dotslashapex
01-17-2013, 06:22 AM
So yah, I have a 04 ZHP coupe 6 speed silbergraumetallic.
I bought the car with ~60k miles 8 months ago and now the car has about 75k miles on it. When I first bought it I noticed a slight rattle from the VANOS unit, but was given to understand that that was normal. I paid no attention to it and ended up just driving the car as a daily and throwing it about some autocross courses here and there (not really all that heavily because my e36 is the dedicated autocross toy).
In recent times I noticed a considerable lag in power...Oil level was always full or near full, but I knew that this was the sign that the VANOS unit needed addressing.
I took the car into the shop and had them take a look at it who initially said since it's early enough, it could be possibly just be dealt with with a few new gaskets. After they opened it up though, they noticed scarring on the inside of the unit, so I had to get a remanufactured unit with new gears and gaskets which ran up quite the tab. Of course this also included a new valve cover gasket...
They also noticed that the thermostat housing was leaking...in fact there was a stalactite that formed and was rubbing against the fan belt..I have to have the tech send me that picture hahaha. In any case I had that replaced with a new unit along with a coolant flush.
I also had them change the oil with Motul 8100X full synthetic.
The car runs really a lot better, but I'm a little concerned that it's still rattling at lower RPMs. The car pulls very strongly throughout the entire RPM range and there's no hesitation, but is this normal? Do you guys have a slight rattle? I saw this and I guess I'm not the only one....it's very similar to how my car sounds before and after...The vid says that it's eliminated, but you still heal a bit of a rattle in there....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2WArslGmpA
I bought the car with ~60k miles 8 months ago and now the car has about 75k miles on it. When I first bought it I noticed a slight rattle from the VANOS unit, but was given to understand that that was normal. I paid no attention to it and ended up just driving the car as a daily and throwing it about some autocross courses here and there (not really all that heavily because my e36 is the dedicated autocross toy).
In recent times I noticed a considerable lag in power...Oil level was always full or near full, but I knew that this was the sign that the VANOS unit needed addressing.
I took the car into the shop and had them take a look at it who initially said since it's early enough, it could be possibly just be dealt with with a few new gaskets. After they opened it up though, they noticed scarring on the inside of the unit, so I had to get a remanufactured unit with new gears and gaskets which ran up quite the tab. Of course this also included a new valve cover gasket...
They also noticed that the thermostat housing was leaking...in fact there was a stalactite that formed and was rubbing against the fan belt..I have to have the tech send me that picture hahaha. In any case I had that replaced with a new unit along with a coolant flush.
I also had them change the oil with Motul 8100X full synthetic.
The car runs really a lot better, but I'm a little concerned that it's still rattling at lower RPMs. The car pulls very strongly throughout the entire RPM range and there's no hesitation, but is this normal? Do you guys have a slight rattle? I saw this and I guess I'm not the only one....it's very similar to how my car sounds before and after...The vid says that it's eliminated, but you still heal a bit of a rattle in there....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2WArslGmpA