M3AN

After today buddy I don't want to see the inside another VANOS unit ever!

Goods are in the country pending delivery. I just had to pay Customs $189.85. This is the only amount I've paid so far (that hasn't been refunded). I still need to verify via credit card statement next month.

Yeah, I've owned it for most of its life (>2/3) and have been pretty meticulous with as much as I can. However I pulled my plugs today as a part of this procedure and they all had shocking gaps and need to be replaced immediately. I learned I need to check them more frequently and also check my last Inspection 1 receipt.

Suspension is in NZ, ETA Wed. Full refund on my credit card still.

Those with keen eyes that know VANOS might spot the difference... the "depth" of the splined shaft in the red circle should be similar (ish) to the one in the green rectangle. It should protrude some. Also when we took the cap off the exhaust cylinder cover on the VANOS it blew out pressurised oil which indicates that the exhaust solenoids had failed closed (or open, I'm not sure actually). I think I'll need to remove the exhaust cam tomorrow to get to that shaft but it is what it is, then I'll re-time and chuck the new VANOS on.

Here we go again...

Who knew you could borrow a S50 double VANOS unit? Hoping to get this in tomorrow if it proves necessary after some more investigation. Cheers Mark.

For anyone that cares the car tried but failed to start this morning when I went to verify the codes. Looks like the VANOS is coming back off.

Seriously I love to hate this car... or is that hate to love it? A3 (163) MSS50 Control Module Fault - Internal 16 (022) VANOS Exhaust Valve - Over Advanced My VANOS exhaust solenoid has failed for one reason or another. Hopefully it's just a dry solder...

Yep, and it's valid. Edit: and an actual picture of the box!

Okay - mistake on my part - it is the oil level light that comes on, not the pressure light, that never comes on. But the level light flickers now when the spluttering occurs and sometimes stays on for a few seconds. The ignition on self test does not throw up a level warning. I'm about to check it again and top it up but I'm sure the oil level is fine. Problem is definitely getting worse.

Woah... Amazon have just processed a full refund for the suspension... and another set, that I was not charged for, is on a DHL plane to NZ. This could end up being the least expensive kit I've ever "purchased". I won't get my hopes up yet though.

Okay so cleaning the MAF sensor did nothing, the problem is worse today. Absolutely no problem above ~1500 RPM. Oil level light still comes on occasionally when it happens! Might have to pull the coils tonight.

Mailbox is full I think... send me a PM...

Thanks, will do.

Update: Amazon came through as I mentioned above and the goods arrived at Mainfreight within 2 days. Mainfreight are also trying to make this right - they're airfreighting the package (25kg) apparently at no cost to me... I'm going to be fascinated by the final invoice! I have the DHL tracking number and it's about 10 days away.

Thanks SJ. It doesn't feel violent or consistent enough to be a misfire... I think (because I've not experienced one in this car before). I'll give the MAF a clean when I get home... I tested the coils 12 months ago and they were fine... might have to do that again and check the plugs.

UPDATE 21/01 I've "fixed" the problem, it was a faulty VANOS exhaust solenoid. After three days of intermittent problems the car failed to start. I replaced the VANOS and re-timed the engine and it seems to be okay at the moment. Details throughout this thread. ORIGINAL POST Okay so I jumped in my car yesterday after stopping in at the hardware store and went to pull out onto the main road and *cough* *splutter* a few times just from idle to around 1200 RPM. The car didn't seem like it was going to stall, a little bit more go pedal and it was fine. The car was already up to operating temperature. It did it once more on the way home from idle (pulling away from traffic lights). But it doesn't do it every time. On the way to the office this morning it happened again. Also, if I coast down a hill put it in neutral and let the revs drop to idle and tap the gas I can occasionally make it splutter - I did this twice and both times the oil level light came on momentarily and immediately extinguished. Oil level is fine (could probably do with another 500mls but it's good). The oil light does not come on every time the cough, splutter happens. Full power and no symptoms above about 1200 RPM. E36 M3 3.2 6 Speed. Almost seems like fuel but I can't correlate to the oil light... Any ideas, this is a bit of a concern. Cheers.

So I have confirmed I am a tool and ordered the LHD part. I'm normally very conscious of the R/LHD differences but due to the circumstances of this purchase completely overlooked it. My penance will be drilling the correct two holes and finding black rubber bungs to suit the redundant holes. The bungs aren't entirely necessary but this is punishment after all. There's a lesson here to buy local in some cases. Net I think I saved 25% of the purchase price (which only equated to about NZ$40) by importing. And now that I can't return it (practically speaking) I realise how well that extra $40 might have been invested into the NZ economy! Cheers buddy you too and that's good to know. I thought it would probably fit somewhere in that 3-6 month maintenance window. Need to get the brakes on first... but I'm waiting for a few bits so I can do everything at once: S/S brake lines - en route Rear rotors - en route F/R springs - en route F/R sway bars - en route Sway bar bushings - en route 15mm rear spring pads - I should order these soon or my 255x35x18's ain't gonna fit! That made me cackle a little... I scrolled back up and saw what you meant!

OMG - how obvious, and stupid, is that! Look's like I'll be doing some drilling and plugging lol! <goes to look up part number he actually ordered!>

I've just received some new parts from the US - not enough to complete my brakes or suspension but getting there. New Rear Shock Mount Reinforcements (15 min job): Solid Brass Caliper Bushings - these are really smooth compared to the rubber bushings but have no dust covers so will be high(er) maintenance. And a new windshield cowl - this is an OEM BMW part but I'm missing two holes!! ?

Yeah, took a while! But sub 350 for 4 springs, 2 bars and bushes is worth waiting for I reckon.

So it looks like I'm not the only one to suffer with freight forwarders! Some of the stories, wow. Aside from their monumental initial failure Kiwishipping seem to be responsive and helpful so far. Also they're less expensive than Youshop and they will do consolidation which is important for me. I have no idea what the end result will be but I'll post back here with any relevant updates - I'm hopeful because others have had positive experiences and you'd expect Mainfreight to be able to sort the freight bit out okay once they have the package.

I thought I'd share a recent experience with you about the subject operations (Mainfreight and Amazon) because it's amazing and amusing as well as anecdotally relevant to many on this site. TLDR; Amazon.com rocks! Whilst it does seem as if things are working out for me this is only as a consequence of some astonishing customer service from a party that had absolutely no hand in the mess that was created. I've been watching the price fluctuations of a high quality spring and sway bar kit on Amazon for about 5 months now (tracking the price with camelcamelcamel) because the kit retails for about US$800 (often >$NZ$1400) but it's been offered for as low as US$345 from time to time on Amazon which is quite an amazing price (for a brand name kit - Eibach). The product is only available to ship to the USA so I got a quote from Kiwishipping to freight forward it that I was happy with and signed up for their service in anticipation. Well on 27/12 the kit was at a great low price and I hit 'Buy Now' and made the purchase on Amazon. I also purchased a smaller, unrelated item at the same time. I then downloaded the instructions under "Help" on the Kiwishipping site and followed them to the letter to complete the order and shipping details on Amazon. A day or so later I received tracking numbers (one USPS, one UPS) and I thought "wow, this is easy!". Some two or three days later Google Now (of all services!) advised me on my phone that the USPS package had been rejected at the delivery address "Recipient No Longer At Address". WTF!!! How did I get that wrong? I didn't get it wrong. Mainfreight (Kiwishipping.co.nz), a Freight and Logistics company had got their own delivery address wrong! They had moved about a month ago and hadn't updated their user documentation! One can only imagine how many packages were misdirected. So I sent the Kiwishipping US and NZ emails addresses an urgent request (admittedly on Dec 30) but heard nothing back and had to call them yesterday. They said they'd get onto it. They did not. When I first called Kiwishipping yesterday the UPS package was still in transit and could have been intercepted. By the time they eventually got onto it (with my 3rd call) it was too late (rejected at address). The people I dealt with at Kiwishipping were polite but ultimately unhelpful. They said I should contact Amazon. Amazon had already processed a full refund for the USPS package having received it back (no questions asked!) but my concern with the suspension kit (UPS package) was that the price had already gone back up by more than US$200! I would receive a refund but If I had to re-order then I would be out US$200 + tax + duty etc, etc. So I logged on to Amazon, went to customer service and started a chat session. It wasn't Amazon's fault but I had no idea what my options were - I was at best expecting a new quote that I could pass on to Kiwishipping to negotiate with them since it was their monumental cock-up that had resulted in my inconvenience and potential loss. What actually happened was amazing. Over the course of a one hour chat (!) Amazon apologised many times for my inconvenience (despite me reassuring them that they were not at fault) and would you believe actually offered to "replace" the order to a new address at no additional cost to me!! i.e. they were willing to ship initially for free, accept the items back and restock, resend the items to me at a new address honoring the original price and they even upgraded the free 7 day shipping to free 2 day shipping because "that would be better". Keep in mind this is a 25+ kg package. OMGWTF!?! I'm still going to expect Kiwishipping to provide some compensation for my time/anxiety but that is almost secondary to the amazing experience I had with Amazon - all businesses should operate like this.** I can't recommend Amazon enough. We'll see how I feel about Kiwishipping when I (eventually) get my goods. **Shout out to Bellars Motor Works and Kayne Barrie Motorsports who I have first had experience of also operating in this customer-focused fashion (at their own expense).

^ so holding the throttle down, by any amount and into any key position (1, 2 or 3), seems to do nothing at all. At least not in my tests. The digital rev metre on the climate control also doesn't register anything different.