BMW and M Power Owners
- Thread starter panthro
- Start date
It depends. Especially if I have two separate issues - e.g. needing a new VANOS unit, as well as sorting out a misfire - injectors are expensive aren't they, and the codes showed misfiring on four cylinders... I suppose the chap was covering his bases when he said "it has the potential to start getting expensive".
£2k wasn't a quote, he put it to me as a worst case estimate.
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I dunno why you keep coming back to vanos here - have you seen a vanos unit off the car? I can't possibly see how it can cause a misfire - it's essentially a couple of cogs and a chain. Even if by some miracle it was the problem you'd rebuild not replace
Generally you'd know all about a duff vanos as it rattles away or causes hesitation / doesn't feel like anything is happening. It is or should be very separate to the car running on less than 6 cylinders.
Generally you'd know all about a duff vanos as it rattles away or causes hesitation / doesn't feel like anything is happening. It is or should be very separate to the car running on less than 6 cylinders.
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It has the potential to start getting expensive if he's thinking of things out of thin air to replace in a search for the fault, my e39 was showing a mis-fire on four cylinders it turned out to be a cam position sensor that was throwing things awry, I fitted it myself after buying a "premium" part from ECP (£75 iirc) which was a pig to do due to being unable to get the VANOS solenoid off but not hard and certainly £825 cheaper than I was quoted by a supposed BMW specialist in Stoke-on-Trent who were in a similar vein suggesting numerous - pricy - reasons as to why I was getting a mis-fire.
If you can't do it yourself, I'd at the very least get a few second opinions prior to leaving it with this specialist who - on the face of it - sounds far from it to me!
Let's give the chap a chance - I went there on recommendation after doing some research! I spoke to him after no more than plugging my car in to see what it said. I'm not a mug though and won't be taken for a ride, so due warning taken from some of these replies.
His initially mentioned the cam timing/VANOS due to the initial problem it went in with - hesitation, an increasing flat spot, dropping into a low power (not limp mode) state after a jolt when given too much throttle - but only when cold, during the engine warm up phase, completely cured by turning the car off and on again once warmed up - and the fact that the first code thrown by this issue to prompt my visit was an exhaust side VANOS code.
The misfire happened after swapping the two solenoids over to see if the VANOS code swapped to the inlet side (which it didn't), entirely of its own accord, but after a similar on-throttle hesitation which would prompt the initial low-power issue. But this time the car was warm.
Either way, it doesn't appear to be the standard "rough running, hesitation, stalling at idle" issues you see on the BMW forums resulting from a simple dodgy coilpacks/sparkplugs etc, and a knackered VANOS solenoid has already been ruled out.
I'm popping in after work tomorrow anyway, so let's see...
His initially mentioned the cam timing/VANOS due to the initial problem it went in with - hesitation, an increasing flat spot, dropping into a low power (not limp mode) state after a jolt when given too much throttle - but only when cold, during the engine warm up phase, completely cured by turning the car off and on again once warmed up - and the fact that the first code thrown by this issue to prompt my visit was an exhaust side VANOS code.
The misfire happened after swapping the two solenoids over to see if the VANOS code swapped to the inlet side (which it didn't), entirely of its own accord, but after a similar on-throttle hesitation which would prompt the initial low-power issue. But this time the car was warm.
Either way, it doesn't appear to be the standard "rough running, hesitation, stalling at idle" issues you see on the BMW forums resulting from a simple dodgy coilpacks/sparkplugs etc, and a knackered VANOS solenoid has already been ruled out.
I'm popping in after work tomorrow anyway, so let's see...
335i's been into BMW today to look at idrive advised failed bulb holders in the rear left cluster, despite the lights working just fine.
Whilst it was there I asked them to look at a loud rattle I had mainly on startup and which I thought was the butterfly valve in the exhaust. Long story short, it actually turns out to be wastegates.
She's booked in at the end of the month for a week for them to look at and sort.It's just gone over 60k and Jan 2007 build car.
Should all be sorted through the Mondial warranty according to them! Thank **** for that!! Are they likely to say I may have to pay for investigative works before full diagnosis due to the size of the job?
Whilst it was there I asked them to look at a loud rattle I had mainly on startup and which I thought was the butterfly valve in the exhaust. Long story short, it actually turns out to be wastegates.
She's booked in at the end of the month for a week for them to look at and sort.It's just gone over 60k and Jan 2007 build car.
Should all be sorted through the Mondial warranty according to them! Thank **** for that!! Are they likely to say I may have to pay for investigative works before full diagnosis due to the size of the job?
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Sorry m8, I only specialise in tea. loltim will verify.
timbob, you're in bedford, if you're prepared to come down to Fareham I can certainly recommend my specialist, your quote sounds rather
Verified.
Don't muck about when we're talking mrk and beverages.
335i's been into BMW today to look at idrive advised failed bulb holders in the rear left cluster, despite the lights working just fine.
Whilst it was there I asked them to look at a loud rattle I had mainly on startup and which I thought was the butterfly valve in the exhaust. Long story short, it actually turns out to be wastegates.
She's booked in at the end of the month for a week for them to look at and sort.It's just gone over 60k and Jan 2007 build car.
Should all be sorted through the Mondial warranty according to them! Thank **** for that!! Are they likely to say I may have to pay for investigative works before full diagnosis due to the size of the job?
If you have a full warranty then you've got nothing to worry about.
If your engine needs rebuilding, a few weeks. If you need a sensor replacing, 2 hours.
Bizarre question is bizarre.
Well, the issue has (hopefully) been found. When the garage got to work on the car to investigate the problem properly, they found ECU sat in its box, basically submerged in water and badly corroded.
That might explain my different/intermittent/unrelated running issues. Fingers crossed anyway.
That might explain my different/intermittent/unrelated running issues. Fingers crossed anyway.
Well after a quick phone call miraculously the car was ready for collection within a few hours.
The car has had the oil level sensor replaced as well as replacement brake pads. They had the car for 4 days to complete this without so much as a phone call to update me on what was going on. Not the best service and im not convinced it would take 4 days to diagnose, obtain and replace the required parts but fingers crossed the oil leak which the car has now been into BMW twice for is resolved.
Quick question, is tram lining normal in e46's? It's very noticeable on mine, especially at motorway speeds. I've checked tyre's/pressures etc and adjusted accordingly. It still does it, can alignment be a cause of this? Or suspension components?