Beware: Widespread Vanos failures in E46 M3s

I have a 2006 M3 comp. ed. and at 79,000 miles the VANOS basically fell apart causing catastrophic engine failure due to defective screws that are used to attach the cam shaft drive cog to the VANOS. This jammed valves on cylinder #2 into the piston and lifted the head off the engine. Luckily I purchased the extended warranty and the dealership dropped a remanufactured engine into my car!!

BUT NOW with only 3000 miles on this “new” engine I have an awful sound the appears to be a connecting rod bearing failure. The MF service manager asked if I had been over revving the engine. F*@k NO. I have always babied my rid, even with the old engine.

I am ready to sue BMW for all the problems and head aches they have caused me; especially now on my second engine failing so quickly.

I have a 2006 M3 comp. ed. and at 79,000 miles the VANOS basically fell apart causing catastrophic engine failure due to defective screws that are used to attach the cam shaft drive cog to the VANOS. This jammed valves on cylinder #2 into the piston and lifted the head off the engine. Luckily I purchased the extended warranty and the dealership dropped a remanufactured engine into my car!!

BUT NOW with only 3000 miles on this “new” engine I have an awful sound the appears to be a connecting rod bearing failure. The MF service manager asked if I had been over revving the engine. F*@k NO. I have always babied my rid, even with the old engine.

I am ready to sue BMW for all the problems and head aches they have caused me; especially now on my second engine failing so quickly.

and i was hoping 05-06 models would be free of mechanical defects...

Just had my entire VANOs replaced for a tidy sum (codes showed a complete VANOs failure). 85K on a 2002 M3. Car is running perfect now. (also just had the subframe crack inspection done).

Originally Posted by ketchup

and i was hoping 05-06 models would be free of mechanical defects...

There goes my trip to San Diego this weekend to look at advertised 05-06.

I have a 2005 M3 cabrio and the vanos failed and sheared off the cam bolts and bent my valves and now i need to know what i can do. It is out of warranty and i am looking at a huge expense. I need to know if the dealer can be responsible for this or at least some of it. Please advise.

They have updated the bolts. Call BMWNA.

This must be a problem with the S54 engine since I have 2 E36 M3's with as many as 281K miles with zero VANOs issues. Consider the S52 engine is a single VANOs and hydraulic lifters with no valve adjustment required.
Failing VANOs seems to be the bolt issue not the actual VANOs. Replacing VANOs bolts to the cam is not that huge a maintenance effort and if I had one I would be pulling mine and upgrading the bolts.
I have rebuilt VANOs on S52s and it is an extremely simple system.
I wanted to replace my E36 M3 convertible with the E46 M3 and if I do I will certainly replace the bolts before driving it very much.
Good to know about this issue...

I am also having Vanos Problems With my 05 M3 and it only has 24k on it I would like to join your fight any way I can.

Originally Posted by m3 06

I have a 2006 M3 comp. ed. and at 79,000 miles the VANOS basically fell apart causing catastrophic engine failure due to defective screws that are used to attach the cam shaft drive cog to the VANOS. This jammed valves on cylinder #2 into the piston and lifted the head off the engine. Luckily I purchased the extended warranty and the dealership dropped a remanufactured engine into my car!!

BUT NOW with only 3000 miles on this “new” engine I have an awful sound the appears to be a connecting rod bearing failure. The MF service manager asked if I had been over revving the engine. F*@k NO. I have always babied my rid, even with the old engine.

I am ready to sue BMW for all the problems and head aches they have caused me; especially now on my second engine failing so quickly.

Did you get a some sort of BMW extended warranty or a third party that covered it? I am looking at an out of warranty 06 M3 coupe with fairly low miles and this thread kind of worries me (perhaps I'd be better of with a new 135i)? Thanks.

can anyone please tell me where to go and get the new upgraded bolts??? thanks

there is a place in NC where they rebuild M3 VANOS for about $700. you basically send the old one back and they send you a rebuild one for $700. ill try to get you the info if you want. i can hear noise on the VANOS area on my M3, I'm about to change it before it causes more problems.

I am interested in the rebuilt VANOS in NC. Do you have the contact information? Thanks!

I just bought a 2002 this week and needs vano replaced. I guess do drvanos vano and exhaust hub and cam bolts. Hopefully this will fix it for good.

Originally Posted by dwhegler

I am interested in the rebuilt VANOS in NC. Do you have the contact information? Thanks!

http://drvanos.com/


here is their website

I own a 2003 E46 and according to the scanned codes and common symptoms, it seems my VANOS has gone bad. The loss of power is certainly noticeable. The car is just not as much fun to drive as it used to be prior to this. The car has 110k miles. I don't know much about it's service history and am not covered under any warranty. Dealer gave a $5000-$6000 estimate to fix this.

Do I have any alternatives? I have spent a considerable amount of money on this car already. I am taking the dealer out of the question because throwing that kind of money into a car that I am unsure of how long it will last is just absurd.

This bothers me each and every day. I no longer look forward to getting in the driver's seat and turning the ignition key. It really disappoints you to see your baby like this.

I went to independent shop at $115 an hour and my bill was $4900 including parts I purchased (I bought from drvanos as shop says that way no tax). The work done are vanos, cam bolts, exhaust hub (all three from drvanos), valve adjustments, new valve cover gaskets, spark plugs, and new belts. Good luck

Originally Posted by kazsak

I went to independent shop at $115 an hour and my bill was $4900 including parts I purchased (I bought from drvanos as shop says that way no tax). The work done are vanos, cam bolts, exhaust hub (all three from drvanos), valve adjustments, new valve cover gaskets, spark plugs, and new belts. Good luck

My 2006 had VANOS failure at 41k miles--3 weeks out of warranty. BMW stepped up and fixed it--kudos to them for that. But that's still bull****. A hand built premium engine that dies at 41k miles? Especially with the way I maintained it.