[toryjlarsen]

Hi there everyone, I wanted to get the input of people on the forums for this.
I currently have 3 codes for my "service engine soon" light.
P0012 - Camshaft Position Actuator A Bank 1 Timing Over-retard
P0016 - Crankshaft Position - Camshaft Position Correlation
P1554 -

So basically ever since I bought the car used I have gotten an engine light for these codes various times... It comes on, same codes with OBII scanner, then the engine light goes of by itself a day or two later. Now I know that part of these codes is related to the VANOS solenoids. I have tried a while back cleaning them very well then reinstalling them, the codes came back some time later. My car does not shake, no loud noises, only one I can think of is the slight lifter tappet, but thats been there as long as I have owned it.
The only noticeable thing is that sometime (more so on a cold day) I will get a slight hesitation while under hard acceleration... Foot down hard on the pedal, as it accelerates, you can feel a slight drop in acceleration for about 1 second.
Car info: 2006 330i E90, 116500 mi
I would just really like some input from some more experienced owners of the N52 engine (as I have only owned it for about 1.5 years)... What sequence of steps would be the best way to go about this issue?

[toryjlarsen]

Any ideas friends?

[toryjlarsen]

Quick add, would possibly cleaning the "VANOS filters" or probably just replacing them all together... would this possibly help part of the situation?

[BalkanAvenger]

Originally Posted by toryjlarsen

Quick add, would possibly cleaning the "VANOS filters" or probably just replacing them all together... would this possibly help part of the situation?

It looks like I may have the same issue now as well - at least P0012. I cleaned the VANOS solenoids last summer - I'm going to take another crack at cleaning these before replacing them outright with some cheapish VANOS solenoids off amazon.

Suggest you try the same thing and see what happens.

[toryjlarsen]

Well I did try that myself last summer and unfortunately it did not fix the issue, basically it happens every so often, more so in cold seasons, codes come on, the go away after a day or two, the only things I experience is a slight stutter under hard acceleration (sometimes, once again more so during colder times), and my idle is a bit on the low side (500-550) leaning more so towards the 550 end. I have had very few times where upon start up, the idle is a tad bit shaky for a few seconds then the rpms will drop and it's actually killed it maybe 2 or 3 times, but then I can start it back up.

[BalkanAvenger]

Look at this thread, and especially Slavke's response:

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=747673

just want to post the update on vanos. Well my car has been acting worst since I swapped solenoids around. I usually had rough idles but now it was actually shaking and choking on cruising speeds. So i went to the stealer and bought both of them and replaced them my self. Now the car runs like a swiss watch, smooth and steady. I noticed my torque has increased drastically in higher gears and I can't believe how important this vanos system is for bmw engine. Anyways they charged me $150 for each solenoid here in Canada. I could have shopped online but the problem was driving me nuts so I just went for it.

[toryjlarsen]

Originally Posted by BalkanAvenger

Look at this thread, and especially Slavke's response:

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=747673

Thank you for the link, if diving in and going the route of replacing the solenoids now is the best option. I will probably go ahead and do that.

[nsjames]

the solenoids are super cake to get out.

it seems as though you've only got one camshaft reporting the issue, I would swap them and see if the error follows the solenoid.
If it does, for sure you've got solenoid failure.
if it doesn't, check the "filter" for restriction.

[toryjlarsen]

Originally Posted by nsjames

the solenoids are super cake to get out.

it seems as though you've only got one camshaft reporting the issue, I would swap them and see if the error follows the solenoid.
If it does, for sure you've got solenoid failure.
if it doesn't, check the "filter" for restriction.

Thank you I guess the only thing I have not done with the VANOS is actually swap them, I've cleaned them before, I'll go ahead and do that this weekend and wait for a code to pop up.