Vanos seal and bearing refurb

[dva99999]

Just after a little advice....I’m going to be doing a vanos seal replacement and as I have the bearings will be doing that as well. My Z3 is a 2.8. It seems a little down on power despite the air intake modification and customs exhaust. There is a slight rattle noise as well so as I already have the kit I would give this a go.
I understand I have to remove the fan belt which I have the tool for and having already changed the rocker cover gasket I’m pretty clued up on that procedure as well.
Will I need to do anything else in regards to the thermostat coolant, radiator or the like before I get to work.
I’ve just replaced the oil filter housing gasket on my E39 and there are similarities between the two but I just want to make sure I don’t miss anything.
I’ve also read that after this procedure the car can have idle problems for a few 100 miles before settling down. What should I notice immediately other than a quiet vanos and better running?
I’ll be posting this on the facebook page as well to make sure I get as much info as possible.
Thanks.

 

[Jack Ratt]

Is your car single or double vanos ? My car is pre facelift single vanos and I didn't need to touch the thermostat housing to remove the vanos.
Just remove the rocker cover and the vanos case bolts. Get a new vanos case gasket for the rebuild. You do it without removing the fan and drive belts and radiator. There are plenty of YouTube vids for reference.
I'd recommend doing an oil change too so that the new vanos seals run in new oil. The vanos seals are easy enough to change but the rattle ring can be a bit difficult to access due to the shallow nut on the vanos piston.

For single vanos you will need the special tool kit, but they are available on Ebay

 

[Paul Weller]

Silly question to anyone that knows, but what's a vanos?

 

[mwpe]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WK6zilY0RM

 

[Paul Weller]

Now I know! Thank you. Looks like a very German solution to the problem!

 

[dva99999]

Is your car single or double vanos ? My car is pre facelift single vanos and I didn't need to touch the thermostat housing to remove the vanos.
Just remove the rocker cover and the vanos case bolts. Get a new vanos case gasket for the rebuild. You do it without removing the fan and drive belts and radiator. There are plenty of YouTube vids for reference.
I'd recommend doing an oil change too so that the new vanos seals run in new oil. The vanos seals are easy enough to change but the rattle ring can be a bit difficult to access due to the shallow nut on the vanos piston.

For single vanos you will need the special tool kit, but they are available on Ebay

Thanks for that...it’s a dual vanos. I’ve purchased oil and a new rocker cover gasket as well.

 

[t-tony]

I’ve purchased oil

I hope you got a new oil filter too? I would also put in some oil system flush before warming the oil and draining it. My choice would be the stuff we use at work made by Forte.

Tony.

 

[the Nefyn cat]

Did mine (2.2 twin vanos) quite a while back, easy job, but be careful about getting the old seals out. Slipped a bit with my nice sharp pointy knife whilst doing mine, and it turns out there's a hell of a lot of blood in a thumb.Just saying.

 

[dva99999]

Did mine (2.2 twin vanos) quite a while back, easy job, but be careful about getting the old seals out. Slipped a bit with my nice sharp pointy knife whilst doing mine, and it turns out there's a hell of a lot of blood in a thumb.Just saying.

Ouch that sounds painful....
Did you have to remove the fan and shroud?

 

[Cooper]

Here is what I remember when I did mine on my M54 B30 twin vanos:

Remove the fan, get it all out of the way and it is easier [I think]. there will be some oil that comes out when pulling the vanos unit out so make sure your belt is covered with some plastic and rags, and rags on the ground. The vanos units have a hex screw that is torqued down real tight and I think it is a left hand thread, it is tight!. Then remove the plastic little caps within so you will need some needle nose pliers to pull 'em out. In there is a screw behind the cap. Be careful not to break it off when tightening it up cause it will take you over an hour to pick wind it out - ask me now I know lol. Have a clean work space ready to clean up and pull the old seals off. Heat the new ones in really warm water so they are more stretchy [leave them in the plastic bags so they don't get wet]. If you accidentally scratch the pistons don't panic, use some emery sand paper and gently buff it out. Make sure you put the springs in the correct way. You can replace or sand the washers that make the rattle, so I am told.

I noticed no difference in anything at all when I did mine, but I had no complaints before I did it, was preventative maintenance as I had to replace the rocker cover and the car had done 160,000klm. The seals where a bit hard but not rock solid.

Watch a few youtube vids and you will pick up the stupid mistakes others make, learn from their mistakes not your own! lol.

It is not that hard, but a bit or work. I give it a 2.5 spanners out of 5.

Graeme

 

[dva99999]

Here is what I remember when I did mine on my M54 B30 twin vanos:

Remove the fan, get it all out of the way and it is easier [I think]. there will be some oil that comes out when pulling the vanos unit out so make sure your belt is covered with some plastic and rags, and rags on the ground. The vanos units have a hex screw that is torqued down real tight and I think it is a left hand thread, it is tight!. Then remove the plastic little caps within so you will need some needle nose pliers to pull 'em out. In there is a screw behind the cap. Be careful not to break it off when tightening it up cause it will take you over an hour to pick wind it out - ask me now I know lol. Have a clean work space ready to clean up and pull the old seals off. Heat the new ones in really warm water so they are more stretchy [leave them in the plastic bags so they don't get wet]. If you accidentally scratch the pistons don't panic, use some emery sand paper and gently buff it out. Make sure you put the springs in the correct way. You can replace or sand the washers that make the rattle, so I am told.

I noticed no difference in anything at all when I did mine, but I had no complaints before I did it, was preventative maintenance as I had to replace the rocker cover and the car had done 160,000klm. The seals where a bit hard but not rock solid.

Watch a few youtube vids and you will pick up the stupid mistakes others make, learn from their mistakes not your own! lol.

It is not that hard, but a bit or work. I give it a 2.5 spanners out of 5.

Graeme

That’s brilliant thank you...

I’ve looked at a few videos, the one from X8R has the engine off the bench. I’ve looked at the Besian one too. Just waiting on delivery of the fan tool kit from Amazon as I figured I’ll need it in future.

 

[Cooper]

That’s brilliant thank you...

I’ve looked at a few videos, the one from X8R has the engine off the bench. I’ve looked at the Besian one too. Just waiting on delivery of the fan tool kit from Amazon as I figured I’ll need it in future.

There are a few better videos of back yard mechanics like us. Have better search if you feel you need to.

 

[the Nefyn cat]

Been busy for a couple of days, no time to poke about on here. Fan and shroud off, might as well take the belt/s off too, easy job. There will be oil, that's for sure, so cover things up a bit. When I did mine I used the kit from X8R, contains everything you'll need, the old cam-cover gaskets pretty much fell to pieces as I took mine to bits, made of something that's not quite rubber I guess.You will indeed need some thin-nosed pliers, I had to nip up the road to borrow some bent ones because the radiator gets in the way of the exhaust cam plug thingy. Probably best to put an old towel over the top of the engine while the lid is off, better safe than sorry. Just be careful getting the old seals out, they will be stiff and awkward.

 

[dva99999]

So I’m halfway through it. Changed the belt while at it. I was very careful taking the old seals off the pistons but I found these marks on one of them...probably the worst one.
I’m just waiting on delivery of a couple of items but can these but sanded back or is it completely ruined??

 

[dva99999]

 

[the Nefyn cat]

Pistons should be fine with a bit of fine wet and dry, it's the seals that do the sealing. Are those the left-hand threaded screws out of the middle of the cams? Don't think that'll polish out. Bu88er.

 

[Wazza]

Did mine (2.2 twin vanos) quite a while back, easy job, but be careful about getting the old seals out. Slipped a bit with my nice sharp pointy knife whilst doing mine, and it turns out there's a hell of a lot of blood in a thumb.Just saying.

Hi mate what where you Symtoms for changing jt ? I’ve got a 2.2 and if easy enough I’m thinking of doing it as mines got 136 k miles

 

[the Nefyn cat]

Bear in mind that my Z3 is the only one I've ever driven, so I don't know what a good one feels like. There didn't seem to be anythinh happening as the revs went up, I was expecting some indication that the timing was changing, but nothing. These days I've got a code-reader that does live data so I can actually see the cam timing change, got to be the best way to confirm things. Once I'd changed all the gubbins it definitely made a difference. All the rubber bits are made out of the same rubber that BMW used back then, it all dries up and goes brittle, as you'll find out if you do the job. It's not hard to do, if you're reasonably competent, and plenty of youtube videos to use as a guide.