Vanos noise on M54 3.0l!!

Earpy · Post by **Earpy** » Thu 05 Oct, 2006 12:26

I took my Zed to my local independent BWM garage yesterday with what I thought was a water pump on the way out. I've got what sounds like a bearing giving up and the engine is noisy on tick over.

I jokingly said as the mechanic was looking at it "I hope it's not the vanos". He got his mechanics stethoscope out and got me to rev the engine after a few minutes he looked at me and said "Its not the water pump, I'm afraid it sounds like the vanos". My heart sank I got that nasty empty feeling in my stomach.

Its going in for a vanos test on their diagnostic machine next week to see how bad it is.

I had a rubbish nights sleep thinking about how much this is going to cost. One of the main reasons that I bought the 3.0l over the M was the vanos issue. Its a September 2001 3.0l sport with full dealer service history with 48,000m and no warranty!

Will it keep getting worse and do more damage if i leave it? It doesn't feel down on power and the fuel consumption is the same at about 26mpg. I really don't want to have to fork out £2,000 on top of £450 for insurance this month!!

Right I'm off for a cry.

Alfie · Post by **Alfie** » Thu 05 Oct, 2006 15:38

Earpy, I've never heard of the M54 3.0 having VANOS troubles. In fact I've never heard of ANY Zed engine suffering except the S50 ///M. If it's true, that's really unfortunate.
All those troubles were supposed to have been sorted well before 2001.

I'd deffo get a second opinion, and console yourself that £2k would be for an ///M engine at a very expensive stealer.
An indi should be able to fix your 3.0 for much less, especially if you only need some parts and not a complete replacement.

Keep us posted!

Good luck.
A.

Earpy · Post by **Earpy** » Thu 05 Oct, 2006 15:47

Cheers Alfie you've made me feel slightly better.

I think eonone posted on this forum about about a 3.0l with a vanos problem a few months back. I've got to stop reading about the vanos on the net its turning me in to a car hypochondriac!

Cheers

James

BartS · Post by **BartS** » Thu 05 Oct, 2006 15:51

James

I am also surprised to hear that if it would indeed be the Vanos

I have a Y reg 2001 3.0 with virtually identical mileage (50k) and FBMWSH and vanos issues with the 3.0 I think are pretty rare; and my car is still shifting/sounding pretty OK

Fingers crossed that the diagnostic come out OK and keep us posted

Bart

Kipper · Post by **Kipper** » Thu 05 Oct, 2006 15:52

Earpy,
Do let us know what the outcome is, I too have a 3 litre which I thought immune to vanos issues. I'd be interseted to know how common this is, if indeed it is what's wrong.

Definitely get a 2nd opinion.

Good luck.

SpunkyM · Post by **SpunkyM** » Thu 05 Oct, 2006 16:07

I'm surprised to hear this too - unless it's ever had too little or too much oil in of course. Both will wear the VANOS very quickly.

If the worst comes to the worst it should be significantly less to put right than an M as I think you only have single VANOS on the 3.0l which means half the cost of the parts (the VANOS gears are very expensive). I would budget more like £1K but as everyone else has said, get a 2nd opinion before comitting.

stu · Post by **stu** » Thu 05 Oct, 2006 17:13

The M54, like the M52-TU it replaced has Double Vanos

komis · Post by **komis** » Thu 05 Oct, 2006 18:47

True true... double Vanos even on my M52TU 2.8...

Maybe this has been posted before but do you guys know about the recall on the timing chain tensioner? Apparently BMW have changed it for a longer unit which is designed to prevent VANOS de-synch... there was a website I came across with a guy detailing how his VANOS growl was cured right away by that longer tensioner.

Could this apply to other double-VANOS engines as well as the S50?

Here is that website http://www.geocities.com/rick_poon/tensioner.htm

SpunkyM · Post by **SpunkyM** » Thu 05 Oct, 2006 22:16

The M54, like the M52-TU it replaced has Double Vanos

Interesting link on the tensioner - haven't seen that before but I do know tensioner failures are quite common on other cars. The chain would have to get very slack to cause VANOS de-synch though and I would have thought that would have serious repercussions for the engine (a bit like a timing belt slipping a tooth). I think more likely is that it allows much more resonance on the chain at certain rpms and the chain rattles against the timing cover. I bet it would not sound too dissimilar to the well reported VANOS growl which you can hear in my post here... viewtopic.php?t=8960&highlight=

ChrisXL · Post by **ChrisXL** » Thu 05 Oct, 2006 23:54

Any Vanos can fail, it's just that with the S50 the percentage was unacceptable high. As with all things mechanical.............. it breaks in time. The Vanos is IMHO one of the least reliable pieces of technology from BMW.... should have copied the VTEC setup.

Ridiculous prices for a Vanos in the UK!!!
We do a Vanos repair for £800 !

komis · Post by **komis** » Fri 06 Oct, 2006 07:44

Hey my VANOS is fine but I could use any excuse to go through Holland on my next Euroblast

When you say £800 does that include all parts and labor for a brand new VANOS?

ChrisXL · Post by **ChrisXL** » Fri 06 Oct, 2006 08:25

Not a brand new Vanos, a repaired one.

Basically, new parts in the old casing. Seems a bit ridiculous to exchange a complete unit if a repair can ben done for a lot less.

///M_aniac · Post by **///M_aniac** » Fri 06 Oct, 2006 08:39

Like Alfie, I've never heard of a 3.0 having VANOS problems. Let us know the outcome. Hope the initial diagnosis is wrong.

Earpy · Post by **Earpy** » Fri 06 Oct, 2006 22:33

Thanks for all the replies guys. Taking it for a second opinion early next week so fingers crossed.

I found this thread on another forum which has identified a problem with the double vanos. Hope this is not the same as my problem but it is def worth a read.

http://www.bmwland.co.uk/talker/viewtopic.php?t=34647

Cheers

James

Earpy · Post by **Earpy** » Fri 06 Oct, 2006 22:34

Thanks for all the replies guys. Taking it for a second opinion early next week so fingers crossed.

I found this thread on another forum which has identified a problem with the double vanos. Hope this is not the same as my problem but it is def worth a read.

http://www.bmwland.co.uk/talker/viewtopic.php?t=34647

Cheers

James

Sorry for the double post!