speedracerF4i

I previously had a very bad engine tapping issues, that plagued me for 6 months. Some people had their "intermediate valvetronic arms" replaced under Service bulletin 51 02 05 that cured the problem. After relentlessly asking the dealer and BMWNA to fix my car, it was fixed. The Field service engineer has determined that the noises came from a slacky cam-chain tensioner, not the intermediate levers, and recommeded for its replacement.

Well, the service ticket says "7656 REPLACED TIMING CHAIN TENSIONER AS PER FIELD SERVICE ENGINEER. HAD TO REMOVE RIGHT SIDE CATALYTIC CONVERTER, UNDO ENGINE MOUNTS, AND RAISE ENGINE OUT OF ENGINE COMPARTMENT HIGH ENOUGH SO THAT THE TENSIONER COULD BE REMOVED." It was in capital letters.

My noises has subdued, but I found this article describing how "Valvetronic" works Valvetronic page
It specifically says that Valvetronic engines don't have a cam-chain, so where does the tensioner go if there is no chain?

What do you think? Did BMW and the dealer had me fooled? Did they changed my intermediate levers without telling me? You know how a major engine surgery on a brand new car tends to leave a bad after taste on a customer.

What do you think?

f6maniac

Well in the page you link to it says the engines don't have timing belts or chains. No suprise since all timing issues are handled by the computer. But the pictures on the left of both the 4 and 8 cylinder engines show chains driving the primary cam shafts.

If the dealer says he did the work and you say the noise has improved, why do you assume the dealer is lying to you? I don't understand. The dealer gets reimbersed for warranty work based on what was needed to repair the problem. I can't imagine the dealer lying to you about the repair work done just to avoid telling you they had to pull the head covers off.

Anyways, I hope the work they did fixed your problem for good.

speedracerF4i

You're right, I do see a pair of Cam chain in the V8's picture. So I guess it's an editorial mistake then.

My car has it's entire transmission replaced at only 1600 miles. I wasn't very please about it since the car was brand new. Now, the replacement of Vavetronic intermidiate levers requires more than just opening the head covers. A major engine work. I am thinking that they could, a big maybe, under-report the repair so the customer would be less likely to make them buy the car back. You know there are a few in this board that have gotten their cars bought back, and a few who would like to buy were denied.

Edlee

The most comforting fact is that your ride is fixed by an authorised BMW dealer. If it works well, then you should be happy.

My 545 shakes whilst idling. The rpm needle also fluctuates. At times I can feel the shake even in my knees. I just had the BMW rep in Singapore look at it yesterday. He instructed the dealer to upgrade the software and do some minor adjustments. When I called them today, I was told the problem had not gone away.

They are now investigating and writing to Germany for instructions. I really do hope that they'd finally take in my ride and rectify the problem. I don't care if they change the engine, timing chains or valve levers. Just get the problem off my back. I've had this problem since the car was new and that was Nov 2004. It really is frustrating. My ride cost me about USD 210,000.00 incl the ACS kit, options, etc.

speedracerF4i

Mine idle erratically as well, but only for a minute or so. Nothing major. I heard that if the software doesn't fix it, then it's probable mechanical. Is you car made in Sep 04-Feb 05? If so, perhaps your intermediate valvetronic levers are defective.

P.S. The MSRP of Ferrari F430 is less than what you paid for your car. Just thought you wanted to know