Beisan duel vanos seal replacement Dyno

[smiddy 76]

Did twin vanos seal replacement on my E46 328. Gained loads of Low end torque and about 6hp. Super smooth power delivery. 20ft pound gain in low end from seal replacment alone. No more cold idle jolts.

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Edited May 27, 2011 by wayney

[BM WORLD 1258]

not bad 119kw at the wheels .

and close to 300Nm

[smiddy 76]

Yeah, farmer friend of mine had a drive yesterday, said engine should be in his tractor.

Edited May 27, 2011 by wayney

[rxstephen 0]

Did twin vanos seal replacement on my E46 328. Gained loads of Low end torque and about 6hp. Super smooth power delivery. 20ft pound gain in low end from seal replacment alone. No more cold idle jolts.

Fantastic result. You must be one of the few people in the world who have been organised enough to run a before and after dyno!

I suspect the M52 engine was more affected by the seals. I did my 530i and while I think there was some noticeable improvement (sorry no dyno results) I think the M54 ECU compensated to some degree for failure in the seals. My seals were definitely worn but the idle was near perfect and there was just a small improvement in smoothing out the torque delivery across the rev band up to 3000rpm.

Still glad I did it though as the rocker cover gasket needed replacing anyways.

Well done.

[smiddy 76]

Thanks Steve. Yeah the TU engine was a transition for the E46 shape and to intro the twin vanos concept.

When on a cold morning, say 10 deg, car would surge and jolt sometimes stall during warm up, once warm was ok.

Have read the Ecu on start up advances inlet cam to assist with more air to heat up cats [emissions]. The physical problem here is the oil bypasssing worn seals does not allow this movement, hence poor running.

What is apparent is that vanos is not working as it should even when hot, hence my power gains. This is a fiddley repair but well worth it. There will be thousands of TU engines out there with buggered seals.

[RustyItalian 11]

Any issues with replacing the seals? I have all the bits waiting on the shelf for me to get some time to install.

I'm figuring around 4 hours work for a competent home DIY guy. Sound about right?

Richard

[smiddy 76]

No issues, a bit fiddley with removal of coil packs and rocker cover etc. The step by step instructions are bang on and easy to follow. 4-5 hours yes. Do your fan belts if dodgey and replace cover gasket. Along with the remap this would be the most satisfying before and after result I have done.

[RustyItalian 11]

Managed to get this done today on my Nov 1999 528i (dual Vanos).

Very easy, I'd rate it a 3 out of 10 for complexity. Took around 5.5 hours drive in drive out, including oil change. About 90 minutes of that was cleaning 225000kms of gunk off the Vanos unit and the inside of the camshaft cover.

Vanos seals were hard and obviously allowed a lot of leakage. The pistons were a sloppy fit on the bore.

Camshaft cover seals were rock hard. Actually had to chip some of them out. Explains the weeping oil down the block.

Difference immediately noticeable once oil pressure built up (and both solenoids plugged in ). Much smoother and decisive.

I'd highly recommend doing this on any Vanos engine with over 100,000 kms on the clock. The Beisan instructions are good on the most part.

If anyone intends doing this I have the two special BMW reverse thread camshaft bolts that I didn't need in the end. $5 incl postage they are yours.

[smiddy 76]

Great result Richard, as you would have read seals crap out a lot earlier than yours have. My car was playing up at 48k. Takes about 160kms to reach full benefit.

Edited August 5, 2011 by wayney

[DrphTa 5]

Good results guys. Cant wait to do this on my m3. Do you need the special BMW tools to remove the Vanos unit?

[RustyItalian 11]

Good results guys. Cant wait to do this on my m3. Do you need the special BMW tools to remove the Vanos unit?

I've seen some BMW instructions showing that you need to clamp the cams when removing the Vanos unit but that thinking is flawed (on a M52TU anyway). You don't move the cams or adjust the timing in any way. The Vanos pistons being removed move forward and aft, orientation to the cam does not matter.

In any case I found that the bolt in the centre of the piston popped free easy (LH thread!).

Only special tool needed is a 32mm (?) spanner to fit the fan nut.

Richard

[smiddy 76]

Different animal M3! Very different procedure to M52 vanos seal replacement.

[Greg111 13]

Good results guys. Cant wait to do this on my m3. Do you need the special BMW tools to remove the Vanos unit?

As mentioned I did mine and was easy, very easy, I did it in a BMW workshop and didn't use one special tool, just BMW instructions.

[btccm3 1]

how much did the seals rip you greg? i was thinking of doing this on mine and we do have the same motor after all. did you use the same "Beisan" brand kit as the others

[Greg111 13]

how much did the seals rip you greg? i was thinking of doing this on mine and we do have the same motor after all. did you use the same "Beisan" brand kit as the others

The seals i got had to be made in Gremania cause they didn't have any on the shelf, all up cost about $30 my cost plus a Vanos filter which was $15.

[murraypretorius 0]

Did twin vanos seal replacement on my E46 328. Gained loads of Low end torque and about 6hp. Super smooth power delivery. 20ft pound gain in low end from seal replacment alone. No more cold idle jolts.

hey, i just bought a 1994 bmw 320i and the acceleration is shockingly show. i think my problem is also the Vanos seal. i am willing to replace it but i have no idea where to purchase one . please help.

[BM WORLD 1258]

hey, i just bought a 1994 bmw 320i and the acceleration is shockingly show. i think my problem is also the Vanos seal. i am willing to replace it but i have no idea where to purchase one . please help.

could be other things like cam sensor , have you had it checked /scanned etc??

what about the psark plugs , air filter , fuel filter etc .

the 320i arnt that fast anyway is it auto or manual ,

do you start it off in sport mode ,

if not it will start off in 2nd gear

[murraypretorius 0]

could be other things like cam sensor , have you had it checked /scanned etc??

what about the psark plugs , air filter , fuel filter etc .

the 320i arnt that fast anyway is it auto or manual ,

do you start it off in sport mode ,

if not it will start off in 2nd gear

No i haven't had it checked yet and will probably do so soon but at the moment i have a 1.3l civic that accelerates way faster. i don't expect it to be like a drag car but this speed is just unusual.. and its auto

[BM WORLD 1258]

No i haven't had it checked yet and will probably do so soon but at the moment i have a 1.3l civic that accelerates way faster. i don't expect it to be like a drag car but this speed is just unusual.. and its auto

the 2L engine doesn't really develop power untill its high up in the revs . quite a peaky engine.

if you leave the auto in ecno mode it will start off in 2nd gear .

but if you put it in sport mode it will start off in 1st gear, but wont let it go into 5th gear when on the motorway etc.

also if the auto trans or torque convertor is tied/worn needed trans flush etc it can make it even more sluggish .

also is it a jap import or nz new car . nz new cars have the better ZF box , jap cars have teh jatco type and thye just dont feel as snappy

[murraypretorius 0]

the 2L engine doesn't really develop power untill its high up in the revs . quite a peaky engine.

if you leave the auto in ecno mode it will start off in 2nd gear .

but if you put it in sport mode it will start off in 1st gear, but wont let it go into 5th gear when on the motorway etc.

also if the auto trans or torque convertor is tied/worn needed trans flush etc it can make it even more sluggish .

also is it a jap import or nz new car . nz new cars have the better ZF box , jap cars have teh jatco type and thye just dont feel as snappy

Ok cool. well ill let it get checked tomorrow and hopefully if there is a problem it won't be too expensive to fix. i think it might be imported so you might be right. i hope it is fixable tho because i got 0-60 today in about 16 sec

[murraypretorius 0]

So i had the car checked and they guy said he thinks its the Vanos seal. But i dont know where to buy it from and is the seal the only thing i need to buy?

[DrphTa 5]

Beisan do the kits

Beisan Products

Procedure

Visit My Website

[Alexmsk77 0]

recommend that you read the information about the repair kits for BMW vanos online

www.vanos-bmw.com