If you don't have access to it either a bmw specialised indie or the bmw dealer can do this for you.

[Trawler]

Originally Posted by GregorFuk

As usual the internet turns reactively rare failures into dead certainties. I'd not worry.

Plus any rattle must be vanos related.

On a previous M3 the car developed a terrible rattle that meant I left it in Germany. The internet plus everyone over here said it was vanos. The garage meister said vanos problems are very rare and eventually with the help of München tracked it down to a faulty connection related to some sensor. That was a relief to say the least as must say I did doubt what he said.

[shimmy]

Raikku is refuurbishing my vanos as we speak.

No idea what he is doing but it sounds fiddley!