2004 29,000 miles, oil around vanos gasket, Beisan vanos rebuild, quotes

[gixxer]

Thank you all!

Currently the car has no codes for misfires, vanos (intake or exhaust) related.

Is seeing "some" oil around the engine head where vanos is, "normal" ?

Or, should that area be bone dry when everything is working as expected?

As far as where oil can leak, only two areas i can think of at the engine head area is, from valve body sealing plate and vanos gasket.

I'm going to grab some pictures also.

[tlow98]

I'd rotate the engine from the crank not the cams. Could be totally fine, but something doesn't feel right about putting a hollow cam in torsion with an open ended wrench that probably doesn't fit perfectly on the hex thing.

Couldn’t agree more. Sounds terrifying to rotate the motor by the cam. That rough hex casting on the cam is for small cam adjustments when fully assembled or setting/checking specs when the head is on a bench off the motor.

[Cubieman]

If going down that route I cannot stress enough to either get a VAC over-sized hub or have YOUR pump disc machined, basically don't get an aftermarket disc.

[Lavatoad]

To echo the above, i was able to see my hub tab partial cracks with the vanos unit still installed. Look closely at the corners for any darker lines.

[heinzboehmer]

I'd rotate the engine from the crank not the cams. Could be totally fine, but something doesn't feel right about putting a hollow cam in torsion with an open ended wrench that probably doesn't fit perfectly on the hex thing.

[gixxer]

Thank you, i'll have those areas inspected first (and probably should have considered that from the beginning) and start small in repairs as needed. I'm going to capture notes along the way and share here.

[Tbonem3]

You can use a flash light to see the tabs. Rotate the engine with a 24mm spanner on the cams.

[cobra]

Your mileage is so low that I wouldn't do any of those things except for the vanos oil pump disc.

Reasoning: If your hub is intact, then you still have no idea how much into its life it is, or if there is already a crack beginning to propagate. It's a safer bet to replace it, but not a necessity given the new disc should halt any further stresses from fatiguing the tabs. I looked at my engine at 50k miles and it looked mint. A short while after it was making a noise, and it turns out the tab had broken. No signs or symptoms of failure prior to that and just luck that the broken piece stayed in the hole.

[gixxer]

I'd take off the valve cover and look at the tabs/disc. If no signs of any marring/damage, seal it back up and do nothing imo.

With valve cover off, as shown in the picture below, but with vanos still attached, examine the tabs/discs?

If the vanos has to come off the inepxect the tabs/discs, then was looking at replacing the vanos gasket.







Vanos gasket (11-36-7-831-938) $11.69/each
2 x valve cover stud grommet (11-12-1-437-395) $1.17/each, 2 x oil drain hose crush washer (07-11-9-963-129) $0.11/each
2 x vanos oil accumulator pipe crush washer (07-11-9-963-072) $0.11/each, cable strap (zip tie)
Vanos oil filter (11-36-1-401-971) $9.66/each (not shown). Note: Oil filter replacement is not required. Oil filter can be spray cleaned (brake cleaner).

Note: S54 engine valve cover gaskets and bolt grommets, except front two corner grommets, are made from Viton and thus do not wear and need replacement. Valve cover front two corner grommets are Buna and thus wear and need replacement. They are included in the above list.

[Slideways]

If the exhaust hub tabs are not broken, that's a $500 savings right there.

[Tbonem3]

I'd take off the valve cover and look at the tabs/disc. If no signs of any marring/damage, seal it back up and do nothing imo. I don't subscribe to taking apart critical, non wearing (like RBs) components on a perfectly working engine that's been working for 20 years with no signs of issues, and putting in aftermarket parts based on a fear of a small percentage chance of something going wrong.

When's the last time you saw a post here or m3forums that someone lost their engine due to vanos exh tab or intake cam bolt failure? Don't remember any.

You could get new sealing plate o-rings from besian and vanos gasket from any OE parts vendor. Can do a solenoid block cleaning. No need for rebuilt solenoid if no codes, esp since some of the rebuilds are DOA anyway.

My 04 with 182k no issues over 14 years, though I did succumb to the fear back in 2014 and had a besian disc put in (tabs were fine). My 02 with 130k no issues, didn't even have a single knick on the dics/tabs.

This won't be a popular opinion. Most feel you should spend thousands on a non-problem based on unfounded, statistically unproven fear.

[gixxer]

Hello,

Considering vanos lockdown, as many have already done/discussed as that "peace of mind".

Currently the car has only the vanos high pressure oil line (from bimmerworld) done as preventative at 25,594 mile.

I'm getting few rebuild quotes from local indy shops in Raleigh, NC area.

One of them is shown below.

Look for feedbacks on the below quote. Few parts are bit higher but it is what it is in current inflation climate.

I've asked the shops to throw in any other preventative things to do while doing the vanos lockdown with engine cover off, including valve adjustment, valve cover gasket (although i'm reading this gasket itself can be reused), timing chain tensioner, spark plugs, and even fan clutch (reading from elsewhere in Internet).


Thanks much,