Z4M: VANOS Failure and Inspection II. Are they related?

pal · Sep 12, 2008

Bumped into this post on e46fanatics.com yesterday. Looks like 06SMGCabrio is getting a new motor because his VANOS failed immediately after Inspection II. There are hints at the fact that a lot of the VANOS failures on S54 M3s have been past Inspection II.

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=603639&page=4

Since our cars are still low in mileage, I though this would be something to keep in mind when bringing your Z4M to a dealer for Inspection II where they open up the valve cover and expose the VANOS for valve shimming etc.

Looks like a very sensitive solenoid can cause catastrophic failure of the VANOS and potentially send metal shards into the cylinders.

Not to be all negative, I also found this thread where Tonester has done some preventative maintenance on the VANOS. This sounds reasonable to do after about 10K miles, methinks to cleanout all the break-in metal from the unit filter.

http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=225780

Dammmittt · Sep 12, 2008

Interesting. Thanks for the info.

wrh3 · Sep 12, 2008

Thanks for the heads up :thumbup:

thekurgan · Sep 12, 2008

Definitely bookmarked for my first service, this seems like a no-brainer to replace the small filter and you'd think along with the first all-fluids flush at 1200, this would be done then as well. I will have it replaced at that first 1200 service as well, seems like this filter would trap the most during that interval.

Ron Stygar · Sep 12, 2008

pal said:
Bumped into this post on e46fanatics.com yesterday. Looks like 06SMGCabrio is getting a new motor because his VANOS failed immediately after Inspection II. There are hints at the fact that a lot of the VANOS failures on S54 M3s have been past Inspection II.

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=603639&page=4

He's calling inspection II for both of his services in post one. 29,000 miles would be Inspection I.
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showpost.php?p=8446284&postcount=1

I didn't realize there was a filter in the pressure valve.

Randy Forbes · Sep 12, 2008

Nor did I. I just ordered four (4) sets to start implementing that service whenever I do S-54 rod bearing replacement (01-02 Z3Ms).

Big thanks to Pal for bringing that tidbit to the table :thumbup:

Incidentally, I do not believe that an Inspection Service (I or II) will open the door to an engine failure; a bad technician will however, and he doesn't need an Insp Svc as an excuse...

JonM · Sep 12, 2008

Wow. Nice find on the filter. I will get the BMW instructions the next time I do a TIS $-day, unless someone beats me to it.

Ron Stygar · Sep 12, 2008

I'm looking at it.

Ron Stygar · Sep 12, 2008

Part numbers

O-ring 11 31 1 318 659 $3.16r
O-ring 11 36 1 403 325 $3.70r
Filter 11 36 1 401 971 $8.87r
Sealing plate 11 36 7 831 906 $16.95r

Randy Forbes · Sep 12, 2008

Ron Stygar said:
O-ring 11 31 1 318 659 $3.16r
O-ring 11 36 1 403 325 $3.70r
Filter 11 36 1 401 971 $8.87r

I ordered the sealing plate too, just to be prepared...

11 36 7 831 906 sealing plate

pal · Sep 12, 2008

Thanks for the P#'s Ron.

Do we need to replace the valve cover gasket and any others to do this?

Randy Forbes · Sep 12, 2008

pal said:
Thanks for the P#'s Ron.

Do we need to replace the valve cover gasket and any others to do this?

No, unless you're also doing a valve adjust service (Insp I or II).

laidback · Sep 12, 2008

Thanks for the heads up...

Dammmittt · Sep 13, 2008

I'm eagerly awaiting the DIY thread on this

Ron Stygar · Sep 13, 2008

For some reason I can't find it. I've seen it before but it's not on the newer TIS that I can find.
Newer TIS shows the E85 Vanos differences, so maybe it's on the older TIS which I haven't checked yet.

Luminor · Sep 13, 2008

I brought my car to the dealer for its 10K service a few weeks back and commented that it seemed to be running a little down on power and that there was an audible vibration coming from what sounded like the engine bay. The dealer completed the service and commented that there was an issue with the VANOS that they fixed. ...not sure if this would be the same issue being discussed here...but I guess the point is that I had issues with the VANOS on my car as well...seems to be a trend.

Do we know if these tend to be recurring issues or do the problems usually stay resolved once fixed?

pal · Sep 13, 2008

Luminor said:
I brought my car to the dealer for its 10K service a few weeks back and commented that it seemed to be running a little down on power

I brought my car for the 12,800 mile service and the throttle response in Sport mode seems to be noticeably less agressive than before. I called the dealer and asked if they did anything to the engine and they said they did not touch it else it would have been on the invoice. Somehow, I dont believe them.

Anything to look out for to see if they may have opened up the VANOS unit?

pal · Sep 13, 2008

Looks like its quite easy to replace the filter and 2 o-rings ... 1 22 mm bolt (aka the Pressure Limiting Valve) and the seals and filter should pull out with it.

Here is the RealOEM Link. Go to the Z4 MCoupe->Engine->Cylinder Head->VANOS image. 4, 5 and 6 are the seals and filter.

Here is a pic of the bolt I took today ...

Randy Forbes · Sep 18, 2008

I was informed today that a bunch of "other" parts I ordered were in at the dealer, but a couple O-rings and the filter cartridges were on back order (13 on b/o nationally).

IIRC, the O-rings weren't scheduled to be available until 10/10/08, though I've gotten stories like that before and had the parts in my hand a week later. No information on when the filters were scheduled to arrive.

Ron Stygar · Sep 18, 2008

According to the parts guy there is a bunch in AG for the o-rings and filter.

Vodka G · Sep 19, 2008

thanks for the post :thumbup:

gonna do the filter and 2 O rings soon

i dont think i am gonna mess with the sealing plates since is not leaking or anything....but def wanna replace that filter

vicj · Sep 19, 2008

I don't understand how Vanos failure can be related to the Inspection II only. They also do the Valve adjustment at Inspection I. Most likely, something was just done wrong, in this case.

Ron Stygar · Sep 19, 2008

Look at the links in post #1.
He calls everything inspection II. He's really at inspection I.

Ron Stygar · Sep 19, 2008

pics from link

http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showpost.php?p=3311290&postcount=29

pal · Sep 30, 2008

Parts are here ...

cmsnow@pacbell. · Oct 14, 2008

Ron can you post a DIY on this with torque values, etc. to the **Z4** FAQs and How-to's?

Ron Stygar · Oct 14, 2008

Nope.

After a lot of time, I couldn't find one.

vicj · Oct 15, 2008

OK...now I just need someone in the mid-Atlantic area that can do this for me...

Vodka G · Oct 15, 2008

i just did mine 2 weeks ago...very easy...screw on, replace and screw off (at least for the filter and the O-rings)

no doing the plates since it looks fine (a la if it aint broken dun fix it)

jmillet · Oct 28, 2008

Easy job

While doing my 4000 Oil Change Interval service today I also changed out the VANOS filter cartridge and O-rings. Original filter with 13,000 miles on it looked clean with no evidence of metal particles.
Easy job as long as you have a 22mm box-openend wrench. Didn't have a torque spec so simply cinched it up moderately tight (whatever that means

)

Ron Stygar · Oct 28, 2008

jmillet said:
Easy job as long as you have a 22mm box-openend wrench. Didn't have a torque spec so simply cinched it up moderately tight (whatever that means )

Did you measure the thread diameter?

pal · Oct 28, 2008

I will try to get to changing out my filter tonight and see if I can take some pictures for all of us.

jmillet/Vodha G - did you just have to unbolt one bolt (the outer big one) to get to the filter and o-rings? And is the filter a simple snap-on style and sort of clicks into place?

pal · Oct 29, 2008

Some pics of my VANOS service done today ... took all of 20 minutes.

Ron Stygar · Oct 29, 2008

pal said:
Some pics of my VANOS service done today ... took all of 20 minutes.

Looks clean in the pic.
Does the filter snap in? Is the upper o-ring black?

gokartmozart · Oct 29, 2008

One note from the later posts on the M3forum...
Be careful not to scar the white plastic washer when removing the adjacent black O-ring.

Thanks for the heads up guys!

thekurgan · Mar 21, 2009

Just changed my o-rings and filter, very little sediment at 6k miles. I plan to change these parts once per year, cheap and took 10 minutes.

jmillet · May 18, 2011

Second filter change

Second vanos filter/O-ring replacement at 31,908 miles (first changed at 13,086 miles). Filter was very clean with no signs of metallic residue or oil varnish.
Torqued the 22mm head to 20N*m.

Z4M: VANOS Failure and Inspection II. Are they related?

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