S54 Vanos Help

[sapote]

When putting the pin in the exhaust cam the bridge sits off the exhaust side of the head maybe 3/4” - I believe that’s slightly advanced

Cams precisely at max retard to align with the pin is when the vanos pistons are touching the front cover caps. With caps removed you can see this easily.

[Savageblunder]

if you want an honest advise... leave the VANOS alone! do not buy on the internet hype of a ticking bomb, it just IS NOT. You car already has the latest fasteners, the OE seals in the unit last very long, and if you really want to avoid future issues, just re-drill the disc, this is easy, but requires someone you can trust to do a precise job. I personally don't trust anybody, so I do all my work. if it was me, I would just buy a VAC hub with the larger tabs.

To answer your questions, you need to put more of your might on the 24mm wrench as it is hydraulically set in position, so you need to remove the solenoid body, rock the wrench back and forth to spill out the oil left in the system, this will eventually allow you to fully retard the cams and assess the timing. You can also read with INPA you adaptation, that will tell you any deviation from 0, which ALL cars have, even after a perfect timing job! so DO NOT sweat it.

Before ANY VANOS job one must...

Do pressure test
Do VANOS test with INPA/ ISAT / DIS (Z4M works with ALL these - yes, even INPA)

And only if any of the above does not meet spec, then fix. otherwise, find yourself something else to fix.

Thanks, I jiggled the exhaust splined hub & got it the cam to retard more To the guy guy w/ the comment about aftermarket timing bridge (I knew it was coming - probably one of the 1st things I wrote - ), I ordered a BMW bridge, it came damaged, a week to get a new one - I got the aftermarket one overnight & am going to compare it to the BMW one & return it if it’s not good. But YES I am using a BMW one before buttoning anything up & I have a redrilled BMW disc from Besian. So far the aftermarket cam tools seem fine, at least when I compare the top each other (setter vs checker) - setter is more “accurate” it seems. Whole set was $65 - if it matches the results from BMW one I don’t see anything wrong with it

I hear you about internet hype. I’m totally with you on that - I think replacing rod bearings w/ good oil analysis is a waste of time & money. I don’t (generally) replace parts unless they are broken. I don’t believe most of these aftermarket “race”, “upgraded”, or “performance parts” are no where near as good as OE or OEM. I think w/ vanos there is a known issue w/ the tabs & a known fix & it’s a rare exception. I have to laugh every time I see someone “bullet proofing” this or that on a vehicle spending thousands of dollars replacing perfectly good OE parts.

The vanos hub is the one thing that got me. Besides the fix of multiple known issues (tabs, bolts, chain guide) I had an oil leak both at the vanos gasket & the oil feed line. For the last 3 years or so, underside plastic tray has been wet from an oil leak, not enough to leak on the ground, but enough to collect sludge. I tracked it down to CPV & Vanos stuff.


I don’t have INPA, as I don’t have a windows laptop & didn’t really want to buy one for this one thing, I have no interest in coding anything & the Foxwell scanner is painfully slow & awkward, but works for what I need it to do.

I realize many people successfully have done this w/o torturing bolts, but all the 10mm crows foot I’ve seen are 3/8” drive & IMHO you can’t accurately torque 14nm with a 3/8” drive torque wrench w/ a 3/8” to 1/4” adapter & a crows foot. This is not because of the crows foot, but mainly because 14nm falls way low on the scale of what an average 3/8” torque wrench is rated at & your average torque wrench is innacurate near the lower & upper limits of its acceptable torque value.

Just out of curiosity it tested this w/ a 1/4” & 3/8” drive torque wrench on a 14mm bolt @ 14nm. Where they clicked wasn’t even close. Granite, I’m using cheapo Harbor Freight torque wrenches, but they have served me well in the past. I’m already in the process & I think I’ve decided to go on with steps that require re-timing the engine - mainly because I wanna replace the plastic chain tensioner with the beefy Besian on I got & because I’ve spent soooo much time researching this I think I’d feel like a puss if I didn’t do it at this point.

[sapote]

I realize many people successfully have done this w/o torturing bolts, but all the 10mm crows foot I’ve seen are 3/8” drive & IMHO you can’t accurately torque 14nm with a 3/8” drive torque wrench w/ a 3/8” to 1/4” adapter & a crows foot. This is not because of the crows foot, but mainly because 14nm falls way low on the scale of what an average 3/8” torque wrench is rated at & your average torque wrench is innacurate near the lower & upper limits of its acceptable torque value.

I used the normal 10mm socket and torque wrench for tightening the vanos hub: remove the vanos off the head and torque the bolts.

[Slideways]

Thanks, I jiggled the exhaust splined hub & got it the cam to retard more To the guy guy w/ the comment about aftermarket timing bridge (I knew it was coming - probably one of the 1st things I wrote - ), I ordered a BMW bridge, it came damaged, a week to get a new one - I got the aftermarket one overnight & am going to compare it to the BMW one & return it if it’s not good. But YES I am using a BMW one before buttoning anything up & I have a redrilled BMW disc from Besian. So far the aftermarket cam tools seem fine, at least when I compare the top each other (setter vs checker) - setter is more “accurate” it seems. Whole set was $65 - if it matches the results from BMW one I don’t see anything wrong with it

I hear you about internet hype. I’m totally with you on that - I think replacing rod bearings w/ good oil analysis is a waste of time & money. I don’t (generally) replace parts unless they are broken. I don’t believe most of these aftermarket “race”, “upgraded”, or “performance parts” are no where near as good as OE or OEM. I think w/ vanos there is a known issue w/ the tabs & a known fix & it’s a rare exception. I have to laugh every time I see someone “bullet proofing” this or that on a vehicle spending thousands of dollars replacing perfectly good OE parts.

The vanos hub is the one thing that got me. Besides the fix of multiple known issues (tabs, bolts, chain guide) I had an oil leak both at the vanos gasket & the oil feed line. For the last 3 years or so, underside plastic tray has been wet from an oil leak, not enough to leak on the ground, but enough to collect sludge. I tracked it down to CPV & Vanos stuff.


I don’t have INPA, as I don’t have a windows laptop & didn’t really want to buy one for this one thing, I have no interest in coding anything & the Foxwell scanner is painfully slow & awkward, but works for what I need it to do.

I realize many people successfully have done this w/o torturing bolts, but all the 10mm crows foot I’ve seen are 3/8” drive & IMHO you can’t accurately torque 14nm with a 3/8” drive torque wrench w/ a 3/8” to 1/4” adapter & a crows foot. This is not because of the crows foot, but mainly because 14nm falls way low on the scale of what an average 3/8” torque wrench is rated at & your average torque wrench is innacurate near the lower & upper limits of its acceptable torque value.

Just out of curiosity it tested this w/ a 1/4” & 3/8” drive torque wrench on a 14mm bolt @ 14nm. Where they clicked wasn’t even close. Granite, I’m using cheapo Harbor Freight torque wrenches, but they have served me well in the past. I’m already in the process & I think I’ve decided to go on with steps that require re-timing the engine - mainly because I wanna replace the plastic chain tensioner with the beefy Besian on I got & because I’ve spent soooo much time researching this I think I’d feel like a puss if I didn’t do it at this point.

The cheapo HF 1/4" is surprisingly accurate as I compared it to a 1/4" Snap-on. You want a 1/4" torque wrench for 14nm. And there should be no issue with a crows foot, just torque in the right orientation.

I would 100% do the oil pump disc. kaiv has so many souvenir exhaust hub tabs to show that it is not worth the risk.

[Cubieman]

I liked this setup.

[maupineda]

Raj was great and infact refunded all money spent and sent me a re-drilled BMW disc, it wasn't fun to do the job twice but shit happens.

As Slideways said, and as I forgot, they do not make these aftermarket discs anymore so that worry is over.

Same for me. Raj personally wrote me letting me know he was refunding me and apologized for the issues, even when I did not ask for any of it.

[maupineda]

The Beisan disks work reliably and are cost-effective, whereas VAC is a terrible company which has screwed many members of this forum. Please stop shilling their products in every VANOS thread.

Chill, people come here for advise from others that have experience with the topic, and that is what is being offered here. I always speak for what I do on my own car with my own money, their hub just works for me. and by the way, is the only one product they sell I have ever used, so your comment is completely inaccurate.

Lastly, I wish I found data driven recommendations when I did my VANOS "fixes", that would have saved me 1k's in unnecessary parts replacements, so I do for others what I would like for myself.

[maupineda]

Thanks, I jiggled the exhaust splined hub & got it the cam to retard more To the guy guy w/ the comment about aftermarket timing bridge (I knew it was coming - probably one of the 1st things I wrote - ), I ordered a BMW bridge, it came damaged, a week to get a new one - I got the aftermarket one overnight & am going to compare it to the BMW one & return it if it’s not good. But YES I am using a BMW one before buttoning anything up & I have a redrilled BMW disc from Besian. So far the aftermarket cam tools seem fine, at least when I compare the top each other (setter vs checker) - setter is more “accurate” it seems. Whole set was $65 - if it matches the results from BMW one I don’t see anything wrong with it

I hear you about internet hype. I’m totally with you on that - I think replacing rod bearings w/ good oil analysis is a waste of time & money. I don’t (generally) replace parts unless they are broken. I don’t believe most of these aftermarket “race”, “upgraded”, or “performance parts” are no where near as good as OE or OEM. I think w/ vanos there is a known issue w/ the tabs & a known fix & it’s a rare exception. I have to laugh every time I see someone “bullet proofing” this or that on a vehicle spending thousands of dollars replacing perfectly good OE parts.

The vanos hub is the one thing that got me. Besides the fix of multiple known issues (tabs, bolts, chain guide) I had an oil leak both at the vanos gasket & the oil feed line. For the last 3 years or so, underside plastic tray has been wet from an oil leak, not enough to leak on the ground, but enough to collect sludge. I tracked it down to CPV & Vanos stuff.


I don’t have INPA, as I don’t have a windows laptop & didn’t really want to buy one for this one thing, I have no interest in coding anything & the Foxwell scanner is painfully slow & awkward, but works for what I need it to do.

I realize many people successfully have done this w/o torturing bolts, but all the 10mm crows foot I’ve seen are 3/8” drive & IMHO you can’t accurately torque 14nm with a 3/8” drive torque wrench w/ a 3/8” to 1/4” adapter & a crows foot. This is not because of the crows foot, but mainly because 14nm falls way low on the scale of what an average 3/8” torque wrench is rated at & your average torque wrench is innacurate near the lower & upper limits of its acceptable torque value.

Just out of curiosity it tested this w/ a 1/4” & 3/8” drive torque wrench on a 14mm bolt @ 14nm. Where they clicked wasn’t even close. Granite, I’m using cheapo Harbor Freight torque wrenches, but they have served me well in the past. I’m already in the process & I think I’ve decided to go on with steps that require re-timing the engine - mainly because I wanna replace the plastic chain tensioner with the beefy Besian on I got & because I’ve spent soooo much time researching this I think I’d feel like a puss if I didn’t do it at this point.

BTW, the BMW procedure tells you to tighten the 3 and 9 o clock bolts to 10NM, then back out 90deg, not 14. one other thing the internet got wrong and everyone assumes correct and bet their lives on.

[ethan]

Chill, people come here for advise from others that have experience with the topic, and that is what is being offered here. I always speak for what I do on my own car with my own money, their hub just works for me. and by the way, is the only one product they sell I have ever used, so your comment is completely inaccurate.

Lastly, I wish I found data driven recommendations when I did my VANOS "fixes", that would have saved me 1k's in unnecessary parts replacements, so I do for others what I would like for myself.

Well, VAC definitely is a "terrible company which has screwed many members of this forum", so my comment isn't "completely inaccurate." And it's worth reiterating because I too would like to "save [others] 1k's in unnecessary parts replacements". In fact, I'm looking at $1,049.95 of useless harmonic damper right now, and I don't want others to get ignored by VAC when SHTF with their half-baked products.

Nothing personal - your VAC hub may be perfectly fine. I'm still going to voice my dissatisfaction with them as a company. ECS did me dirty too, but at least nobody likes them anymore in part because people share their stories on forums. Don't give these people money.

[WoGGo]

I would 100% do the oil pump disc. kaiv has so many souvenir exhaust hub tabs to show that it is not worth the risk.

Wouldn't this mean that the hub is more important to change than then oil pump disc, given that most of us has 100K + miles/km?

Besides VAC's hub, are there any others that can be used with a stock/unmodified oil pump disc that people have had good experience with?

[Slideways]

Wouldn't this mean that the hub is more important to change than then oil pump disc, given that most of us has 100K + miles/km?

Besides VAC's hub, are there any others that can be used with a stock/unmodified oil pump disc that people have had good experience with?

I've reused two stock hubs and many others choose to do the same as well. Haven't heard of any issues when paired with the redrilled disc.

Beisan manufactures their own exhaust hub, and I'd choose that hub to replace a stock hub with a broken tab. Their hub has to be paired with a redrilled disc.

[ethan]

Wouldn't this mean that the hub is more important to change than then oil pump disc, given that most of us has 100K + miles/km?

I have a stock hub going strong at 215k miles. It doesn't seem to be mileage causing the tabs to break: It's unaddressed play/slop between the hub tabs and the oil disk holes. Read the Beisan site for more information.

[WoGGo]

I've reused two stock hubs and many others choose to do the same as well. Haven't heard of any issues when paired with the redrilled disc.

Beisan manufactures their own exhaust hub, and I'd choose that hub to replace a stock hub with a broken tab. Their hub has to be paired with a redrilled disc.

Hmm... I was just reading this from the Beisan S54 Exhaust Sprocket Hub Solution post:

Due to the less tapered thicker wall design, the Beisan hub tabs are the same thickness as the BMW original hub version tabs, and thus are notably thicker than the BNW new hub version tabs.

Given that my M3 was made in April 01, how likely is it that I would have the "original" hub version?

[ethan]

Given that my M3 was made in April 01, how likely is it that I would have the "original" hub version?

Can't answer your question directly, but unless you're just curious, I don't think you need to care because presumably the tabs from the two versions of the BMW hub and the Beisan hub all fit the same pump disk hole diameter or else Beisan couldn't offer a universal disk redrill service for cores without asking your VIN. I.e. whichever of those hubs you have, if you've got good tabs and a redrilled disk, you're good to go.

[Savageblunder]

BTW, the BMW procedure tells you to tighten the 3 and 9 o clock bolts to 10NM, then back out 90deg, not 14. one other thing the internet got wrong and everyone assumes correct and bet their lives on.

First, than you everyone for your opinions & help!!! I thought car forums were mostly dead, but this place is pretty lively.

Progress is being made! This is a weekend 2nd car so I’m just doing a little each day - no hurry.


I believe I saw somewhere BMW is inconsistant in there torque spec for these hubs & they said 10nm under Vanos procedure & 14nm when replacing cams. I could have imagined that, but I don’t think so - or wherever I read it could be wrong.

The issue with a toque wrench (at least I’m having) is all the 10mm crows foot wrenches I’m finding are 3/8” drive & a 3/8” drive toque wrench is not accurate measuring 14nm & no way it’s accurate measuring 10nm. It’s way too low on it’s rated scale, toque wrenches are not accurate at there highest & lowest numbers.

i was a Ford dealer tech for 7 years outta high school (I’ve been out of the car biz 25 years). I’ve always heard this about torque wrenches & decided to actually test it now 1/4” vs 3/8” w/ a 14mm socket & it’s WAY off. You have to rotate the bolt another 200° or so w/ the 3/8” to get the “click”. Again, I own cheap Harbor Freight click torque wrenches, if you have an $800 Snap On 3/8” drive digital torque wrench your probably using a much more accurate tool.

Yes, you could use a 1/4” to 3/8” adapter & a 1/4” torque wrench w/ a 3/8” 10mm crows foot. In theory it will effect the torque readings somewhat, multiply that with the slight change a crows foot can make & it seems to me there is a enough room for inaccuracy a torque wrench wouldn’t even be worth it.

Stanley Proto & Snap On both make 10mm 1/4” drive crows feet. That would be the tool to get, but both are like $35 + shipping + a week waiting for them to get here. The tool in the photo is on Amazon, but again 3/8” drive. I saw the Carslisle tool in the photo is similar - I’m guessing it’s also 3/8” drive.

Here is a video of the slop of factory hub vs Besian. My factory hub was not gouged up & tabs look to be in perfect shape:

https://youtube.com/shorts/xm1vfcXm6CY?si=riNkpkoT1RwhdMlK

I’m in the camp of “use factory hub w/ Besian or Dr Vanos re-drilled oil disc”. Besian is one of the few aftermarket companies I trust (the only?) & yes I know they made a hub that had issues. This fix addresses the factory problem using modified factory parts. This is the best way to go. Cryo-treated-chromoly-on-steroids looking monster hubs seem like an awkwardly engineered solution to a problem that was already solved with re-drilling factory discs. This is my opinion only, I’m not trying to say anyone who thinks / does differently is a dummy. I’m not an engineer or an S54 expert. I really do not like buying parts from any company with “racing” or “performance” in their name. I’m not a racer and honestly I’m just looking to maintain factory “performance”.

As for where to buy parts, my very 1st choice is Rock Auto. For most things I’m looking for OEM for the lowest price. Parts they don’t carry that are BMW brand or similar I usually go with BimmerWorld - they seem to be the best if you ask me. However, their website sucks. I decided to change my plugs & oil while I’m at it, & last night ordered both from FCP Euro cuz I was in a hurry & annoyed at BimmerWorlds website, as the menus don’t work half the time on iPhone.