Have you got VANOSerocous

[rxstephen 0]

First off. Sorry I write long posts:

There is a lot of chatter on the interweb about how the VANOS seals will fail, but it's very hard to tell if there is a problem or not, especially with the later M54 twin VANOS's. General wisdom should say if it aint broke then don't fix it.... but I've never subscribed to that defeatist type of talk. Having owned my 530i for a good few weeks now I thought it was time to get more intimate with it and pull out the VANOS for the fun of it.

Firstly I'm glad I started the job. My E39 530i is 10 years old and just 73,000K on the pixelated clock, but the rocker cover gasket and bolt seals were hard and starting to leak. There was oil sitting around the coils and if left untouched would start to make a real mess of things. So the major cost of the operation being the complete seal kit from BMW, it was worth the effort.

As far as I can tell my 530i performs well, I don't drive with a lead foot and was getting 8.1 Km/L commuting with a mix of highway and town driving. The low end torque felt smooth as a 6 should but there were times when it wavered, just a few odd things like the revs dropped momentarily when I applied more accelerator and not always an even amount of torque as the revs climbed. But that was based on the seat-of-the-pants-dyno.

I purchased the after market VANOS seals from http://www.beisansystems.com which came to just under $NZ 100 including shipping.

I would not recommend this job to anyone who has not had a good few hours tinkering around under a bonnet, but so long as you pay attention to detail and follow the instructions it's not too daunting a task. If anyone in the Wellington region is considering this job then I'd be glad to offer advice and maybe lend a 32mm spanner.

As per other people's experience like this

(mine was much much cleaner than this one), the VANOS seals felt loose and the inner rubber ring was hard.

Result. Well once again this is anecdotal, every single result you read on the web will be anecdotal but it all adds up. As there is a running-in period for the Beisan seals for around 300Km, the engine felt stronger and stronger each day. At first you could touch the accelerator and get a response then the revs would drop. Now the torque is immediate and climbs without wavering.

As for economy, I get 8.8 KM/L for the same type of driving but I'd take that result with a grain of salt as I've done very few K's. I'll let you know in a month or so how the economy is looking.

The seat-of-the-pants-dyno reports that the car fair jumps across intersections with just a touch of the accelerator. I suspect everyone will get slightly different results, and some will be worse than others, so its very hard to tell if you have the failure or not. It's easy to think its snake oil as everyone who buy's these seals having spent money want to see a result.

Quite honestly I feel it is an improvement but the only real non-subjective way to determine a result would be to do a real dyno run before and after and take a close look at the torque curve below 3000rpm.

I believe the failure affects the cam timing response. So as the rev's rise and the oil leaks from the seals there is a lag in the timing response and therefore non-optimal torque. Over 3000 rpm the timing is fully advanced and even with leaking seals the cams will be held in the correct position.

So, is there anyone else in the forum who's tried these out?

How's your VANOS?

Edited April 8, 2011 by Round the traps

[pjay 8]

Nigel did his M3 Vanos. Yellow M3 - his handle escapes me, but IRL he is Nigel.

[Greg111 13]

I removed and resealed my Vanos, four or five O rings i think? Pretty straight forward and easy but all Vanos systems are different.

[rxstephen 0]

I removed and resealed my Vanos, four or five O rings i think? Pretty straight forward and easy but all Vanos systems are different.

Its interesting that the Beisan systems web site suggests that the VANOS seals on a wide range of models will fail within very low K's. I guess mine are an example of just having 73,000K and appear to be worn out. I wonder how many out there could benefit from replacing them.

Its an interesting read on their web site.

Edited April 9, 2011 by Round the traps

[Greg111 13]

There's only one seal that goes on the S50 but i replaced all of them whilst it was out.

[tonylauno1 7]

I replaced mine vanos seal as a last resort after the mechanic had checked everything and could find nothing. Since the symptoms were exactly what http://www.beisansystems.com had describe on my M52TUB28 I decided to give it a go. I certainly noticed a faster take off, car responded quicker in the low rpm. Don't really go fast a lot, don't know if there is a improvement in mid & high rpm.

Since I am on the subject of faster take off - I just flushed my differential oil (this is a year after the Vanos seal change), and have noticed a huge improvement in accelerating, taking off and reduced oil consumption. Now have to be careful about going full throttle into a bend, never use to be able to spin the wheels. (the BMW specialist looks at me funny and say, we have never change the differential oil but if you want sure.)

Edited April 14, 2011 by tonylauno1

[nastnas 9]

My Vanos Thread

i had 168kw before i changed the rod seal, and got 180ish after the rod seal change.... thats pretty impresive for a 50c seal...

thats right 50c.