Replacement Vanos replaced? - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

agriskman · 12th November 2004, 04:53

The dealer called me this afternoon and said that the left side Vanos on my MY2000 needed replacing at 35K miles. They replaced the right side three months ago. My question: Are replacement Vanos as susceptible to failure as the original equipment? Luckily all work has been done under CPO warranty but will I need to replace the replacement Vanos in two years? Is there any difference between replacement Vanos and original equipment?

I bought the car expecting that M5 engine would not generate large repair bills after warranty.

BlueBomber · 12th November 2004, 18:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by agriskman

The dealer called me this afternoon and said that the left side Vanos on my MY2000 needed replacing at 35K miles. They replaced the right side three months ago. My question: Are replacement Vanos as susceptible to failure as the original equipment? Luckily all work has been done under CPO warranty but will I need to replace the replacement Vanos in two years? Is there any difference between replacement Vanos and original equipment?

I bought the car expecting that M5 engine would not generate large repair bills after warranty.

I have this fear as well... however, I have not heard of one single instance where a replacement VANOS unit has been replaced again. I had both the left and right banks replaced around 20-25k miles. I'm currently at 70k miles and no VANOS problems have arisen yet. So it appears that the VANOS units won't need replacing (*knock on wood*).

As for large repair bills after warranty... the expense for keeping these cars running is fairly expensive IMO. On average, I seem to be spending around $750-1,000/yr on general maintainence (e.g. - tires, brakes, oil, etc.) after expiration of warranty.

dmz · 12th November 2004, 19:11

$1k/year in maintenance is considered high? That is pocket change compared to what people spend in mods around here. The truth is whoever buys a high performance car and expect to be as cheap to maintain as a Honda Civic are just kidding themselve. If you want to play you have to be able to pay.

Philip · 12th November 2004, 23:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmz

$1k/year in maintenance is considered high? That is pocket change compared to what people spend in mods around here. The truth is whoever buys a high performance car and expect to be as cheap to maintain as a Honda Civic are just kidding themselve. If you want to play you have to be able to pay.

You took the words right out of my mouth. $1000 only? My last set of tires lasted only 10K miles.

agriskman · 16th November 2004, 00:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philip

You took the words right out of my mouth. $1000 only? My last set of tires lasted only 10K miles.

I expect to pay for tires, oil, annual maintenance, and the occasional more major item, but I was just informed that in addition to the vanos unit needing to be replaced that I have one bent valve. How can only one valve be bent? Could it be related to the failed vanos? They tell me everything will be covered so I am sure that they found out that I did not overrev the engine. The engine has 35k on it and I drive pretty easily most of the time.

I am going to have to trust the dealer to make everything OK because I live 50 miles away. Oh well at least another week in my S-80 winter car. With winter coming, i might not be able to drive the M5 much at all until next spring. Bad luck.