Vanos seals solution

Originally Posted by new//M3fan

I'm curios to know how many people regularly replace the S54 solenoid gasket, and service the solenoid filter piece with a new filter and o-rings and how many people have had any sort of VANOS related failures while still performing the above maintenance.

I know my VANOS made a RACKET when my solenoid gasket was leaky, also the black o-ring on the VANOS pressure limiting valve on my car was severely squared off.



There is also a regulating valve attached to the head



Part number 1. with replaceable o-rings. I didn't replace the o-rings when I installed my CAM bolts, I may take the VANOS off just to replace the o-rings above for peace of mind during my next valve adjustment.

I wish besiansystems would release a comprehensive viton o-ring replacement kit for the S54 VANOS; I would buy the kit immediately.

Maybe the inconsistant oil pressure in the VANOS system due to leaks is the root cause of VANOS issues?

Rajae,

Any insight?

This thread is for the standard E46 vanos. It would have been better to post on an E46 M3 forum and invited me to respond.

I doubt any of these O-rings leaking would cause a vanos problem.

The oil regulator you point to seems to fail in some cases on the S62 vanos and cause an excess amount of oil to dispense from the vanos relief port and fill up the crankcase vent system. I don't know if it’s an issue on the S54 and what symptom it would cause.

I'm surprised you found that your leaking solenoid sealing plate was causing a vanos racket. It would have had to be a large leak.
Where was the noise coming from? Intake or exhaust side?

The two main S54 vanos failures are the solenoid coil pack and the oil pump driver tabs breaking. These problems have nothing to do with the O-rings and oil leaks.

Beisan has a solution for the solenoid coil pack and is working on a solution for the breaking driver tabs.
Beisan will have a sealing plate repair kit by the end of the month. It will include O-ring that will take the place of the rubber rings molded in the sealing plate.

It doesn't seem the S54 vanos internal piston seals are failing, but Beisan will make and test a seals kit. We will likely release a seals kit and it will include the O-rings you are referencing.

Originally Posted by Big Rick

I bought a big Viton O-ring package with all sorts of sizes... Why couldn't I just use those? (Just curious.)

You can if you know the needed size.
There are O-ring standard and metric sizes and they can be very close in size.

Originally Posted by new//M3fan

Do you have any

16X2MM
10,0X2,0MM

?

You could if you have those sizes. however, i'd just like to buy a kit from besiansystems. Don't want to deal with vendors and getting everything together at the moment.

rajae,

Are these o-rings part of the VANOS pressure regulator?

Yes these two O-rings are for the pressure restrictor. You can see their installation in the S54 solenoid procedure.

Originally Posted by Rajaie

This thread is for the standard E46 vanos. It would have been better to post on an E46 M3 forum and invited me to respond.

I doubt any of these O-rings leaking would cause a vanos problem.

The oil regulator you point to seems to fail in some cases on the S62 vanos and cause an excess amount of oil to dispense from the vanos relief port and fill up the crankcase vent system. I don't know if it's an issue on the S54 and what symptom it would cause.

I'm surprised you found that your leaking solenoid sealing plate was causing a vanos racket. It would have had to be a large leak.
Where was the noise coming from? Intake or exhaust side?

The two main S54 vanos failures are the solenoid coil pack and the oil pump driver tabs breaking. These problems have nothing to do with the O-rings and oil leaks.

Beisan has a solution for the solenoid coil pack and is working on a solution for the breaking driver tabs.
Beisan will have a sealing plate repair kit by the end of the month. It will include O-ring that will take the place of the rubber rings molded in the sealing plate.

It doesn't seem the S54 vanos internal piston seals are failing, but Beisan will make and test a seals kit. We will likely release a seals kit and it will include the O-rings you are referencing.

Thanks for your thoughts on the subject and again thank you for your service, time and effort dedicated to the community!

The VANOS sealing plate rings appeared to be severely shrunk and cracked, I also cleaned the filter on the VANOS regulator. However, I noted that the o-ring on the inside had severely compressed and shrunk. Finished it up with a VANOS test and cleared the adaptations and the noises were gone; this was done when replacing the CAM bolts--the OE bolts were fine but didn't require much TQ to break loose.

Are the E46 M3 VANOS piston o-rings made out of Viton? Is that why they don't fail in the same way as they do on non-m's?

Originally Posted by Rajaie

Yes these two O-rings are for the pressure restrictor. You can see their installation in the S54 solenoid procedure.

Great! thanks! I guess there is a viton alternative to the OE o-ring I just replaced with OE... As I understand the solenoid pack fails primarily due to the connection between the car and the electronics inside solenoid pack being compromised?

Originally Posted by new//M3fan

Thanks for your thoughts on the subject and again thank you for your service, time and effort dedicated to the community!

The VANOS sealing plate rings appeared to be severely shrunk and cracked, I also cleaned the filter on the VANOS regulator. However, I noted that the o-ring on the inside had severely compressed and shrunk. Finished it up with a VANOS test and cleared the adaptations and the noises were gone; this was done when replacing the CAM bolts--the OE bolts were fine but didn't require much TQ to break loose.

Are the E46 M3 VANOS piston o-rings made out of Viton? Is that why they don't fail in the same way as they do on non-m's?



Great! thanks! I guess there is a viton alternative to the OE o-ring I just replaced with OE... As I understand the solenoid pack fails primarily due to the connection between the car and the electronics inside solenoid pack being compromised?

Thanks for the kind words of support.

Yes, the vanos piston seal O-rings are Viton and that's why they're not failing.

The pressure restrictor small O-ring is a -13. The OEM is Buna and that's why it's failing.

Yes, the solenoid fails because of cracking solenoid connector pin solder joints at the PC board.

Rajae...I recently ordered your vanos seal + vanos rattle kit (to include the vise liner). Do I have to remove the magnetic strip on the vise liner before installing it on my vise? I read your instructions and it didn't mentioned anything about it.
I know the magnetic strip is there to help keep help keep the liner on the vise but I am afraid I will crack the magnetic strip when clamping down.

Originally Posted by flashtwosix

Rajae...I recently ordered your vanos seal + vanos rattle kit (to include the vise liner). Do I have to remove the magnetic strip on the vise liner before installing it on my vise? I read your instructions and it didn't mentioned anything about it.
I know the magnetic strip is there to help keep help keep the liner on the vise but I am afraid I will crack the magnetic strip when clamping down.

No worries. Use as is. Magnetic strip is flexible.

Rajaie, I got a question for you as an expert - it seems that BMW updated VANOS seals for S54 at some point - rings have larger diameter now (one on the bottom is the new one) - can this possibly have any an influence on VANOS issues like eg. bolts, hubs etc.?

Originally Posted by Lassie

Rajaie, I got a question for you as an expert - it seems that BMW updated VANOS seals for S54 at some point - rings have larger diameter now (one on the bottom is the new one) - can this possibly have any an influence on VANOS issues like eg. bolts, hubs etc.?

There is no design change to the sealing plate. The rubber rings are Buna and they flatten.
Beisan just launched a solution to this. It's a repair kit made of 4 Viton O-rings. You cut out the old sealing plate rubber rings and insert the repair kit O-rings in their place. The O-rings have the same cross section as the new sealing plate rubber rings. The O-rings also have a slight interference with the holes so they stay in the plate.
The S54 solenoid procedure on the website has been updated to include this repair.

I wouldn't expect a leaking plate to have much influence on the vanos function unless it was significantly leaking (streaming).

Thank you Rajaie. So, just to be 100% sure - any preventive replacement of this flange / seal doesn't really make any sense if it is not visibly leaking / there are no problems with VANOS and the rings will flatten leaving similar diameter as the old ones anyway after some time (though it doesn't have any negative effect on the oil flow (if they're tight / have not detriorated)?

Thank you.

Originally Posted by Lassie

Thank you Rajaie. So, just to be 100% sure - any preventive replacement of this flange / seal doesn't really make any sense if it is not visibly leaking / there are no problems with VANOS and the rings will flatten leaving similar diameter as the old ones anyway after some time (though it doesn't have any negative effect on the oil flow (if they're tight / have not detriorated)?

Thank you.

That's correct, but they all eventually leak. Also once you've disturbed an old one you should probably not reuse it as it will likely leak.

The solution is to get the Beisan repair kit. The Viton O-rings will last much longer.

Hey, I just installed the vanos seals for my 2000 323i and before that I've been getting the p1397 exhaust camshaft sensor code -- when I replaced the sensor, I clear the code and it comes back on the next ignition cycle. I went and picked up an OEM bmw sensor from BMW (just to make sure) and I figured replacing the seals was the next best step. So now that I replaced the seals + sensor (OEM), where should I be looking next? Do I have to drive the car around a lot for the CPS issue to be remedied? I only drove the car around the block for about 20 seconds.

Originally Posted by Xiph0s

Hey, I just installed the vanos seals for my 2000 323i and before that I've been getting the p1397 exhaust camshaft sensor code -- when I replaced the sensor, I clear the code and it comes back on the next ignition cycle. I went and picked up an OEM bmw sensor from BMW (just to make sure) and I figured replacing the seals was the next best step. So now that I replaced the seals + sensor (OEM), where should I be looking next? Do I have to drive the car around a lot for the CPS issue to be remedied? I only drove the car around the block for about 20 seconds.

Did you install the piston spring on the correct side?

Yes I did. The side with 4 bolts. Exhaust side.

Originally Posted by Xiph0s

Hey, I just installed the vanos seals for my 2000 323i and before that I've been getting the p1397 exhaust camshaft sensor code -- when I replaced the sensor, I clear the code and it comes back on the next ignition cycle. I went and picked up an OEM bmw sensor from BMW (just to make sure) and I figured replacing the seals was the next best step. So now that I replaced the seals + sensor (OEM), where should I be looking next? Do I have to drive the car around a lot for the CPS issue to be remedied? I only drove the car around the block for about 20 seconds.

Congrats on the repairs!

So, you cleared the code and it came back?

Originally Posted by Rajaie

Congrats on the repairs!

So, you cleared the code and it came back?

Yes, when I clear the code is stays off. But if I turn the car/engine on/off it comes back.

Originally Posted by Xiph0s

Yes, when I clear the code is stays off. But if I turn the car/engine on/off it comes back.

In some cases the vanos exhaust solenoid piston can get sticky and cause vanos exhaust codes. Here’s how to solve it.
With the vanos mounted on the engine, remove the vanos exhaust solenoid with a 32mm deep socket.
Most 32mm deep sockets aren’t deep enough for the vanos solenoid. The 32mm deep socket stamped (not labeled) W155 found at Advanced Auto and O’Reilly Auto and the CarQuest brand work.
Place paper towels on the radiator lower hose to catch dripping oil. Also have a paper towel under the solenoid junction when removing the solenoid.
Under the solenoid is a red spring loaded piston. Press in the piston and release. It should press in with resistance and spring back when released. The piston movement should be smooth. If it’s not then this is likely the problem.
Pull out the piston while holding a paper towel under it to catch oil.
Spray clean the piston and it’s cylinder with brake cleaner. Dry the piston and cylinder.
Oil the piston and cylinder and reinstall the piston.
Check the piston movement. Press in and release the piston multiple times. Its movement should be very smooth.
Reinstall the solenoid.

Alright looks like I'm on the hunt for a deep socket 32mm. 6pt or 12pt?

Originally Posted by Xiph0s

Alright looks like I'm on the hunt for a deep socket 32mm. 6pt or 12pt?

6pt

Thanks for your help. The seal install was fun and easy! I learned a lot about the car. My stock seals were awful! There was so much free-movement within the cylinder.

Update #1: I picked up the w155 32mm socket ay O'Reillys on the way back from the gym. ill report my findings soon.

Update #2: The W155 Socket from O'Reilly was NOT big enough. Damnit. Any part numbers for one I can order?