Bad VANOS?

[BMWM3186]

Left the zhp sitting for over a day and about 2 seconds after I started it the car shook for about 10 seconds before it went away. The car has 83k miles and has not had the vanos repaired to my knowledge. I can also clearly hear what sounds like the vanos from 2-3k rpm. No check engine lights. Shaking does not reappear if I restart the car after it has been recently running. Also the car could have low octane fuel in it. Im still on the dealer fill lol.

[Dave1027]

Could be a misfire. Any number of things could cause it. Have you pulled codes?

[BMWM3186]

Could be a misfire. Any number of things could cause it. Have you pulled codes?

did not see your reply, CEL has never come on or flashed but recently ordered the BMW scanner 1.4 so I will know soon enough

[TheFinanceGuy]

Left the zhp sitting for over a day and about 2 seconds after I started it the car shook for about 10 seconds before it went away. The car has 83k miles and has not had the vanos repaired to my knowledge. I can also clearly hear what sounds like the vanos from 2-3k rpm. No check engine lights. Shaking does not reappear if I restart the car after it has been recently running. Also the car could have low octane fuel in it. Im still on the dealer fill lol.

How many miles on the car? The VANOS will fail, not a question of if, but when. The rings start to sound like a rattling paint can. This can and will cause performance issues in the upper RPMs. Shouldn't cause too much of an issue at idle though, unless it was stuck?

I think you hit on the simple issue, bad/low fuel. If I leave any of my cars to sit longer than 45 days, I start to have fuel issues unless a stabilizer was used. Fill up and run the car first. Pull codes if any are there.

[BMWM3186]

How many miles on the car? The VANOS will fail, not a question of if, but when. The rings start to sound like a rattling paint can. This can and will cause performance issues in the upper RPMs. Shouldn't cause too much of an issue at idle though, unless it was stuck?

I think you hit on the simple issue, bad/low fuel. If I leave any of my cars to sit longer than 45 days, I start to have fuel issues unless a stabilizer was used. Fill up and run the car first. Pull codes if any are there.

83k miles on it. I definitely hear a rattle, from about 1800-3k rpm if the engine is under load. It has been shaking less and less ever since its had new gas. Other than the rattle of the vanos, I dont notice any other of the common symptoms people describe with it but maybe it would be more noticeable if I had another to compare it to.

[az3579]

The VANOS will fail, not a question of if, but when.

I wouldn't say this is true... see below.



The rings start to sound like a rattling paint can. This can and will cause performance issues in the upper RPMs.

The rattling issue doesn't have an effect on performance at all. It's a common issue and it's just noise, nothing more. You can drive the car into the ground with the rattling and it won't cause any issues.

Beisan Systems makes replacement rings that eliminate the rattle. This issue plagues the single VANOS E36/E46 and the double VANOS E46 for sure; I'm not sure if it affects any models beyond that.

The part failing that actually does cause performance problems is the seals, which doesn't necessarily mean failed VANOS. The VANOS unit itself is probably fine, just needs the seals replaced. A whole new VANOS unit is extremely expensive whereas the seals are cheap, so it's an important differentiation.

I'm sure some people have had their VANOS units actually replaced, but it's not that common for the whole thing to need replacing.

Link to the repair products:
http://www.beisansystems.com/products.html

You needs item BS001 to repair the seals, and BS002 to repair the rattle.

[TheFinanceGuy]

I wouldn't say this is true... see below.



The rattling issue doesn't have an effect on performance at all. It's a common issue and it's just noise, nothing more. You can drive the car into the ground with the rattling and it won't cause any issues.

Beisan Systems makes replacement rings that eliminate the rattle. This issue plagues the single VANOS E36/E46 and the double VANOS E46 for sure; I'm not sure if it affects any models beyond that.

The part failing that actually does cause performance problems is the seals, which doesn't necessarily mean failed VANOS. The VANOS unit itself is probably fine, just needs the seals replaced. A whole new VANOS unit is extremely expensive whereas the seals are cheap, so it's an important differentiation.

I'm sure some people have had their VANOS units actually replaced, but it's not that common for the whole thing to need replacing.

Link to the repair products:
http://www.beisansystems.com/products.html

You needs item BS001 to repair the seals, and BS002 to repair the rattle.

Much better explanation BP. Thank you. I agree with every point above.

[az3579]

Much better explanation BP. Thank you. I agree with every point above.

You know, I've had the Beisan replacement rings since I bought the car 6 years ago, and they're still sitting in the packaging. lol

[TheFinanceGuy]

You know, I've had the Beisan replacement rings since I bought the car 6 years ago, and they're still sitting in the packaging. lol

Mine are as well.... I ended up buying a Dr. VANOS unit. I'm having some issues, and need rule out the VANOS unit. Time just isn't my friend.

[holyc0w]

I had my seals replaced, but the mechanic said they looked fine @ ~101,000 miles.

[BMWM3186]

I wouldn't say this is true... see below.



The rattling issue doesn't have an effect on performance at all. It's a common issue and it's just noise, nothing more. You can drive the car into the ground with the rattling and it won't cause any issues.

Beisan Systems makes replacement rings that eliminate the rattle. This issue plagues the single VANOS E36/E46 and the double VANOS E46 for sure; I'm not sure if it affects any models beyond that.

The part failing that actually does cause performance problems is the seals, which doesn't necessarily mean failed VANOS. The VANOS unit itself is probably fine, just needs the seals replaced. A whole new VANOS unit is extremely expensive whereas the seals are cheap, so it's an important differentiation.

I'm sure some people have had their VANOS units actually replaced, but it's not that common for the whole thing to need replacing.

Link to the repair products:
http://www.beisansystems.com/products.html

You needs item BS001 to repair the seals, and BS002 to repair the rattle.

Thanks for the info, Ill do it more or less just to get rid of the embarrassing rattle, Ill either do the beisan or Dr. vanos for $180 more. My shop wanted 1k to rebuild it.. I thought that was a bit expensive