I Know its not a Ford related question but has anyone ever removed and refitted the Vanos unit on a BMW, the Haynes manual is shite and ive spoke to a few peeps and they have all said its a main dealer only thing.

Oh and the best thing they charge around £400 to set it!

 

Had mine done under the BMW cover, glad I didnt have to pay ....

Try asking on BM3W.co.uk.

Cheers,

WD

 

Plenty of Non Franchised BMW places willing to fit these. Buddy of mine hand an M3 Evo, absolutely mint (Concourse Car) with a 38k on the clock. Treated it better than his missus, and the Vanos still gave up the ghost. Believe he got it done at Munich Legends for about 2/3rds the price of BMW Garage. The technical bit is setting it up though. Fitting it is no problem. Setting it up properly is...... (Special Tools Required I believe)

 

try www.e36coupe.com
they a good bunch

 

Tryed e36coupe.com not a lot of help, spoke to a couple of peeps today one said iam fooked and bmw dealer is the only way, the other one said he just puts them in and they work fine, no setting up needed

Well iam gonna bosh it together and see how it goes.

Cheers for the help

 

needs to be setup properly m8,with bmw diagnostic equipment ,quite tricky even then

 

Why are you changing it?

Was talking to a guy at the weekend with a 3.2 lump that he fitted into a 325i E30. He reckons that just because the Vanos gets noisy, its not about to fail. Apparently the bolts? were the reason. He changes them once a year, as they are only pennies. And also changes the internal filter at the same time. (thats not a service item but he does it for peace of mind.)

Its like the Timing chain issue on E30 M3s. Noisy doesnt mean about to expire. They just naturally get noisy with time. These are both (Vanos and Timing Chain) issues invented by a certain BMW "specialist" based in West Sussex!! BMW Germany has never heard of either being the huge problem certain people in the UK make them out to be.

 

http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/tech...aft-Timing.htm

 

OK

so what are these "vanos" thingys, what do they actually do and do 8 series have em

cheers

Steve

 

Variable valve timing. Some 8's used them, not sure which ones though

 

What does a 8 series look like ?

I know specialiesed tools are needed though, however it is possible to remove & replace and it does work, how well on the other hand is a total different ball game.

The unit itself isn't cheap either!

 

The link above shows how to do it and test it. The tensioner tool is available from Euro car parts

 

It looks like this













But do I have Vanos


Steve

 

doh! it's all comming back to me now

 

You do need special tools...

Its mainly all in the setting up after re assembly.


You can wack them on... but you run the risk of valves hitting pistons and your engine will be miles down on power... its like taking a cossy belt and just changing it not worring about setting up the position of pullys or belt tension.

Basically you need someone with the tools!!!






Rapid, is yours a v8 or a v12? oh and what year?

Alex

 

Looks straightforward if you follow that link posted by EIL132 - after all the horror stories I've heard about VANOS failures I didn't expect it to be as easy as that..

 

It's all hype, mates garage has done plenty.........and charged a fortune

 

thats single vanos... fairly easy...

try that method with double vanos and you'll come unstuck!

alex

 

I doubt the car is a double vanos, even then I've seen it done and it's still hyped up to be the huge job it isn't. The tools are readily available, here's the part No. for the plate 90-88-6-116-150, just depends if you have the knowledge

 

Its a 4-8 hour job to do properly...


Alex

 

Just the baby

(thank god after seeing the fuel economy think it worse than the cos )

4.0 V8 CI '95

Thought the Vanos was only fitted to the "sports" "M" type cars

No funny noises or owt from mine so how u know when one "failing"


Cheers

Steve

 

The 4.0 is the M60 engine same as I have in my e34 540i

Top engine, no vanos to worry about!

Nikaseal bore wear was a HUGE problem on these engines.... but as your is still running now there nothing to worry about

Alex

 

Well its back together and it foooookin runs

Just got to check everything and take it for a drive apperently the Vanos system only opperates at idle to make the engine run smoother

Hopefully it drives ok now

Cheers for all your help guys

 

VANOS opperates at all engine speeds and loads...

Its for emissions and performance!

Alex

 

Heres a question, what is the butterfly valve/wastegate actuator type thingy in one of the twin exhaust pipes on some E36/E46/possibly more, all about?

 

Noise reduction at low speed/low rpm, BMW think of everything Hope the Vanos isn't just working at idle, no point in variable valve timing for that

 

Really!?!

How does that work? Inlet manifold pressure?

 

No exhaust vaccum pressure... it closes one tail pipe so the exhaust spends longer traveling round the silencer and ends up making less noise.

same as Ferrari have.,... hence a 355 sounds nice and quite at idle... you nail it and it howls!

Alex

 

To remove and fit vanos you need a cam plate and a special tool to rotate the vanos plate,best take it to a specialist.