I wouldn't say this is true... see below.
The rattling issue doesn't have an effect on performance at all. It's a common issue and it's just noise, nothing more. You can drive the car into the ground with the rattling and it won't cause any issues.
Beisan Systems makes replacement rings that eliminate the rattle. This issue plagues the single VANOS E36/E46 and the double VANOS E46 for sure; I'm not sure if it affects any models beyond that.
The part failing that actually
does cause performance problems is the seals, which doesn't necessarily mean failed VANOS. The VANOS unit itself is probably fine, just needs the seals replaced. A whole new VANOS unit is extremely expensive whereas the seals are cheap, so it's an important differentiation.
I'm sure some people have had their VANOS units actually replaced, but it's not that common for the whole thing to need replacing.
Link to the repair products:
http://www.beisansystems.com/products.html
You needs item BS001 to repair the seals, and BS002 to repair the rattle.