Twistee

Bit of piss poor comms from BM Workshop, had no info for a week. Finally called today and found that they are waiting on two solenoids from overseas. I'm annoyed as I would have purchased another two out of my own pocket and just had them all replaced at the same time. I have enough real things life to get stressed about, a lack of comms and planning here shouldn't be one of them Anyway it's not their usual style so I'll just put it down to start of year- itis. I still might try and get another two solenoids.

Not really on an E61, I would just have the ABS pump checked for corrosion as it lives behind the wheel well. Any good PPI would pick up rust issues if it was present.

This is pretty bad, I would be burn down car dealership angry if this happened to me. https://i.stuff.co.nz/motoring/300780384/man-who-lost-100k-on-stolen-jaguar-failed-to-recover-money-from-auckland-dealer

I got a couple from AliExpress, extra inserts also came from AliExpress. But you can use a bolt with a nut on it to tighten down the insert so the tool is not strictly speaking needed. Pretty sure enco fasteners in east tamaki sell these, but cheap ones from trademe will do the trick. https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketplace/building-renovation/tools/hand-tools/other/listing/3942308129 This looks like a good deal and comes with the alloy inserts.

Exactly like that. Brilliant piece of kit, i love mine and have stocked up on alloy inserts. Avoid the stainless inserts with the cheaper handsets as they are typically beyond the capability of the tool and designed for the pneumatic versions. If you haven't used one before I would suggest a couple of test runs in a spare metal plate to get used to the feeling of a well seated insert.

Might be wrong, but isn't this the touring that was for sale for ages and finally sold about 6 months ago? https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/m5/listing/3943578604

You could drill that out and replace it with a Rivet Nut and loctite in a threaded rod into the rivnut to replace the factory item. I'm not familiar with the broken piece but it looks like a retained threaded mount , which the rivnut could replace. This is assuming you don't want to grind it off and get a complete replacement to weld on.

If you want a crimped fit commercial hose then Enzed is your way, if you want a braided set up then follow Cements advice. If you do go through DIY then buy all the gear from one brand, AN hosing is not all the same and won't always play well between brands.

Yes Enzed can supply a complete custom hose solution for you.

I believe the solenoids have been removed and scoped on the bench, waiting on results. I'm not overly worried about insurance at this point and will deal with them if / when that comes around. To date they have been fine with a single claim covering related issues.

Latest update, vanos line pressure is perfect. Vanos solenoids failing the test procedure, but not in the typical fashion which means it could be something in the electronics. Was also told the BMW NZ price for replacement solenoids .... $2,400 each, which is simply crazy given the genuine BMW unit from any other reseller is on average US$400. FFS And they don't even stock them in NZ.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/motorsport-american-driving-legend-ken-block-killed-in-tragic-snowmobile-crash/5P7ZLKJEFND55ECOIMU37V6PME/

Big cam idle.

Transporter arrived on time, no dramas. Current watercooler theory (as the car won't be touched until BM Workshop clear their current work) is that the Vanos high pressure line shat itself. If that is the case and the bottom end is open it will be bearing time as well.

Car is booked in for collection at 7am tomorrow by whoever AA / Autosure have chosen for this part of the world. At this point I'm more apprehensive about the transport than the repair. I should at least know if a glitterbomb went off in the sump by the end of tomorrow.

Agreed, thankfully mechanical warranty will help cover costs on this occasion.

Well someone had to say it. What did Santa bring you? I got an early present of Vanos error codes - with any luck Santa's little helpers haven't dumped a bunch of bearing shells in the sump, I'm such a positive person I don't waste time with anything other than the worst case scenario :D

Went for a drive this morning and the car pretty much confirmed my thoughts, P0022 error code "A camshaft position timing over retarded bank 2" etc. So great that I'm one step closer to getting rid of the noise now that codes are starting to appear it seems like a vanos solenoid is having issues. On the plus side it has a mean idle at the moment. Guess I will book it in with BM Workshop, merry Christmas car

Watched some kid and his brother in daddies new Ranger trying to Stevie Wonder their way around the Supercheap carpark this morning. Cameras and sensors on every corner, all the gear an no idea.

According to Aramex I now magically live in an RD zone so they have to offload everything to another courier driver. Same sh*te different name.

@aja540i How many kms did you get out of your current set of bushes before they wore out?

You know you want to...

10w60 supercar 25% off https://www.repco.co.nz/en/oils-fluids/engine-oils-fluids/engine-oil/castrol-edge-10w-60-engine-oil-5l-3412396/p/A1304624?kwSearch=10w-60

Cheers for the offer! Sadly nothing is ever straight forward when it comes to an S85 and after a few days of head scratching and running the car up on the hoist with and without the undertray the source of the noise is no closer to being obvious. On the plus side the A/C is now like having a snow blower on tap, so very happy with that result. Initially the noise was quite loud, to me it sounded like a rattling pump. As these things go the noise completely departed after driving to BM Workshop!! I spent half of Wednesday with the team trying to get it to make the noise, which it eventually did but in a very diminished way which was frustrating. The engine checked out fine other than the intermittent noise and the decision was made to monitor it and see how it progressed over the coming days / weeks, obviously the next morning at home it noise was back it all its glory.....FFS So I have gone through all the nightmare recordings of S85s rattling that I could find on youtube, 99% were completely different sounds other than two or three videos that were clearly the same noise. These were old videos also asking for help in identifying the noise, none had any useful answer - but one video provided some comfort in the owner stating that while they never found the source of the noise they owned the car for many years after posting the video and they had no catastrophic failure as a result of what ever was causing the sound. Right now I think I have narrowed it down to one or more failing vanos solenoids on the drivers head. Having watched a few videos of the solenoids out the car being shaken it is a very distinct noise, and I think one of the reasons it was not easy to pick up is that the undertray is designed to channel air and sound to exit at the rear and side of the engine bay - leading us to that area. I have a stethoscope that I will try out on the solenoids when it starts to make the rattle again and try to confirm my theory. Next time it happens I will grab a video. I thought I had asked for a vanos test, not sure that ever happened in the end. I will be over the moon if it is just the solenoids, which can make a range of noises depending on how they are failing from what I have seen. Certainly some of the hallmarks of failing solenoids ring true, lumpy throttle just off idle, the phantom noise and a lack of low end torque. But I like numbers and without a side by side comparison with a perfect engine to compare it with I could just be imagining things. I was going to use ISTA to do a vanos test, but remembered that I either have the wrong cable or have not done the install correctly as I can do most things but don't have the ability to perform those tests. Right now I have the classic mad rush to Christmas, so probably won't try and experiment with reinstalling ISTA and will just aim for a video and head back to the workshop with a better example of what is going on.

Thought I may as well put together a long ish term thread on the wagon, if nothing else it tracks the consumables. I'll start with the current state of affairs and fill in the past 18 months in the coming days. At present the M5 is having a holiday at BM Workshop, it went in to get the AC serviced and because I had noticed a noise over the past few days coming from the drivers front. So far the diagnosis is a cracked header, but in the rabbits nest of pipes they haven't been able to confirm it visually yet. So after a smoke test on Monday I should know more. Looking online cracked headers don't seem to be a common issue on the s85. In a perfect world now would be the time to go to a set of Infinity headers, but I suspect that would void my warranty.