Have my VANOS seals finally given in?

NVP

NVP

NVP

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6 Sep 2007
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Howdy ya'll.

I drove my old 325 at the weekend and felt a distinct lack of power from launch until between 3-4k before it starts to pull like I remember, I thought it could simply be me being used to more power but my sister also says it's sluggish and fuel consumption is lower. Other than that it feels fine, above 4k it pulls like a train still to above 140 and there is no smoke from the exhaust or funny noises from the engine.

It recently hit the 100k mark, had the radiator changed as that eventually gave in - is the Vanos just an age thing? Or did I break it by riding it too hard?

Does this need to be a Sytner job or will a BMW specialist be fine for something like this? I'm not sure how complicated it will be as it looks like an engine out jobby(?)

Cheers :)
 
Oh sweet, cheers :)

Couldn't hear any rattle but will get the DISA checked too, thanks.

EDIT: Sorry, you ninja'd your post after I replied - no, not called them hadn't heard of them until you mentioned. Just had a browse of their site, prices are way cheaper than I expected :) I have a BMW specialist in Cov I trust, I'll see how much they quote too.

Cheers
 
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You can also do a vanos leak test on inpa, might be worth a try. My seals certainlyndidnt make a massive difference bit the old ones were very brittle when I took them out
 
Good to know, cheers. OBD cables require a serial port? Hmm... might have an old lappy lying around somewhere. Thanks, a new gadget to play with :D
 
Mine is a USB one rather than serial port, the driver just emulates a serial port all you really need to do is pick a spare com port and make sure its the one the software is pointed to. The vag cables won't work without a slight adaption though if you don't have a BMW specific one (cheap)
 
rodenal said:
Mine is a USB one rather than serial port, the driver just emulates a serial port all you really need to do is pick a spare com port and make sure its the one the software is pointed to. The vag cables won't work without a slight adaption though if you don't have a BMW specific one (cheap)
Click to expand...

NVP said:
Ah ok sorry, didn't notice USB in my quick googling. Will make sure I pick up a BMW one :)

Thanks
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I bought a vag one because I am a cheapass. You can either solder mod it or do what I did and reprogram the chip on board. Instructions are readily available.

Unmodded, I could clear functional jobs and alter things without issue. The only issue comes when you need to monitor stuff with the engine running.
 
I had similar symptoms on the 330 and it was the exhaust camshaft position sensor at fault.

I'd recommend only buying the genuine BMW part (think it was about £90inc VAT) and it's a 10 minute job to DIY so nice and easy.
 
VANOS seals are reasonably easy, though it's a long fiddly job by all accounts. I still need to do mine if I'm honest, but there's a full step by step guide over on Beisan Systems website. They have a fantastic rep for their seals and are available from Hack Engineering over here, alternatively, you could get the i6Automotive ones which are a little cheaper.

The original seals start to go hard after not many miles (iirc about 30k) so the uprated ones are a set and forget type affair from what I've read.

Factor in that you'll probably want to replace the rocker cover gasket seals at the same time while you've got the rocker cover off.

My 330ci feels a little sluggish and there is a noticeable surge past 3.5k-4k RPM so reasonably similar symptoms to you. Those USB diagnostic cables do work, I use mine regularly and can do live data readings with it, which came in handy in diagnosing an issue with a mates E46 M3's DSC system.
 
Cheers for the info lads :) I won't be doing it myself as I'm sure I'd bork the whole thing up, plus I'll get the specialist or Sytner to confirm the issue.

Deffo going to have a play around with INPA though, actually slightly excited haha :D
 
Not sure if he's around your way, but Jason from BW Chiptune can and does these for customers - might be worth giving him a call :)
 
Cheers for the suggestion but too far for me :) I've got it booked in with my local specialist - was happy with the work they did on my e34 so I'm sure they'll do a decent job of this too.
 
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