RIP Vanos

[csepipeti]

I had my car at the service station for about 3 weeks with some damage caused by a too high ramp, also had a hard time dealing with the insurance company.
Anyways, yesterday I got her back, and after warming up, i went to a test-drive. It did not last long, as i got engine check error, and reduced power
Took it back to the service station, and the computer says vanos problem. After resetting the error, and starting up the engine, it runs for a few minutes, and then engine check error, reduced power, vanos error again. So it seems like its dead finally.
I was seriously thinking about getting rid of the car, as it is mostly pain in the *** in the past year, but now i cant even make it work for a week to be able to sell it. Maybe i'll just set it on fire...
Do you guys have an estimate about this vanos repair cost? I know its gonna hurt bad...

[Mark Carson]

That sucks. The early (and I see what you have a 2005) M5 and M6 cars had VANOS issues. Which should have been repaired under warranty back when you car was still in warranty. Do you have the service records? If everything is original, maybe BMW will help you even though you are probably out of warranty. However the VANOS problems were a manufacturing defect, not a "broken part" from normal wear and tear.

Good luck. Sorry to hear that your beast has had so many problems.

Cheers

[csepipeti]

Well, unfortunatelly, the previous owner did not take the car to the official dealer, so this reduces the chance that BMW will help even if i have the full service history, but i might give it a shot, thanks!

[q8kamikaze]

Sorry to hear the bad news , I think the $tealer will change the Vanos cause it's can't be fixed , Keep us posted my friend .
Good luck .

[csepipeti]

It's been a long time ago... But finally the beast is working fine again. The story would be too long and boring to tell, but the car was at 2 different dealerships, including BMW Hungary, and none of them found what the real problem was. I've spent a lot of money and time (and it was winter in the meantime), but finally i've found a guy, who is a real BMW guru, and he was able to fix the car in 4 days. The culprit was a flexible oil pipe, belonging to VANOS. Just telling it, so that if anyone of you experience VANOS problems, it is mostly caused by this pipe, and the leak not visible from the outside of the car, as the oil goes back to the oil tray, but there is no oil pressure for vanos units.
Damn, i almost got rid of the car, was so devastated that noone was able to fix it...
Now i feel like i have a new car!

[ritchy-69]

For your information:
With the previous owner of my 2005 M6 the "Vanos High pressure hose" was replaced under warrenty within the first 8000 KM.
(I could not find out if this was a "recall".......)
Maybe this information is helpful to you??

[csepipeti]

Thanks, but i'm not under warranty, but this hose was the culprit. It's been replaced, and the car seems to be ok now.

[ur20v]

The VANOS high pressure line was a recall if a fault showed only. I would get on to BMW and ask for assistance, the dealers should have known to check this part for the very reasons it failed, this are known to BMW. Charging you lots of diagnostic labour for this clear issue isn't on. The bulletin is on here:

VANOS Oil Line Replacement Service Bulletin

Jay