[nate.smith317]

OK I have a 2007 M5, fairly new to me, SUCKS. Love the car, was solid, didn't seem to have any issues. Slowly upgraded interior things, made the car look really nice overall. About 3 months into owner her now, and the Vanos high pressure pump failed, when I mean failed, exploded. Lots of metal all through the oil pan area, pics attached. Shop said they can't obviously warranty any work done. So they are going to button it back up and be done, not replacing anything. I am fairly handy, not that I have ever taken an engine out of car and rebuilt it. But I could replace the Vanos pumps, and solenoids and potentially flush out as much debris as I can. is that even worth doing??

What are my options?? Love this car had no issues before this one. Had no metal in the oil analysis, watching for rod bearings. Am I screwed, part it out, sell it dead as is? Its a beautiful car overall, just needs a new heart!!

 

[flacoramos]

You sure you didn't blow up bearings? That doggie bag sure looks to have more than just vanos pump parts.

Yeah oil analysis is useless, as you've found out the hard way.

 

[nate.smith317]

You sure you didn't blow up bearings? That doggie bag sure looks to have more than just vanos pump parts.

Yeah oil analysis is useless, as you've found out the hard way.

Thanks, could be. Will ask the shop once I pick it up what else they think those parts are...

 

[TassieBMW]

What mileage does the car have and what build month in 2007 is it?
Sorry to hear what has happened to you, keep us updated on what you find out. As above, I suspect potentially the bearings have gone or are close to going and maybe metal from that is what destroyed the VANOS pump.

 

[nate.smith317]

What mileage does the car have and what build month in 2007 is it?
Sorry to hear what has happened to you, keep us updated on what you find out. As above, I suspect potentially the bearings have gone or are close to going and maybe metal from that is what destroyed the VANOS pump.

It is a 10/06 build. Car was at 126k miles. I had just done a blackstone oil analysis, and it showed no metal, copper or iron... I know that is not a direct indicator, but thought I was ok there, NOT!

 

[specialized2010]

OK I have a 2007 M5, fairly new to me, SUCKS. Love the car, was solid, didn't seem to have any issues. Slowly upgraded interior things, made the car look really nice overall. About 3 months into owner her now, and the Vanos high pressure pump failed, when I mean failed, exploded. Lots of metal all through the oil pan area, pics attached. Shop said they can't obviously warranty any work done. So they are going to button it back up and be done, not replacing anything. I am fairly handy, not that I have ever taken an engine out of car and rebuilt it. But I could replace the Vanos pumps, and solenoids and potentially flush out as much debris as I can. is that even worth doing??

What are my options?? Love this car had no issues before this one. Had no metal in the oil analysis, watching for rod bearings. Am I screwed, part it out, sell it dead as is? Its a beautiful car overall, just needs a new heart!! View attachment 962817 View attachment 962818 View attachment 962819

Geez what a nightmare. Hope you get this figured out.

 

[N_Rob]

Wow, all these threads have me kicking myself for not disassembling my pumps when I did my bearings. When I hit 200k I’m going back in to check all this stuff. That’ll put almost 25k miles on my binned ACL bearings from Lang, will be interesting to see the wear.

 

[IM5ORRY]

Sorry to see this. It’s like $4,500 to bullet proof the engine if you DIY. $7500 for a used engine. Either way owning this beast ain’t cheap

 

[nate.smith317]

Yeah I had it in for Vanos faults, was ready to replace all those parts, Vanos pump, solenoids, high pressure line... I'm thinking my only real choices are to sell it as is, besides the engine its a perfect car, even a manual. My other thought is replacing those parts myself, the rod bearings too. My question on that side is what are my odds the repairs would work? Seems like with replacing the vanos stuff and the bearings (if not spun) that it would be a fairly high percentage that is could work?? Anyone ever recovered from something similar?

 

[tangle]

Yeah I had it in for Vanos faults, was ready to replace all those parts, Vanos pump, solenoids, high pressure line... I'm thinking my only real choices are to sell it as is, besides the engine its a perfect car, even a manual. My other thought is replacing those parts myself, the rod bearings too. My question on that side is what are my odds the repairs would work? Seems like with replacing the vanos stuff and the bearings (if not spun) that it would be a fairly high percentage that is could work?? Anyone ever recovered from something similar?

A guy at Lang bought an M6 like that, fixed it and as far as I know, still runs. No guarantees of course but what option do you have?

 

[amesser325]

Bummer - sorry to hear it, another datapoint to lay eyes on oiling system ASAP after car purchase.
To start, I'd disassemble the oil pump to look for damage in the vanes. If OK, spend a lot of time flowing/backflowing the oil filter assembly and the oil cooler. Might be worth seeing if a local shop can do that for you... would suck to fix everything then send debris that was left in the oil cooler thru your new parts.
I'd also inspect the VANOS supply lines (T from top of engine) and backflush them. Probably remove solenoids and look for debris. Look for scoring anywhere oil would flow.
Otherwise, standard stuff applies - Rod bearings, HP VANOS line, LCI updates to oil pump drive, new chain guides. Dr Vanos hopefully has a new/updated bearing VANOS pump on hand.
If you end up doing that stuff instead of cutting bait, you'll probably want to do one or two really short oil services with filter inspections for metal debris.
This is why I was paranoid when I bought mine in Atlanta and drove it home to Louisville, KY. Never went above 4k rpm and no aggressive accels. Immediately did rod bearing service and inspected everything noted above.

Good luck!

Andy

 

[nate.smith317]

A guy at Lang bought an M6 like that, fixed it and as far as I know, still runs. No guarantees of course but what option do you have?

Part it out or

Bummer - sorry to hear it, another datapoint to lay eyes on oiling system ASAP after car purchase.
To start, I'd disassemble the oil pump to look for damage in the vanes. If OK, spend a lot of time flowing/backflowing the oil filter assembly and the oil cooler. Might be worth seeing if a local shop can do that for you... would suck to fix everything then send debris that was left in the oil cooler thru your new parts.
I'd also inspect the VANOS supply lines (T from top of engine) and backflush them. Probably remove solenoids and look for debris. Look for scoring anywhere oil would flow.
Otherwise, standard stuff applies - Rod bearings, HP VANOS line, LCI updates to oil pump drive, new chain guides. Dr Vanos hopefully has a new/updated bearing VANOS pump on hand.
If you end up doing that stuff instead of cutting bait, you'll probably want to do one or two really short oil services with filter inspections for metal debris.
This is why I was paranoid when I bought mine in Atlanta and drove it home to Louisville, KY. Never went above 4k rpm and no aggressive accels. Immediately did rod bearing service and inspected everything noted above.

Good luck!

Andy

Thanks Andy! Yeah we did the same, flew down and drove it to Indy from Atlanta. Changed the oil and did analysis right then, we where super careful. Then the what the shop thinks is the Vanos pump blew up. No idea what I'm going to do yet, thinking that if I change out the Vanos system and the rod bearings it should be good. Might just replace the oil cooler too. Thanks again!

 

[platii]

^ I would go for it at least you have an idea, flushing the system is a key, the issue in flushing is you going to run the engine, I don't recommend start the engine without looking at the bearing for embed debris that will scratch the crankshaft, so either you inspect and clean it or put a cheap standard acl set for flushing then replace it to what ever set up you want to go with.

 

[dbenkert]

What's interesting to try to understand here is what caused the catastrophic failure. Did the chain-tensioner break allowing the chain to hop off the sprocket, and in your infinite luck it went inside rather than out and started chewing away until critical failure? If so, I might begin to be a bit nervous about not replacing the two when I did this job, as I believe later models were revised in material. In your sump it's clear to see the pump race shattered, which had to take quite an awkward hit to achieve. Seems almost guaranteed the engine's pump sustained some level of damage, even if not immediately visible.

 

[nate.smith317]

Yeah I’m sure both pumps need replaced. I plan on inspecting the top end as well as the cylinders from the top and bottom. My other concern is where ever it has pumped oil probably pumped metal. Trying to figure out where everything goes oil wise. Not sure if there is a diagram somewhere that could help me?? For sure is going to be a long term project.

 

[flacoramos]

What's interesting to try to understand here is what caused the catastrophic failure.

Exactly! There are a handful reports of a cracked vanos pump bearing race which then starts making noises. But people stop driving then / no catastrophic failure. Here bearings are still my first suspect based on oil starvation once bearing material plugged up everything. Answer on bearings still TBD.

OP you (or your shop) don't need to disassemble anything, just wiggle the con rod big ends. If you find major play in any of them (it will be obvious) you found the issue.

 

[nate.smith317]

Exactly! There are a handful reports of a cracked vanos pump bearing race which then starts making noises. But people stop driving then / no catastrophic failure. Here bearings are still my first suspect based on oil starvation once bearing material plugged up everything. Answer on bearings still TBD.

OP you (or your shop) don't need to disassemble anything, just wiggle the con rod big ends. If you find major play in any of them (it will be obvious) you found the issue.

Here is the last quote I got from the shop's lead mechanic:

"I don't think it has a spun bearing, but I also don't think slamming a pump in it and flushing the oil is going to make it "OK". The solenoids and all the screens inside the engine are going to be completely clogged with metal shavings. It's not limited to just whats in the pan. The oil pumps have sent that everything they can."

 

[nate.smith317]

If anyone knows the best way to flush the oil pathways that is my plan. The oil squirters need replaced too. On top of the Vanos and regular oil pump... Will do Rod bearings as well if everything continues to work as I go replacing...

 

[tangle]

How did the oil filter look?

 

[nate.smith317]

How did the oil filter look?

Good call, I asked them. Planned on replacing the oil cooler too.