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New Eccentric Shaft Sensor Installed Today

40K views 24 replies 17 participants last post by  sleeper22 
#1 ·
I admit to reading posts that relate to this topic, but I want to share my satisfaction with the Dealership and the performance of my engine.

The sensor went bad and was leaking oil through the seal in and around the sensor. My car is 10K past the warranty (60K miles). The dealership performed the repair under a "goodwill" exception. The SA told me that the repair is normally $1800. They a lot the technician 8.5 hours of labor for this repair.

Not only was the repair free, I also have a car that runs much better at low rpm's. Now I will get to see if mpg improves. I should knock on wood. Hopefully I won't have a costly service need in the near future. My anticipation is something like brakes (my brakes are Original) or suspension will get me. I replaced a crack rear spring on my 2002 325xi.

Isn't is refreshing to hear about a positive service experience coming out of the dealership?
 
#4 ·
It is at the end of the Valvetronic ecentric shaft
-it is located under the valve cover
-it tells the ECU what position the shaft is in, barely rotated for idle, fully rotated for full power

If the valvetronic mechanism controls the 'throttling' of the engine just as a throttle body and butterfly would, then the eccentric shaft sensor is the equivalent to the throttle position sensor.

This sensor tells the computer how much the eccentric shaft has rotated, it gives feedback to the computer as to how much 'valve lift/throttling' the engine gets.

The valve cover is removed and the VCG is replaced when re-attaching the valve cover.
 
#6 ·
The repair estimate of $1800 was based on 8 1/2 hrs labor I believe. The SA was willing to cut me a break and offered a repair quote of $1300 before he went and lobbied for "goodwill" repair.

The angle of my approach was to convince the dealership that this malfunction was emissions related. The emissions system has an 8yr/80,000 mile warranty. Valvetronic is not considered to be within the scope of the emissions system.

You have to agree that this seems like a rare failure.
 
#12 ·
I admit to reading posts that relate to this topic, but I want to share my satisfaction with the Dealership and the performance of my engine.

The sensor went bad and was leaking oil through the seal in and around the sensor. My car is 10K past the warranty (60K miles). The dealership performed the repair under a "goodwill" exception. The SA told me that the repair is normally $1800. They a lot the technician 8.5 hours of labor for this repair.

Not only was the repair free, I also have a car that runs much better at low rpm's. Now I will get to see if mpg improves. I should knock on wood. Hopefully I won't have a costly service need in the near future. My anticipation is something like brakes (my brakes are Original) or suspension will get me. I replaced a crack rear spring on my 2002 325xi.

Isn't is refreshing to hear about a positive service experience coming out of the dealership?
What symptoms did you have? Was it just an SES light or was the engine running weird?
Let us know how the repair effects performance and fuel mileage. My engine has been behaving strangely of late and the dealer's software update did nothing.
 
#13 ·
I just had this done at the dealer- I didnt know this was the issue nor did I have any error codes. I had brought my car into the dealer for my battery cable replacement and a vehicle check- I told them I had an issue with the Car at stop lights from time to time kinda jerking on me while I held the brake pedal... So out of that statement and their own test drive they did this repair and stated in the report report that the sensor did in fact have Oil in it... My car is 2 years old with 30,000 miles on it- I wonder how often I will need to have this done...
 
#14 ·
Kudos to your dealership for being so lean forward. How often will this fail? Who knows but seeing more and more of these happening. I never knew until 6 months ago what that sensor was and how great a design to bury this requiring hours of labor.
Like the mechatronic sleeve BMW will improve this and the sensor.
 
#16 ·
8.5 hours is book time and it doesn't take ANYWHERE near that.

We can do this job in under 3 hours
 
#17 ·
Have the newer V-6, non turbo (if they have one) engine been redesigned to not have this eccentric shaft sensor problem? I see my 335i only has the vanos solenoids on the front and the CPS and Cam Shaft Sensors on the block. Only oil leaks I have had have been VCG and Oil Housing Gasket leaks. Wanting to get wife a newer CPO with 6 Cyl but don't want this problem if I can avoid by model. Or, does she get a 4 cylinder dieseling turbo 5 series?
 
#18 ·
N54s do not have an eccentric shaft sensor.

These motors are I-6s, not V6s.
 
#21 ·
parts you should have on hand

I successfully changed my ESS a month ago. I didn't want to look though the thread to see if you listed the parts you bought for this, so I just thought I would tell you what I used. Obviously it is under the valve cover so you will need a valve cover gasket set and brake cleaner to clean the oil off. Your sensor should have come in two pieces. one being the sensor itself and the other the gasket that fits on to the valve cover. I went a step further and ordered new spark plugs since I was near 100,000 miles.

The huge nut in the center of the back of the compartment that holds the stabilizing bars is its own huge size that you may need to buy a socket for.

Pay attention to how the valvetronic motor removal goes in the DIY- it is a bit tricky. A whole lot of people suggest replacing that gasket as well. It is the big diamond shaped one on the side of the valve cover.

The valve cover bolts are to be torqued to 7 foot pounds- I couldn't get my hands on a torque wrench that worked for that light of a weight- but if you can it will help. I has the shop finish that part for me to be sure.

I think that was all I used- but you know once you start being like "well, since we are in here already, lets change this out too" it can get really expensive.
 
#22 ·
I successfully changed my ESS a month ago. I didn't want to look though the thread to see if you listed the parts you bought for this, so I just thought I would tell you what I used. Obviously it is under the valve cover so you will need a valve cover gasket set and brake cleaner to clean the oil off. Your sensor should have come in two pieces. one being the sensor itself and the other the gasket that fits on to the valve cover. I went a step further and ordered new spark plugs since I was near 100,000 miles.

>snip<

Pay attention to how the valvetronic motor removal goes in the DIY- it is a bit tricky. A whole lot of people suggest replacing that gasket as well. It is the big diamond shaped one on the side of the valve cover.

The valve cover bolts are to be torqued to 7 foot pounds- I couldn't get my hands on a torque wrench that worked for that light of a weight- but if you can it will help. I has the shop finish that part for me to be sure.
Good advice - rule o'thumb: Never re-use a gasket!
 
#23 · (Edited)
Adding more new information to this old thread...
  1. my car stumbled once at idle and the Service Engine Soon light lit up. In the ensuing 3-4 days after the first stumble, until I got my car into BMW service, the stumbling got somewhat worse particularly on a cold engine immediately after first start of the day.
  2. as Str8Black328 described, " the Car at stop lights from time to time kinda jerking on me while I held the brake pedal..", but after the first start and stumble at standstill, I didn't notice more stumbling at stoplights.
  3. I used the iVini (BMWhat) app after the first stumble, and it reported code 2A31 and its report said "Valvetronic Eccentric Shaft Sensor: Guide"; Bentley translated 2A31 to "VVT Eccentric Shaft Sensor Parity Error (Bank 1)"
  4. my car is 2011 SULEV with 46K miles, and the repair was TOTALLY FREE (CPO would have cost me $50, but the ESS is a SULEV extended warranty item)
  5. I asked my SA what it would normally cost to fix out of a warranty, and was told $1800, $700 parts (sensor, sleeve, VCG, another gasket) and $1100 labor.
  6. I dropped off car at 8am, by 3pm I was called and told the car was ready for pickup
 
#24 ·
Just had mine redone under extended warranty at 93482 miles on a 2011 328i at Gebhardt BMW in Boulder.

They originally quoted me $1050 before they figured out that the extended warranty covered it... so $50!!!

My experience was that the car would often (but not always) surge between 600 and 800 rpm at stop lights in drive while the brake was depressed. When accelerating from a stop (especially in DS as opposed to drive) I would get varying amounts of a hesitation (sometimes no hesitation at all) and then it would pull away strongly. It would usually just catch me by surprise... "what was that?".

Had to return the 2017 X5 loaner today (with 8 miles on it)... sniff... sniff...:cry::cry:

Chris
 
#25 ·
I admit to reading posts that relate to this topic, but I want to share my satisfaction with the Dealership and the performance of my engine.

The sensor went bad and was leaking oil through the seal in and around the sensor. My car is 10K past the warranty (60K miles). The dealership performed the repair under a "goodwill" exception. The SA told me that the repair is normally $1800. They a lot the technician 8.5 hours of labor for this repair.

Not only was the repair free, I also have a car that runs much better at low rpm's. Now I will get to see if mpg improves. I should knock on wood. Hopefully I won't have a costly service need in the near future. My anticipation is something like brakes (my brakes are Original) or suspension will get me. I replaced a crack rear spring on my 2002 325xi.

Isn't is refreshing to hear about a positive service experience coming out of the dealership?
That's great it was a goodwill repair but your SA is full of ****. I had mine replaced when they did the valve cover AND oil pan gasket and the bill was approx $1749 combined. Why do these SA try to pull that crap when there are so many forums you can easily find out the cost?
 
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