William's 330Ci ZHP Maintenance and Project Thread

[Vas]

Thanks! Brand preference? A Rein kit is listed for $30 on FCP (link), but BMW is $70 (although $50 at ECS).

Rein is fine.

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[anandoc]

Don't forget the vanos oil feed line and crush washers for it
Part number for line below;
11361705532

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Thanks! Brand preference? A Rein kit is listed for $30 on FCP (link), but BMW is $70 (although $50 at ECS).

I used the REIN kit. It even came with the 4 crush washers.

Actually, I have used REIN for all hoses on my car - power steering, VANOS, cooling system - and they have held up so far.

[Sreten]

I've done few Vanos jobs and I'll jump in with some suggestions.

Get a torque wrench if you don't have it. I snapped 2 bolts my first time and wasted another hour running to the store for tools and getting them out.

VANOS piston bolt (11361748745) - get 2 of these as they are so easy to break.

VANOS oil hose/pipe washer (32411093596) - You don't have to get a new Vans oil line if the current one is not leaking. Just 2 crush washers.

I would also suggest you get Rattle Repair Kit. If you rev the engine between 1800 - 3000 rpm you should hear the rattle coming from the Vanos. Every M54 engine I came across had this.

Sounds like this:



Your engine is still pretty low on miles but try this. Both my ZHP and 530i had this rattle which was gone once I installed rebuilt unit.
Other than annoyance, the bearing rattle shouldn't affect Vanos performance, but it's one of those things while you in there.

I always went for a rebuilt unit from Dr. Vanos simply because it saves so much time. It's around $150 more for Dr. Vanos vs the parts, but with a already rebuilt unit I can probably finish everything in about 3 hours whereas rebuild project would probably take half a day or more. You also need an impact wrench, swivel vise and soft vise jaws for the rattle repair.

But, if you have free time, want to do it yourself and know how it's done while saving a few bucks, go for it!

[BMWCurves]

I used the REIN kit. It even came with the 4 crush washers.

Actually, I have used REIN for all hoses on my car - power steering, VANOS, cooling system - and they have held up so far.

Great, thanks!

I've done few Vanos jobs and I'll jump in with some suggestions.

Get a torque wrench if you don't have it. I snapped 2 bolts my first time and wasted another hour running to the store for tools and getting them out.

VANOS piston bolt (11361748745) - get 2 of these as they are so easy to break.

VANOS oil hose/pipe washer (32411093596) - You don't have to get a new Vans oil line if the current one is not leaking. Just 2 crush washers.

I would also suggest you get Rattle Repair Kit. If you rev the engine between 1800 - 3000 rpm you should hear the rattle coming from the Vanos. Every M54 engine I came across had this.

Sounds like this:



Your engine is still pretty low on miles but try this. Both my ZHP and 530i had this rattle which was gone once I installed rebuilt unit.
Other than annoyance, the bearing rattle shouldn't affect Vanos performance, but it's one of those things while you in there.

I always went for a rebuilt unit from Dr. Vanos simply because it saves so much time. It's around $150 more for Dr. Vanos vs the parts, but with a already rebuilt unit I can probably finish everything in about 3 hours whereas rebuild project would probably take half a day or more. You also need an impact wrench, swivel vise and soft vise jaws for the rattle repair.

But, if you have free time, want to do it yourself and know how it's done while saving a few bucks, go for it!

Thanks for the info! I'll have to check, but I'm 95% sure my car doesn't have that rattle. If I went the Dr. VANOS route, I have a couple of questions:

• Their website says it fixes the rattle, but it makes no mention of using parts to fix the issue like the similar anti-rattle kit from Beisan Systems. They say it is solved simply by using the new VANOS seals, similar to the Beisan Systems. So my question is: did you install the Beisan Systems anti-rattle kit into the rebuilt Dr. VANOS unit, or was the Dr. VANOS unit on its own sufficient to eliminate the VANOS rattle?
• They say the core cost is $150 and current cost is $450, so total once my VANOS core is received and processed by Dr. VANOS is $300 out the door, correct?
• Is it preferable to send them my unit and just allow for the downtime in terms of keeping the original parts? I'm more inclined to have my original VANOS than some other used unit, but maybe that's just being silly.

[slater]

Get a torque wrench if you don't have it. I snapped 2 bolts my first time and wasted another hour running to the store for tools and getting them out.

definitely a good idea as the bolts are really low torque spec.

I would also suggest you get Rattle Repair Kit. If you rev the engine between 1800 - 3000 rpm you should hear the rattle coming from the Vanos. Every M54 engine I came across had this.

weird. i've only heard it on one (out of maybe 10 M54s i've worked on), and fortunately it wasn't one of mine!

[slater]

They say the core cost is $150 and current cost is $450, so total once my VANOS core is received and processed by Dr. VANOS is $300 out the door, correct?

i think the kit from beisan systems is $60 - much cheaper. the job is not hard at all, just a little tedious. the last one i did was anando's, i think it was about 1.5hrs?

[Sreten]

From Dr. Vanos website.

"Each dual vanos is fully rebuilt using modified bearings along with high-performance Viton O-rings and Teflon seals that will not only eliminate the vanos rattle, but also restore lost power due to worn out internals."

"In addition, we rebuild the internal bearings to eliminate the 'marbles in a tin can' noises."

So yes, they use similar anti-rattle kit if not the same. I just bolted on the unit from Dr. Vanos and the rattle was gone. I used their Vanos 2 times, on my ZHP and 530i.

$300 + shipping out the door. $150 is core deposit that gets refunded to you once you send them your old unit. You will get a shipping label in the box for your old Vanos.

You'll have to check with them, but I think that's doable. Just like you said, more down time.

weird. i've only heard it on one (out of maybe 10 M54s i've worked on), and fortunately it wasn't one of mine!

I had a bunch of M54's when I was wheelin' & dealin' and all had that rattle, some more some less. I just stopped paying attention to it.

[Sreten]

i think the kit from beisan systems is $60 - much cheaper. the job is not hard at all, just a little tedious. the last one i did was anando's, i think it was about 1.5hrs?

I agree, seals itself are not that hard and if you just want to do that and not the bearings, then definitely get a kit from Beisan.

From Beisan - seals kit is $60, anti rattle bearings $60 plus Soft Vise Jaw Liners $15 = $135 total and satisfaction of doing it yourself.

[BMWCurves]

I'll get one spare VANOS bolt I think. Doubt I'd snap both since I have a micro torque wrench on hand.

i think the kit from beisan systems is $60 - much cheaper. the job is not hard at all, just a little tedious. the last one i did was anando's, i think it was about 1.5hrs?

Yup, $60 for the seals kit. It would save me a good chunk of change compared to the Dr. VANOS rebuilt unit, and I'm not particularly worried about doing it myself. It's if I now think it's worth doing the anti-rattle kit, which I would much rather not do myself. Definitely something to think about.

From Dr. Vanos website.

"Each dual vanos is fully rebuilt using modified bearings along with high-performance Viton O-rings and Teflon seals that will not only eliminate the vanos rattle, but also restore lost power due to worn out internals."

"In addition, we rebuild the internal bearings to eliminate the 'marbles in a tin can' noises."

So yes, they use similar anti-rattle kit if not the same. I just bolted on the unit from Dr. Vanos and the rattle was gone. I used their Vanos 2 times, on my ZHP and 530i.

$300 + shipping out the door. $150 is core deposit that gets refunded to you once you send them your old unit. You will get a shipping label in the box for your old Vanos.

You'll have to check with them, but I think that's doable. Just like you said, more down time.

Completely missed that Appreciate you going to check the website yourself!

Some days I think I'm dyslexic, but can't be bothered to get tested. The ol' "I've made it this far..."

[Sreten]

I know you always go above and beyond with your ZHP and that's why I mentioned it.

It's not a must, it doesn't affect performance and if you don't have the rattle maybe you should leave it alone.
I was in the same spot as you and I did so much research on this subject when I was deciding what to do with my 530i that it drove me crazy.

My first auto ZHP had 117k miles and had this rattle. I decided to do just the seals and while you could feel improvement in performance, the rattle was still there.

For my 530i I decided to pull the trigger on Dr. Vanos. Just one of those things where I didn't want to think about it down the road and having to come back and do it again.