Vanos kicked in yo!

Soul_Glo · 01-08-2016, 01:25 AM

Having thrown an intermittent code for a stuck / jammed exhaust VANOS... I scoured E90Post for information. Many threads said to clean the Vanos and put it back to use. Done. That lasted a few months. It went again. This time, I swapped it with the intake solenoid to check out there was nothing else going on. When swapped, the intake solenoid was fine on the exhaust but the exhaust one threw the code as stated...

At 100,000 miles and 8 years old I took a punt on replacing both... usually replace things in pairs anyway, like brakes for example so thought why not...

The result... My gosh...

All the low end torque is back

No hesitation at all during idle or in the mid to upper rev range

No strange marbles in a can rattle when doing a kick down... it was hard to reproduce this noise many a time but it was getting progressively worse as of late... last week at idle... it sounded like marbles in a can

Acceleration is all round smoother again

I have fallen in love with the car again after many years! When I brought it, it was like a slug in 2nd gear... my wife even complained and we nick named it the slug for a while as you have to give a lot of gas to get moving off the start! She told me that the 325i was a bad choice and I should have settled for a 335i but I didn't fancy a turbo car at the time.

Would you believe that three dealerships did nothing... even my independent mechanic thought the vanos was fine but the car has completely and utterly transformed. The difference is night and day.

I think at 110k miles I will look into the DISA... but I am budgeting for new front arms as they are due for a replacement and I would like to put on some Meyle HD arms. I think the o/s/f shock may also be out... it has seen one too many a pot hole.

Aragorn30d · 01-08-2016, 02:08 AM

You thought about swapping to the 330i intake instead of replacing bits of the standard intake?

Fit M3 front arms, its a no brainer.

abeardo83 · 01-08-2016, 02:26 AM

This was one of the first things i did on my 2.3i E89 when i bought it - felt much better. Am thinking about doing it on the 335i but it's way more of a b1tch the try and get to the solenoids!

Phil325i · 01-08-2016, 02:35 AM

How much did you pay for the solenoids? I assume you sourced them from a dealer..?

Soul_Glo · 01-08-2016, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aragorn30d

You thought about swapping to the 330i intake instead of replacing bits of the standard intake?

Fit M3 front arms, its a no brainer.

You cannot swap on my one. It is a 325i (2.5) version. If you have a link to the M3 front arms that would be appreciated. I came across one kit... M3 arms and Meyle HD bushings but it is from ECS but you can imagine how much it would cost to import.

Soul_Glo · 01-08-2016, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil325i

How much did you pay for the solenoids? I assume you sourced them from a dealer..?

Phil they were £72.16 per unit. I ordered them from Cheltenham BMW. You get a 10% discount for being a forum member and free delivery over £50. My headlight washers were due for replacement as they were leaking so I thought... once I have the bumper off I am going to do all the front things like the lux angel eye install, vanos (not that the bumper needs to come off for that) etc.

Aragorn30d · 01-08-2016, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Broken_Gearbox

You cannot swap on my one. It is a 325i (2.5) version. If you have a link to the M3 front arms that would be appreciated. I came across one kit... M3 arms and Meyle HD bushings but it is from ECS but you can imagine how much it would cost to import.

Ah shame

I got my M3 arms from here:

https://www.rexbo.eu

Part numbers are JTC1423, JTC1424, JTC1426 and JTC1427

You can try other places to see if anywhere else is cheaper, prices fluctuate a bit, sometimes amazon has them for a good price.

Not sure what you'd need the Meyle bushes for, on the front end the only other parts you might want to change are the ARB droplinks, top mounts, and track rod ends.

Soul_Glo · 01-08-2016, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aragorn30d

Quote:

Originally Posted by Broken_Gearbox

You cannot swap on my one. It is a 325i (2.5) version. If you have a link to the M3 front arms that would be appreciated. I came across one kit... M3 arms and Meyle HD bushings but it is from ECS but you can imagine how much it would cost to import.

Ah shame

I got my M3 arms from here:

https://www.rexbo.eu

Part numbers are JTC1423, JTC1424, JTC1426 and JTC1427

You can try other places to see if anywhere else is cheaper, prices fluctuate a bit, sometimes amazon has them for a good price.

Not sure what you'd need the Meyle bushes for, on the front end the only other parts you might want to change are the ARB droplinks, top mounts, and track rod ends.

Much appreciated for the parts guidance.

Having said that mine is a two stage. Double vanos, valve tronic, two disas and having been on the NA forums some have said just because it has two DISA doesn't make it a two stage although there is a plugged hole where the third DISA would go like on a 3 stage. No one has ever attempted it on here. I wonder what I need to do to make it work. It already has 218ps out of the box which is not bad. The rev motoring silicone intake hose and k&n filter have bumped that up to probably 222ps or something - although rev claimed gains of 12-14 in the deleted thread. The plan is to get a remap to improve drive ability even more and may be see it to 230ps. I know there won't be massive gains on an NA engine. If I hang on to it... Next year I will stick on a wave trac lsd but it all depends on how it performs this year. Even toyed with the idea of an ess kit but that will be an issue of saving up.

Soul_Glo · 01-08-2016, 11:02 PM

I bet mpg has increased slightly as I don't have to give it too much gas now to get going or when accelerating from say 30 to 40 it has a new found urgency. The pedal is more responsive it seems and I can actually tell at times when the vanos is fully active a bit like a friends Honda Civic v-tech. The point of it all is that when you clean a vanos and clear a code that doesn't mean the issue is resolved. In my case the code cleared but their was no improvement in drive ability and how was I to know? It had always been a bit of a slug off the start line since day 1. I thought it was one of the features often 'underpowered' 2.5 litre car as it weighs a tonne or two and then some. I even read threads on this forum of how the 2.5 is like driving while towing a jet ski permanently attached to the back... but really isn't and this is the true car! Having come from Audi S3 power levels this is quite capable and very sufficient for my needs. Thankfully the bearing ledges showed very little wear and tear. After a remap in a few months time I intend to take it to Surrey Rolling Road.

Aragorn30d · 01-09-2016, 06:12 AM

From the sounds of it the 2.5 version isnt as crippled as the 3.0 version then, its just making less power due to the capacity.

218ps from 2.5L is equivalent to 261ps from 3.0. So the manifold isnt really holding the engine back unlike the 3.0 version.

01-08-2016, 01:25 AM	#1
Soul_Glo Major General 13346 Rep 7,484 Posts Drives: G20 Join Date: May 2013 Location: Manhattan, NYC iTrader: (1)	Having thrown an intermittent code for a stuck / jammed exhaust VANOS... I scoured E90Post for information. Many threads said to clean the Vanos and put it back to use. Done. That lasted a few months. It went again. This time, I swapped it with the intake solenoid to check out there was nothing else going on. When swapped, the intake solenoid was fine on the exhaust but the exhaust one threw the code as stated... At 100,000 miles and 8 years old I took a punt on replacing both... usually replace things in pairs anyway, like brakes for example so thought why not... The result... My gosh... All the low end torque is back No hesitation at all during idle or in the mid to upper rev range No strange marbles in a can rattle when doing a kick down... it was hard to reproduce this noise many a time but it was getting progressively worse as of late... last week at idle... it sounded like marbles in a can Acceleration is all round smoother again I have fallen in love with the car again after many years! When I brought it, it was like a slug in 2nd gear... my wife even complained and we nick named it the slug for a while as you have to give a lot of gas to get moving off the start! She told me that the 325i was a bad choice and I should have settled for a 335i but I didn't fancy a turbo car at the time. Would you believe that three dealerships did nothing... even my independent mechanic thought the vanos was fine but the car has completely and utterly transformed. The difference is night and day. I think at 110k miles I will look into the DISA... but I am budgeting for new front arms as they are due for a replacement and I would like to put on some Meyle HD arms. I think the o/s/f shock may also be out... it has seen one too many a pot hole.
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01-08-2016, 02:08 AM	#2
Aragorn30d Lieutenant Colonel 175 Rep 1,596 Posts Drives: E90 330d Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Fife iTrader: (0)	You thought about swapping to the 330i intake instead of replacing bits of the standard intake? Fit M3 front arms, its a no brainer.
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01-08-2016, 02:26 AM	#3
abeardo83 Captain 96 Rep 828 Posts Drives: E92 M3 Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Cheshire iTrader: (2) Garage List 2008 BMW M3 [0.00]	This was one of the first things i did on my 2.3i E89 when i bought it - felt much better. Am thinking about doing it on the 335i but it's way more of a b1tch the try and get to the solenoids!
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01-08-2016, 02:35 AM	#4
Phil325i Brigadier General 615 Rep 3,194 Posts Drives: E92 325i MSport Coupe Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: UK South East iTrader: (1) Garage List 2009 BMW 325i Coupe [6.00]	How much did you pay for the solenoids? I assume you sourced them from a dealer..? __________________ E92 pre-LCI 325i - Ohlins R&T; H&R spacers; M3 strut brace; Swift thrust sheets; 3 x chassis braces; diff brace; N53 V-brace; 034 subframe inserts; BMS clutch stop; BMS CDV; RE g/box mounts; Delrin shift bushes; Saikoumichi OCC; Cyba scoops; BMW Perf Exhaust; HEL s/steel brake hoses; M3 rear spoiler; Recaro Sportster CSs; M3 white dash LEDs; LED Angels; LED side repeaters; BMW Perf black grille; CSL reps; SSDD carbon diffuser; Monster Wrap black roof/clear front
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01-08-2016, 11:02 PM	#9
Soul_Glo Major General 13346 Rep 7,484 Posts Drives: G20 Join Date: May 2013 Location: Manhattan, NYC iTrader: (1)	I bet mpg has increased slightly as I don't have to give it too much gas now to get going or when accelerating from say 30 to 40 it has a new found urgency. The pedal is more responsive it seems and I can actually tell at times when the vanos is fully active a bit like a friends Honda Civic v-tech. The point of it all is that when you clean a vanos and clear a code that doesn't mean the issue is resolved. In my case the code cleared but their was no improvement in drive ability and how was I to know? It had always been a bit of a slug off the start line since day 1. I thought it was one of the features often 'underpowered' 2.5 litre car as it weighs a tonne or two and then some. I even read threads on this forum of how the 2.5 is like driving while towing a jet ski permanently attached to the back... but really isn't and this is the true car! Having come from Audi S3 power levels this is quite capable and very sufficient for my needs. Thankfully the bearing ledges showed very little wear and tear. After a remap in a few months time I intend to take it to Surrey Rolling Road.
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01-09-2016, 06:12 AM	#10
Aragorn30d Lieutenant Colonel 175 Rep 1,596 Posts Drives: E90 330d Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Fife iTrader: (0)	From the sounds of it the 2.5 version isnt as crippled as the 3.0 version then, its just making less power due to the capacity. 218ps from 2.5L is equivalent to 261ps from 3.0. So the manifold isnt really holding the engine back unlike the 3.0 version.
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