What parts for full VANOS lockdown?

[Cubieman]

Is there a handy list of all parts that should be replaced for a full VANOS overhaul?

[Inizes]

Here was my list:

[WOLFN8TR]

[Cubieman]

I'm not quite yet up to this task and may have all these parts installed. I asked my local indy shop what they would charge to install all the VANOS parts, although I don't know what "all" the parts would be from their perspective.
They quoted $800 labor if I supplied parts.

[Inizes]

I would inquire a little more. They might just be quoting to put on a whole new vanos unit and not replacing all of the seals and o-rings.

[repoman89]

I'm not quite yet up to this task and may have all these parts installed. I asked my local indy shop what they would charge to install all the VANOS parts, although I don't know what "all" the parts would be from their perspective.
They quoted $800 labor if I supplied parts.

It’s not really significantly harder than the airbox install. I definitely spent more time getting the airbox in and cleanly wired than I did on the VANOS lockdown. The latter would have been a one day job except I bought a Victor Reinz VCG that was all bunched up and wouldn’t install right. Go OE BMW on that and make sure you grab the Beisan chain guide!

[Cubieman]

Hmm, well maybe I shouldn't throw my hands up just yet. I just don't want to mess anything up, time to study.

[ATB88]

If you're planning on doing the splined gear rattle fix, that's the one and only thing where I go with Dr. VANOS parts instead of Beisan, mostly because that's the only thing in the entire Beisan VANOS procedure that seems finnicky and could take a few hours of annoying trial and error to get right if you're unlucky. For $170 more than the cost of the Beisan kit (after core refund) Dr. VANOS will give you new gears that have had the fix performed on them already that you can just pop into your VANOS unit. Boom, done. It's probably not terrible to do it the Beisan way, but this helped me feel a little less mentally overwhelmed when planning the job, knowing that I wasn't going to have to sit there and arbitrarily sand down washers to a certain tolerance lol. In case you're interested: https://drvanos.com/collections/s54-...ed-intake-gear and https://drvanos.com/collections/s54-...d-exhaust-gear
Since there's no core charge on the exhaust gear you can keep your old one after you're done and use it as a nice coffee table conversation piece

Also, unless you find a shop that's happy/comfortable going the Beisan route, I say just do it yourself. It's not nearly as bad as it seems (especially if you're not doing the Beisan anti-rattle). Most shops I spoke to around here when I was thinking of having a shop do it didn't want to do the Beisan kit because "Dr. VANOS is so much easier" but still wanted to charge an arm and a leg. It takes a day to do it yourself, if you have one to spare! Also this is one thing where there are so many community members that have mastered it that there's guaranteed to be someone who can help you if you get stuck. You may even have a forum expert close to you that can come and problem solve in person if it comes down to it

[Cubieman]

If you're planning on doing the splined gear rattle fix, that's the one and only thing where I go with Dr. VANOS parts instead of Beisan, mostly because that's the only thing in the entire Beisan VANOS procedure that seems finnicky and could take a few hours of annoying trial and error to get right if you're unlucky. For $170 more than the cost of the Beisan kit (after core refund) Dr. VANOS will give you new gears that have had the fix performed on them already that you can just pop into your VANOS unit. Boom, done. It's probably not terrible to do it the Beisan way, but this helped me feel a little less mentally overwhelmed when planning the job, knowing that I wasn't going to have to sit there and arbitrarily sand down washers to a certain tolerance lol. In case you're interested: https://drvanos.com/collections/s54-...ed-intake-gear and https://drvanos.com/collections/s54-...d-exhaust-gear
Since there's no core charge on the exhaust gear you can keep your old one after you're done and use it as a nice coffee table conversation piece

Also, unless you find a shop that's happy/comfortable going the Beisan route, I say just do it yourself. It's not nearly as bad as it seems (especially if you're not doing the Beisan anti-rattle). Most shops I spoke to around here when I was thinking of having a shop do it didn't want to do the Beisan kit because "Dr. VANOS is so much easier" but still wanted to charge an arm and a leg. It takes a day to do it yourself, if you have one to spare! Also this is one thing where there are so many community members that have mastered it that there's guaranteed to be someone who can help you if you get stuck. You may even have a forum expert close to you that can come and problem solve in person if it comes down to it

Thanks for the info, I'll start reading up, what specialty tools would I need?
Living in Nebraska there's not to many indy shops that do very much of this stuff.

[ATB88]

Thanks for the info, I'll start reading up, what specialty tools would I need?
Living in Nebraska there's not to many indy shops that do very much of this stuff.

Yeah, in that case I think you're definitely better off doing it yourself if you have the time.

Raj has very detailed instructions on the Beisan website.

The "main procedure" is here:

http://www.beisansystems.com/procedu..._procedure.htm

and then partway through this procedure, if you elect to do any of the fixes that would involve needing to re-time the engine afterwards (anti-rattle, timing chain guide, cam bolts), he refers you to the "rattle procedure" which you'll want to follow for doing the timing chain guide and cam bolts even if you aren't doing the rattle fix (or are just doing new Dr. VANOS gears for the rattle fix). At the end of that procedure he walks you through re-timing the engine -- this is the trickiest part and the part that you'll want to understand as well as you can going into it (though a lot of it will make more sense once you actually have everything apart and can appreciate how it works). This is where people ask the most questions and it's always best to ask people here on the forum to be extra sure if you're not sure. After your engine is timed you go back to the normal procedure and finish it from where you left off.

The antirattle/timing procedure is here http://www.beisansystems.com/procedu..._procedure.htm

Between the two procedures, Raj details all of the parts and tools you will need to have.

Very important: only use the OE BMW cam timing bridge and pin. The aftermarket ones are known to have poor tolerances and result in mis-timed engines.

You can rent the cam timing bridge from people on the forum, but, personally, I would just get a brand new one from FCP euro. That way you have 100% peace of mind that the tool hasn't been dropped/isn't slightly off, or that the pin isn't slightly bent from someone trying to advance/retard the cam while the pin is installed. I bought a used tool on the forum a while back and it ended up not being completely straight. You can always exchange your FCP tool for a brand new one and re-sell as new to recoup cost, if you want, or just keep it on hand in case you ever need to dig into your VANOS again in the future (god forbid). In any case, I don't think it's worth trying to save a few bucks on the timing tool.