[Beaming325]

I know there's dozens of threads about these but I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for so thought I would ask.

The car is a 2009 325i with the N53 engine, about 130k miles.

The other day it threw up a P0012 code which pointed to one of the VANOS solenoids. I swapped these over as suggested on another thread and sure enough the problem moved to P0013 with a different message. Great, it appears to be a solenoid, but which one?

I'll probably just change both as they seem fairly cheap as a pair but it's as well to have a known working one.

Thanks in advance

[relative4]

P0012 is intake, P0013 is exhaust. You moved the bad solenoid from the intake (top) to the exhaust (bottom). So now replace the exhaust (bottom) solenoid, and you should be good to go.
Before replacing it, it would be a good idea to clean it thoroughly with carb cleaner and see if the code stays away. Maybe save yourself $100 or so.

[Beaming325]

Thanks for that, good to know.

I did try a squirt of WD40 on both, though not a thorough clean admittedly. I'm leaning towards replacing because I'm away at the moment and will need the car pretty much as soon as I'm back. I can order a pair off Amazon for £40 so about $50 and they should be there when I get back.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07JLXMQ..._Dl8VCb03NX867

Also on the principle that they are likely past their best and will need replacing soon anyway.

Thanks

[RayLivingston]

Last solenoids I bought were $60 each. At that price, I would not hesitate to replace both. If one is gone, the other is likely not far behind.

Regards,
Ray L.

[Beaming325]

Right, replaced both and the error went away for about 5 minutes then came up again. First P0015 now back to P0012. Car seems to be running fine, smoother than before and idling evenly. Any ideas?

[sorin1987]

Did you buy the ones from the Amazon link?
I know I looked for them out of curiosity on a car parts website and they were around 200£ for the pair. I cleaned them and put them back in and that was fine at the time for me. But might be looking for new ones soon.

Thanks.

[Beaming325]

Yeah from the Amazon link. Possibly junk?

[Beaming325]

Since I replaced them one at a time and they went again so soon I'm inclined to think it's something else. Next logical step seems to be to clean or replace the filter, but since that's a messy looking job and the car is running fine I think I will leave it until next oil change, unless anyone sees a good reason why not?

[FLbimmer.e90]

Having same problem thanks guys...

[Beaming325]

From what I've read about this it seems the cam sensors would be the next thing to change. Any thoughts on this before I put more time and money into this?

[Beaming325]

Solved it! Sorry if this sounds patronising to anyone who isn't as dopey as me but I had the wires on the wrong way round. I.e. to the wrong solenoids. It looked right, but I swapped them over and now it's all clear. Very easily done.