S54 Vanos Help

[Slideways]

My only question is doing it this way, should I initially tighten the top 3 hub bolts with vanos 3-5mm from head or when it’s completely mounted against head, if I’m going to subsequently remove it to use a torque wrench to torque hubs bolts to 14nm w/ vanos on bench? I think the former? The common method of tightening bolts by feel & loosening them 90° seems sketchy to me, a lot of people seem to have issues with it & there is no real way to accurately torque hub bolts to 14nm, which seems really important if the hub is acting as a clutch pretensioning the system. You can’t really do it w/ a crows foot either, because all of those are 3/8” drive & you can’t really use a 3/8” drive torque wrench to tighten to such a low torque of 14nm accurately - I’ve tested it - you need a 1/4” torque wrench or that $600 BMW torque wrench. Ugh. A lot of words. Sorry.

Tightening and releasing the bolts 90 degrees does not have to be done with a torque wrench. Tighten by feel and back off 90 degrees.

A standard crows foot with socket extension can work for the final torquing procedure, just have to keep crows foot at a 90 degree angle (9 o'clock position) from the head of the torque wrench when tightening the bolts.

[maupineda]

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.

[Savageblunder]

****Sideways - thatnk you so much - I typed you this long PM (posted below) & it won’t let me send it. Prob cuz I’m a “new member”. I’m really not, I’ve been wrenching on my BMWs for 25 years & have posted on & off on various BMW forums - but had to re-join here cuz I couldn’t remember my user name or email…

PM:

Thanks you for your PM help. I’ll wait til the BMW cam bridge comes & see how it goes. I’ve researched this extensively for Z4M (what info there is) & so far so good. I was able to get Vanos out w/ oil feed tube attached w/o issue & I think the way I’m going to do it is put splined shafts in car hubs loose on previously found sweet spot tooth, mount Vanos loosely w/ long bolts, attach Vanos to splined shafts, bottom out pistons, tighten Vanos to 3mm of head with spacing tool, tighten top 3 hub bolts on each hub, remove Vanos from vehicle leaving splined shafts in vehicle, torque hubs to 14nm, re-attach Vanos to car, attatch splined shafts (hubs are torqued - cams shouldn’t move), tighten down Vanos, remove/reinstall Vanos piston caps to make sure they are still bottomed out, then spin the engine by hand a bunch of times & check w/ bridge to make sure all is good.
***Does that sound correct & mostly idiot proof? *** My only question is doing it this way, should I initially tighten the top 3 hub bolts with vanos 3-5mm from head or when it’s completely mounted against head, if I’m going to subsequently remove it to use a torque wrench to torque hubs bolts to 14nm w/ vanos on bench? I think the former? The common method of tightening bolts by feel & loosening them 90° seems sketchy to me, a lot of people seem to have issues with it & there is no real way to accurately torque hub bolts to 14nm, which seems really important if the hub is acting as a clutch pretensioning the system. You can’t really do it w/ a crows foot either, because all of those are 3/8” drive & you can’t really use a 3/8” drive torque wrench to tighten to such a low torque of 14nm accurately - I’ve tested it - you need a 1/4” torque wrench or that $600 BMW torque wrench. Ugh. A lot of words. Sorry .

[Savageblunder]

Wait until the new genuine BMW tool arrives. The aftermarket cheapo ones do not have a good reputation.

However, if you are going to be replacing the cam bolts it does not matter what the timing on the motor is right now. You will have to start from scratch after installing the cam bolts.

Wait until the new genuine BMW tool arrives. The aftermarket cheapo ones do not have a good reputation.

However, if you are going to be replacing the cam bolts it does not matter what the timing on the motor is right now. You will have to start from scratch after installing the cam bolts.

Thank you both for your input - esp for the “blue substance” tip. I thought it could’ve been aftermarket Permatex RTV. The thing is I’m actually trying to decide if doing upper chain guide & cam bolts is worth the potential headache of having to re-time the engine & risking “issues”. I have the vanos itself out & apart & my
main thing was to do the exhaust hub (Besian) with smaller holes . The tabs were good & the original holes with very little wear (90k miles).

I stuck a boroscope in & the chain guide looks fine. It’s a Z4 M & a 2008 - cam bolts backing out & a broken chain guide seem very uncommon for whatever reason on these cars. I have a basic BMW / Foxwell scanner to re-set Vanos adaptations, but don’t have INPA or anything else that requires a Windows laptop, because I’ve never needed it & don’t own a Windows laptop.

issue #2 making me lean this way is on Z4 you cannot put Vanos back on with splined hubs installed - you have to put splined hubs on car first & then bolt the Vanos on to them on car, as there is no room due to radiator support. So, in preparation, just in case - I pulled the caps to measure where the pistons are when they are all the way back in the Vanos & planned to re-install without the caps so I can verify they are bottomed out.

interesingly enough - at the back in the bore with pistons hitting the caps stops- they are not at the same depth. The exhaust is about 0.048mm from end of bore & intake is about 0.027mm below end of bore. I have the Besian chain guide & new cam bolts but not sure what I’m going to do yet - the internet seems filled with people who followed Besian procedure & have had issues for whatever reason. I think I’ll wait for the BMW cam bridge to get here, but it does look like the exhaust may be off & that doesn’t make me feel any better about messing with it, if I can’t understand what’s going on with it initially. Maybe the engines were off from the factory?

[Slideways]

Don't worry about the timing right now. As long as the engine is at TDC with the first two cam lobes roughly facing towards each other, that is all that is needed. Keep following the Beisan instructions. The blue substance is from the VANOS gasket. When it is crushed, it has a blue substance in it that squeezes to provide a seal.

[jayjaya29]

Wait until the new genuine BMW tool arrives. The aftermarket cheapo ones do not have a good reputation.

However, if you are going to be replacing the cam bolts it does not matter what the timing on the motor is right now. You will have to start from scratch after installing the cam bolts.

[Savageblunder]

Hi, l could use some help from thee S54 vanos gurus here. First, I know aftermaket timing bridges are not considered accurate. I have a new BMW one coming & just using this to compare. I ordered a BMW & it arrived damaged - this one was just to check the factory set timing before anything was disturbed so I could proceed with disassembly confidently before BMW took arrived.

This is a 2008 S54 Z4M that runs perfectly. I bought it “new” in 2009, but it was a demo if I recall. I’m doing Besian exhaust hub, timing chain guide, cam bolts, etc… This motor has never been worked on other than valve adjustment by me, unless it was done prior to me getting the car…

I have the crank locked @ TDC with the crank pin, I removed the VANOS solenoid/manifold & VANOS “caps” to let out any oil. I’ve rocked the cams w/ 24 mm wrench excessively, rotated engine, repeated - multiple times. I haven’t removed the splined shafts from the engine - I believe they have not been removed since factory.

This was an initial check before I did the work. No matter what I do, the exhaust cam will not line up with the pin so the bridge sits flat on the head. Again, I haven’t messed with anything critical yet - this is just to check how it is initially. I know the DME sets the cams so they are not fully retarded for next start up, but I thought this was over come by removing the solenoid & vanos caps & rocking the cams towards passenger side with the crank lock pin in. 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.

My question is, does that mean this engine’s timing is off a little as it stands? Or is there no way to accurately check cam timing unless starting from ground zero & installing splines shafts, etc… On a side note a see a minuscule amount of what appears to be blue residue (permatex RTV style on top of the guides where the vanos gasket hooks on - see pic. It’s minuscule, but it’s blue. Not sure what to think of that.

pic 1 shows blue RTV ?

pic 2 distance bridge sits off head

ive since removed vanos unit (not splined shafts) & timing is the same - bridge won’t sit flat on exhaust side.