rocksteady530

Guys, I wanted to know if anyone has replace their VANOS seal O-Ring as well as fix the VANOS rattle? My '04 530i (M54) has the rattle that is defiantly coming from the VANOS.

Has anyone done this DIY? How hard is it and where is a good place to get the parts/kits?

Thanks

Wolrab

Beisan Systems

I did the seals on my E46 - pretty easy. There's a very thorough DIY on the Beisan site. The Beisan kit doesn't include the VANOS gasket or the crush washers for the banjo bolt. You will need to replace your VCG and the 15 grommets on the VC bolts. Do the plugs while you're in there, if they're getting up in miles.

Edit: Read up in the Beisan site about the rattle. I seem to remember the M54 isn't subject to that problem, but could be mistaken.

rocksteady530

Great thanks - I had already purchase the VCG parts for replacement - I guess it will be a long day of fun. The site was very helpful, thanks allot.

AchtungE60

I did this on my E60 although I didn't need to. I was trying to diagnos the "misfire" I had which turned out to be the DISA flap broke. Obviously after I learned about the VANOS, I know it had nothing to do with that. When you say rattle, although I've never experienced it I have read about it in the past
Beisan Systems - Procedures - Double Vanos Rattle Procedure

I had some VANOS seals from Raj at Besian systems. I bought them for my E46 many years back but never used them. You just have to be careful not to over tighten the bolts when putting back on or you'll probably snap them off. And I remember a reverse threaded nut that i broke in the inlet side of the VANOS. I bought a couple of them from dealer and replaced the one and saved one. There is a DIY on his site.
Beisan Systems - Procedures - Double Vanos Procedure

Good luck

Wolrab

It's cheap insurance to have two of those left-hand screws on hand in case you break them. Turned out I didn't, but I'm generally in favor of using new fasteners anyway.

It may seem counter-intuitive, but use a long breaker bar to break those screws loose. That lets you apply a lot of torque with minimal bending moment, and that reduces the risk of breaking the screw.

When you torque them up on reassembly, check to see if your torque wrench is calibrated for left-hand torque. Some are not.

rocksteady530

Hey buddy - How are you?

Yeah I read that site last night, pretty detail information. I will contact them for the parts. Hope I have all the tools needed for the job. As for the rattle, it is the VANOS, most of the parts that would rattle - WP/Pulleys have all been replaced in the past few months. I put my ear to the VANOS location and yeah..its rattling.
Will do a few things as suggested since I will performing surgery ;-) VCG/Plugs.etc.

side note: The Software has paid for itself X times over. Thanks again.

rocksteady530

Thanks for the note Wolrab, I will have to check my torque wrench. Not sure why they would even make a left-handed screw (No bias against left handed ;-)

Wolrab

The direction the camshafts turn tends to tighten a left-hand thread. A right-hand thread would tend to back off. Bicycle pedals have one of each for the same reason.

Edit (aka afterthought): If your torque wrench doesn't work backwards, just apply it to the right on one of those screws before you loosen them. Lean on it until it clicks, and use it to calibrate your arms. You should be able to replicate it pretty closely later the same day in the other direction.

rocksteady530

Thanks...I will keep that in mind.

rocksteady530

A follow up to my OP, I finally got around to doing the job this weekend. Problem fixed. Glad Wolrab told me about the left handed thread on the camshafts...that would have been bad!

Since I am a novice I went with Dr.Vanos instead of the Besian systems which saved me time and headache. Yes it cost a little more but the car is my daily driver so I didn't have the luxury of messing up and starting over.

Following some tips from this guy on YouTube for the VCG/Plus. Pt1 and Pt2 of his Video.

And the then the rest with Besian instructions.

Next project - Thrush Bushings!