Dirty Vanos

[Goblin]

My engine light had come on as I turned into Crowfoot. I went about going to the bank etc. then popped into BMW gallery. Next week had the engine light right, it came back as "Dirty Vanos".

They did an oil change, "regular maintence", and turned the light off.

If it comes back on, they said, come back, your vanos is truly in need of replacement. To me, I know that Vanos is expensive. In my own words, "Come back, your fucked."

Well.. It came back on. rough idling and low RPM control, bouncing around etc.

Anyone have any information regarding vanos? I have read a lot on e46fanatics.com and bmwworld.

Any extra info would be gladly excepted. (prefacelight e46 - 00' 323i)

[FiveFreshFish]

How many km on your engine?

[Goblin]

210k

[FiveFreshFish]

Additional info on bimmerforums.com. I ran a basic search for VANOS and got this.
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/search.php?searchid=2574811

[ACS-e36]

210k?!?! :eek:

[maxboost_R]

Seen this at my dealership as well, once that light comes on once for dirty vanos we recommend and oil change with a thinner oil we will clear the codes, then if the light comes on again we will replace the vanos unit

[AllGoNoShow]

Wtf is Vanos?

[AllGoNoShow]

Originally posted by ACS-e36
210k?!?! :eek:

Yah thats what i thought when I saw it but its in amazingly good shape for 210k, kind of like how my 89 is in Amazingly good shapre for an 89 with 300k.

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by AllGoNoShow
Wtf is Vanos?

http://www.bmwworld.com/technology/vanos.htm

[illeagle]

Dirty Vanos ownz joo :poosie:

[ACS-e36]

Originally posted by illeagle
Dirty Vanos ownz joo :poosie:

:rolleyes: '88 Civic Sedan - '95 Neon sedan
pwns you

[Goblin]

Originally posted by maxboost_R
Seen this at my dealership as well, once that light comes on once for dirty vanos we recommend and oil change with a thinner oil we will clear the codes, then if the light comes on again we will replace the vanos unit

Could you, in a sense, "help a brother out?". I have heard its 1500+

Yep, but amazing shape for mileage. Daily Driver, however, 6 years old, it puts it 10K over yearly averages. Not bad.

lol acs-e36.. so true. Our cars are worth more than 500 dollars. :D

[retro-steve]

i dunno if you do need the VANOS replaced i guess this is one of those "if you can't maintain the car don't own the car" situations. maybe you can find a wrecked BMW of the same year and get the unit out of it for cheap??

[Goblin]

Originally posted by retro-steve
i dunno if you do need the VANOS replaced i guess this is one of those "if you can't maintain the car don't own the car" situations. maybe you can find a wrecked BMW of the same year and get the unit out of it for cheap??

No buddy, it is not one of "Those" situations. I would rather get a deal than spend full, right? I wouldn't have gotten a BMW in the first place if I could not afford it. Granted, my parents did help out a lot, and if worst comes to worse, they will again.

But thanks for the input. I allready looked into parts cars, they are maybe 10k less than sticker, so still 13k. More money really going to waste. Dont need a parts car, as the car is only a 2000.

If this is the only problem really outside regular maintenace, im laughing.

[retro-steve]

actually this is a pretty small problem and it seems quite common from the guy who said this was a common thing for his shop to do when the light is presistant.

and i wasn't saying buy the whole parts car, i'm saying work out a deal with the owner and see if you can take out the unit yourself. most people with wrecked cars part them out, or even try pick your part...i've seen some pretty good cars go through there.

[Goblin]

Small problem? Dont call a 1500-2000k a "small problem."

If you knew how much there is to do with the vanos system, as I, not saying I know the most/best etc, but anyway.

There was a lawsuit going with the 99-01 cars for a manufacturer defect with the vanos system. Blah blah blah. There is just to much info surrounding this issue. 02+ do not have this problem, so the vanos never goes :D

Look at the vanos link, it is merely more than the outer solenoid.... cant just rip her off at pick your part.

[Goblin]

update:

The engine light went off... Does this mean the new oil cleaned her out?

Any ideas?

[Kaos]

Originally posted by Goblin
210k

30 000km less than my 93' :)



Originally posted by AllGoNoShow
Wtf is Vanos?
Vanos is like Vtec


Originally posted by Goblin


lol acs-e36.. so true. Our cars are worth more than 500 dollars. :D

You guys make us bimmer owners look stuck up.
:nut:



Originally posted by Goblin
update:

The engine light went off... Does this mean the new oil cleaned her out?

Any ideas?
It probably cleaned it out, drive it around like you normally would and if it pops up, take it to the dealer so they can pull some codes for you.

[AllGoNoShow]

How's it coming Elliot? Get it cleared up or is it still popping up?

[DC2uned]

Originally posted by Kaos


You guys make us bimmer owners look stuck up.
:nut:


:werd:

Alot of attitude from dudes with old ass cars, that aren't worth more then your average civic.
:rolleyes:

[Goblin]

^ Now there is stuck up lol.

Looks like im in the clear. woo! Runns like a cat.. purrrr