[shapper1280]

Heyo, Kind of new here but I thought I would atleast give posting a shot, recently did a engine flush with liqui Moly engine flush, at about 200K miles and I know this car has not been taken care of.
Before hand I had no engine codes and was running smooth both with the cleaner running in the engine and before it was in.

Soon after swapping the new oil and filter in I was running extremely rough, cylinders 2, 4, 5, and 6 all show missfires. no oil leaking from anywhere I can see, oil looked fine when coming out.

Doing my own research on what could be going on I notice codes
2A87 - Exhaust Vanos, Mechanism
2A82 - Vanos Intake

Seeing as my car has not had the best maintenance over the years of its life I could see the engine cleaner causing some sort of clogging of the vanos system and causing my timing to be all out of wack, if I'm right...

My question, when I first start the car it starts fine with no issue of sounding like theres missfires, after a few seconds you can hear the idle start to get worse and eventually you can tell its struggling to even keep going. Should I just replace the solenoids and hope the missfires leave with the old ones?

I am willing to hear anyone out and take as much advise as I can get!

[Efthreeoh]

For the VANOS codes, inspect the VANOS check valves for clogging. Clean and swap the VANOS solenoids. How fresh are the plugs and coils? At 200,000 the plugs should have replaced. Misfires are related to plugs/coils/injectors, not VANOS.

When you say wasn't maintained well, what does that mean?

[gbalthrop]

Originally Posted by shapper1280

... recently did a engine flush with liqui Moly engine flush, at about 200K miles and I know this car has not been taken care of. Before hand I had no engine codes and was running smooth both with the cleaner running in the engine and before it was in.
Soon after swapping the new oil and filter in I was running extremely rough, cylinders 2, 4, 5, and 6 all show misfires... I notice codes
2A87 - Exhaust Vanos, Mechanism
2A82 - Vanos Intake

It is POSSIBLE that the "engine flush" dislodged sludge or other "crud" (technical term ;-) that has plugged oil passages related to VANOS Solenoid oil supply/ pressure to the VANOS Units, affecting Cam Timing.

However, FIRST suspect is improperly-installed Oil Filter Element. That is particularly true if: (1) This is 1st time you have changed filter element in N52/N51, and (2) The rough idle and Fault Codes ONLY appeared AFTER oil filter change.

Both Cams are "Over-retarded" (2A82 & 2A87 Codes). Over-retarded Cam Position is most-often caused by LOW oil pressure as supplied by VANOS Solenoids to the VANOS units. Low Oil Pressure in that supply is OFTEN caused by issues with Oil Filter Element installation, including:

1) Jiffy-Lube (or newbie DIY'er ;-) threw away the "spool" on the Oil Filter Housing Cover that the Filter Element is Mounted on. See Photo attached to NEXT post.

2) Small O-ring on lower end of spool is NOT installed. Green O-ring shown in photo.

3) Filter has "collapsed".

Recommended First Step BEFORE swapping parts:
Unscrew Oil Filter Housing Cover. Let oil on/in filter element drain into crankcase. Remove Filter (which SHOULD be on spool attached to cover) and inspect for condition of spool, filter element, and small o-ring.

Please let us know what you find, or if any questions.
George

[gbalthrop]

Photo of Oil Filter Housing Cover, with Spool on which filter element is mounted, and Green small O-ring shown, per prior post.
George

[marvinstockman]

What problems were you having before you flushed? Next time, just do more frequent oil changes with a high-quality oil, and your engine will magically clean itself but slowly

[shapper1280]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

For the VANOS codes, inspect the VANOS check valves for clogging. Clean and swap the VANOS solenoids. How fresh are the plugs and coils? At 200,000 the plugs should have replaced. Misfires are related to plugs/coils/injectors, not VANOS.

When you say wasn't maintained well, what does that mean?

Plugs and coils look clean and gapped properly, fairly new compared to the rest of the car.

Car was obviously was a fixer upper, I knew who I was buying it from and was already aware the car needed work. Suspension was all ruined, maintenance codes were around a lot the beginning, and it was low on oil when I first got it about 4-5 months ago, did a oil change then but I fixed all my suspension, engine and transmission ran fine, became my daily, eventually it comes time to do my oil change and I wanna clean the engine as I knew where it came from

[shapper1280]

Originally Posted by gbalthrop

It is POSSIBLE that the "engine flush" dislodged sludge or other "crud" (technical term ;-) that has plugged oil passages related to VANOS Solenoid oil supply/ pressure to the VANOS Units, affecting Cam Timing.

However, FIRST suspect is improperly-installed Oil Filter Element. That is particularly true if: (1) This is 1st time you have changed filter element in N52/N51, and (2) The rough idle and Fault Codes ONLY appeared AFTER oil filter change.

Both Cams are "Over-retarded" (2A82 & 2A87 Codes). Over-retarded Cam Position is most-often caused by LOW oil pressure as supplied by VANOS Solenoids to the VANOS units. Low Oil Pressure in that supply is OFTEN caused by issues with Oil Filter Element installation, including:

1) Jiffy-Lube (or newbie DIY'er ;-) threw away the "spool" on the Oil Filter Housing Cover that the Filter Element is Mounted on. See Photo attached to NEXT post.

2) Small O-ring on lower end of spool is NOT installed. Green O-ring shown in photo.

3) Filter has "collapsed".

Recommended First Step BEFORE swapping parts:
Unscrew Oil Filter Housing Cover. Let oil on/in filter element drain into crankcase. Remove Filter (which SHOULD be on spool attached to cover) and inspect for condition of spool, filter element, and small o-ring.

Please let us know what you find, or if any questions.
George

Hear where your coming from, this isn't the first time I've done a oil change on this car, this would be the 2nd and did the exact same as the first, new o rings, filter flush with the spool that's on the cap, make sure you center the cap so the o ring is in its proper location, screw down

I've tried resteating, still same issue

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by shapper1280

Plugs and coils look clean and gapped properly, fairly new compared to the rest of the car.

Car was obviously was a fixer upper, I knew who I was buying it from and was already aware the car needed work. Suspension was all ruined, maintenance codes were around a lot the beginning, and it was low on oil when I first got it about 4-5 months ago, did a oil change then but I fixed all my suspension, engine and transmission ran fine, became my daily, eventually it comes time to do my oil change and I wanna clean the engine as I knew where it came from

Why do you think the inside of the engine is "dirty". Did you see sludge build up on the valvetrain through the oil fill hole? Did the previous owner use substandard oil and filters. The N52 can tolerate extended oil change intervals with the proper oil and oil filters (i.e. products that meet BMW OE specs). Was the engine short tripped with long oil drains? You are not being very specific, which makes it difficult to help.

What plugs and coils are used in the engine?