Has anyone out there overhauled their Vanos (ie is there a kit available for the plungers and 'o' rings)?

If not it could be a wee trip out to Lanark to see the Davy chap and if the weather continues like this it's not a job I'd like to do on the driveway anyway!

Cheers in advance!

these guys in america (they ship worldwide) come highly recommended by folk on other forums...

http://www.drvanos.com/ - http://www.drvanos.com/

they have some videos of their work on youtube, they do overhaul kits for the vanos or supply refurbished vanos units; bmw will sell a refurbed unit but they are very expensive in comparison

if it would just stop fekkin raining long enough for me to get a good shifty under the bonnet . . .

Top link ! the engine sound on the youtube video certainly has a familiar tone.

http://www.beisansystems.com/index.html - http://www.beisansystems.com/index.html

http://www.beisansystems.com/procedures/vanos_procedure.htm - http://www.beisansystems.com/procedures/vanos_procedure.htm

this looks more like it - and loads off top pictures!!! $60 for six 'o' rings is still a heartbreaker though . . .

Does anyone know of anybody who has done this job or used this company?

What is the symptoms of your car?  How do you know the Vanos is on the way out?  I've looked at the Haynes manual for this overhaul and it looks pretty scary!  Loads of delicate oily looking bits.  It mentions having to blow compressed air into the oil feed to counter act the oil pressure needed to strip the vanos units. 

Have a read at the Haynes manual first then decide if you want to do it.  If you have the confidence then go for it, you are braver than me.

Andrew

Haven't had a look at a Haynes for years, their lack of technical info, pictures and spanner icons (do they still do them?) relating to difficulty do little encourage the less confident DIY'ers.

The Vanos is, as far as I'm concerned, needing an overhaul. That's why I asked if anyone had done the 'o' ring seals before, as they're the most likely part to fail. Symptoms are pretty well described on the Beisan website - it seems to be a captive part from BMW (a kind of recurring income - they dont have a kit and you'd have to go through them to get it done). The majority of car manufacturers would rather replace than repair. From a dealer point of view it's a lot less problematic blaming a failed unit than poor workmanship.

One of my friends in the auto electroncis industry has a saying . . .

"there's no such thing as a sealed unit!"

That kind of fits for the Vanos issue, they have a useful life of around 20k to 30k miles. It's just six 'o' rings - the problem is getting a hold of six matching 'o' rings.

At the end of the day it'll come done to time for me - the chances of getting a whole afternoon to myself are pretty remote now and I look at these oppurtunities as work therapy since I don't get my hands dirty that often these days!

http://bimmer.roadfly.com/bmw/forums/e39/7494631-1.html - http://bimmer.roadfly.com/bmw/forums/e39/7494631-1.html

a long thread (above) but it does seem accurate enough regarding the problem . . . at least I know I'm not alone!!!

Makes you wonder how many folks have had Cam Sensor queries, poor mpg, erratic idle and Vanos replacemnets or all of the above due to the 'o' ring issue? 

Reading your link is this just common to the dual vanos engines or was this a problem on the single vanos earlier M52 engine?

I would give the Haynes manual a read. Yes o.k. don't beleive a word it says but it will give you a starter for 10, if for the pics alone.

What you would be best to do is buy a TIS Cd from flebay which will tell you in great detail how to do this job.

Andrew

I'll probably get one of those discs, many thanks for the tip Andrew, have a read through the roadfly link (above) it does make for interesting reading.

Ebay's sometimes a good measure of what's useful . . . take for example the amount of pristine condition Haynes manuals for sale . . . that could be because they're not that helpful, just a guess

I'd rather spend the tenner on magic trees to get rid of the smell of my son's nappies . . . or maybe Haynes should just release a pine fresh version of their manuals!

"I'd buy that for a dollar!!!"