Vanos Rattle!

[AlexB 24]

Hi all, still quite new to the whole forum thing, not sure if creating a new topic is the normal way to share this. 
 

My E46 M3 has been hideously down on power recently and for some reason I thought nothing of it, also noticed a terrible noisy valve train sound whenever I was revving over 3k. Did a bit of listening in the engine bay and realised the vanos was rattling like mad. Long story short after pulling it all apart I noticed all the typical wear points were, well....worn. 
 

Being as meticulous as I am with my cars I ordered almost everything S54 related from beisan systems in the US, including all new seals and the exhaust timing chain guide which was on the brink of failure. However I was pleasantly surprised to see my cam sprocket bolts were already replaced with the updated parts. Oil pump disc and exhaust sprocket are both toast with about 1mm of play in their movement, spline shaft bushings are shot also. Hopefully $1750 nz worth of vanos parts should remedy my issue. Would be nice to have it back on the road before Christmas. Any tips or tricks for reassembly is greatly appreciated as a 19yr old 2nd year mechanical apprentice this sure is a daunting job on my baby! 

[M3AN 4016]

Lovin' the Bible, fingers crossed you don't need many prayers (or penance!).

11 minutes ago, AlexB said:

...Hopefully $1750 nz worth of vanos parts should remedy my issue...

That much? 🤨 Wow, that surprises me.

Anyway, since you have the parts you should be able to simply follow the Beisan instructions pretty faithfully (yes, pun). I think there are some variances to the procedures that haven't been updated in the instructions but, as per the S50B32 instructions, you deal with them with common sense and logic as you encounter them.

Edit: your apprenticeship equips you well better than most people that tackle a VANOS rebuild so you should be fine, it's not actually that difficult.

Edited November 21, 2021 by M3AN

[AlexB 24]

5 minutes ago, M3AN said:

That much? 🤨 Wow, that surprises me.

Unfortunately that’s what I paid for everything I need, got everything for an s54 minus the solenoid pack as mine hasn’t faulted yet, and I figured it’s easy enough to swap over should it fail in future (fingers crossed it doesn’t!) I also checked out DRVanos out of the US as well but they had no stock and a cart with what they did have came to around $4200 nz. Totally out of my price range as I’m already dipping into Christmas savings as it is! Have studied the beisan instructions and seems to go over absolutely everything so hopefully a breezy reinstallation. 

[M3AN 4016]

Ouch on the disc and hub, neither of which are required on the S50. It's amazing that BMW designed something worse than a design they already knew was faulty.

If it's the same as the S50 the rattle kit repair makes the job many times more complicated because it's a cam out and re-time job. I did mine, wish I hadn't bothered. But then again, if you have a rattle you can't isolate further than the general VANOS area then it's best to do it once you're in there.

Good luck, post pics.

[BreakMyWindow 1878]

Does the kit include new diaphragm spring plates? Ones from the s62 are supposed to be an upgrade and do help keep the vanos unit much quieter- certainly the case on s62 engine.

 

ShopLife TV in YouTube has a good how to for vanos on the s54.

[AlexB 24]

1 minute ago, BreakMyWindow said:

Does the kit include new diaphragm spring plates?

No, the S54 kit is just the metal bushings that sit inside the splined shafts. supposed to be relatively simple job with the right tools. haven't looked into the diaphragm spring washers at all, beisan doesn't offer them as an upgrade but ill certainly look into them. luckily no need to remove cams for the whole job!

[Harper 559]

The beisan instructions are pretty comprehensive, follow them and you should be sweet as. You don't actually need to replace the exhuast hub given yours hasn't critically failed and the tabs are intact. Once the oil pump disc has the new drilled holes there should be no slop between them, but there's no harm in doing it. Given you are replacing the oil pump disc instead of re-drilling your existing one, do the ISTA/DIS test and pressure test as well since the tolerance between the inner surface of the pump disc and shaft are fairly critical in the oil pressure produced. I think that was a problem with the early beisan discs and likely fine by now though. As for the s62 diaphragm springs, I think the idea is that they slightly reduce axial play in the shaft but I wouldn't bother. I used my stock springs and my vanos unit is silent, seems like beisan doesn't even sell them anymore. The bulk of the power loss will have just been from the flattened seals on the vanos pistons, will feel like a new car when you're done. Fresh seals make a big difference to the low end pick up. 

Edited November 21, 2021 by Harper

[AlexB 24]

5 minutes ago, Harper said:

do the ISTA/DIS test and pressure test as well since the tolerance between the inner surface of the pump disc and shaft are fairly critical in the oil pressure produced.

Interesting, ill have to find a place that can do the test. upon removing the pistons I found the Teflon seals are all chipped and scratched, I assume its due to dirty oil in the past? They also had no spring to them like most of the seals in my unit. any kind of break in procedure you are aware of for vanos? 

[Harper 559]

10 minutes ago, AlexB said:

Interesting, ill have to find a place that can do the test.

Tbh probably not 100% necessary. Just a decent health check if you already have a k+dcan cable and want to suffer through bad youtube videos on how to use navigate DIS. 

19 minutes ago, AlexB said:

any kind of break in procedure you are aware of for vanos? 

No break in. Just drive the tits off it. 

[M3_Power 636]

Watch the vanos work videos from fayboys garage on youtube from about 3 years ago

Perhaps the best videos I have seen for these work better than Beisan’s instructions

Also you want to check the pin needle bearing for the oil pump disc - people think the failure is the result of disc and hub tolerance issues - not 100% true.

Edited November 22, 2021 by M3_Power