hey guys,
I suspected that my vanos was dead or not working properly for quite sometime, i just didn't have that low end torque that i felt like i should. I dynoed my car and got 230HP but only 200tq so i knew i was lacking in powe b/c i haven't seen a HP tq gap that big on a E36 M3. so I figured it was either mechanical or the solenoid. You would think that a bad solenoid would throw a check engine, but it reality it rarely does. So i bought the part for about $115 and put it in. install was rediculously easy, took about 15min. all you need is a 32mm wrence and a few towels to clean up any oil that drips. its directly to the left of the oil filter housing.
Anyways, after i finally pulled out and drove it around for a while. I could not believe it. it felt like a whole new car. Idle definately sounded much better and sputtered alot less, exhaust sound changed to a much healthier tone, and car just has torque everywhere now. Idle is still alittle rough on cold starts but thats probably b/c ICV is really dirty (never been cleaned). The torque is so much more abundant. WHen i dynoed my car last week the torque band looked great b/c i had flat steady torque all the way from about 4300-5500 rpm but below that there was just no torque whatsoever. yes during accel its much more torquey and the top end even felt better making me think that vanos was stuck somewhere in the middle, but the best enhancement was just regular daily driving. now i dont have to rev the car nearly as much to get it going. i start feeling torque as soon as 1500rpm where as before i wouldn't really feel anything till about 2500. cruising in 3rd and 4th much easier now and it pulls alot more in daily driving situations. It made it much more plearsurable to drive on a daily basis. MId range torque is phenominal now. can't wait to redyno.
Moral of the story, even though there was no visible sign of any kind that would make me think it was bad, i still had a hunch and wanted to try and solve the problem so i changed that first instead of spending $500+ for new vanos and etc. Over time they just naturally fatigue and don't work like they are supposed to. So if you are having problems first and still don't think its solenoid you might as well replace it first just to be sure. I'm very happy I did. I will try and get redyno soon to see how much it helped out exactly. anyways just thought i'd share that.
I suspected that my vanos was dead or not working properly for quite sometime, i just didn't have that low end torque that i felt like i should. I dynoed my car and got 230HP but only 200tq so i knew i was lacking in powe b/c i haven't seen a HP tq gap that big on a E36 M3. so I figured it was either mechanical or the solenoid. You would think that a bad solenoid would throw a check engine, but it reality it rarely does. So i bought the part for about $115 and put it in. install was rediculously easy, took about 15min. all you need is a 32mm wrence and a few towels to clean up any oil that drips. its directly to the left of the oil filter housing.
Anyways, after i finally pulled out and drove it around for a while. I could not believe it. it felt like a whole new car. Idle definately sounded much better and sputtered alot less, exhaust sound changed to a much healthier tone, and car just has torque everywhere now. Idle is still alittle rough on cold starts but thats probably b/c ICV is really dirty (never been cleaned). The torque is so much more abundant. WHen i dynoed my car last week the torque band looked great b/c i had flat steady torque all the way from about 4300-5500 rpm but below that there was just no torque whatsoever. yes during accel its much more torquey and the top end even felt better making me think that vanos was stuck somewhere in the middle, but the best enhancement was just regular daily driving. now i dont have to rev the car nearly as much to get it going. i start feeling torque as soon as 1500rpm where as before i wouldn't really feel anything till about 2500. cruising in 3rd and 4th much easier now and it pulls alot more in daily driving situations. It made it much more plearsurable to drive on a daily basis. MId range torque is phenominal now. can't wait to redyno.
Moral of the story, even though there was no visible sign of any kind that would make me think it was bad, i still had a hunch and wanted to try and solve the problem so i changed that first instead of spending $500+ for new vanos and etc. Over time they just naturally fatigue and don't work like they are supposed to. So if you are having problems first and still don't think its solenoid you might as well replace it first just to be sure. I'm very happy I did. I will try and get redyno soon to see how much it helped out exactly. anyways just thought i'd share that.
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