Help needed quick! Stripped vanos front cover bolt (not reserve threaded one!)

Help!

While following the amazing DIY instructions on beisansystems.com, I hit a snag. The exhaust vanos front cover bolt was tough but it came out. When moving on to the intake sight (right one in pic), I stripped the 8mm hex hole. It felt like butter. What can be done as I really don't feel like giving up on this.

Another problem is the insane amount of sludge in the engine (I've got 166,000km). I guess the original owner followed BMW's 25,000km oil changes. It's 5 years I've been doing oil changes at 5000km...there must be another problem (ccv?)

I'll work on cleaning the sludge up but in the mean time, I need a quick solution into getting the cover bolt off. How do I repair an 8mm hex hole?

Help before I put everything back and sell the car!

Thanking you all in advance for your input!

You have bigger problems than your vanos seals

go to www.bimmerforums.com

there is a regular poster there named danewilson77, look for his posts about sludge and vanos rebuilds, you may want to get a hold of him, he has delt with sludge like that before (not on his car).

Thats some really bad sludge, you need to deal with it correctly or you are in for some serious problems.

Originally Posted by jeffb325

You have bigger problems than your vanos seals

go to www.bimmerforums.com

there is a regular poster there named danewilson77, look for his posts about sludge and vanos rebuilds, you may want to get a hold of him, he has delt with sludge like that before (not on his car).

Thats some really bad sludge, you need to deal with it correctly or you are in for some serious problems.

Thanks for the quick post. I've shortened my oil change intervals but it still looks terrible. I will look into his posts. In the mean time, I really don't want to put the engine back together without changing the seals.

MC

i,m in Montreal 2. Did vanos 2 weeks ago, and allmost got miself in same problem with same cover bolt.
when i felt that i,m going to loose it, i gave it lots of w40, put hex back in and hammer it in but not that heavy, then put wrench in and forsed it but not slow,like if u trying to loose lugnuts, and it gave up. The rest went without any problem. Good luck.

Originally Posted by BMW2k323i

Help!

While following the amazing DIY instructions on beisansystems.com, I hit a snag. The exhaust vanos front cover bolt was tough but it came out. When moving on to the intake sight (right one in pic), I stripped the 8mm hex hole. It felt like butter. What can be done as I really don't feel like giving up on this.

Another problem is the insane amount of sludge in the engine (I've got 166,000km). I guess the original owner followed BMW's 25,000km oil changes. It's 5 years I've been doing oil changes at 5000km...there must be another problem (ccv?)

I'll work on cleaning the sludge up but in the mean time, I need a quick solution into getting the cover bolt off. How do I repair an 8mm hex hole?

Help before I put everything back and sell the car!

Thanking you all in advance for your input!

Sorry for the trouble you're having.

The 8mm hex stripped because of all the sludge in the hex hole. Spray this with brake cleaner and use a pick tool or flathead to clean it out.
This might allow the hex bit to fit tightly and remove the cap.
If this doesn't work, get a T-50 torx bit socket from an auto store. Tap it into the hex hole with a hammer. This should grab and allow you to remove the cap.

This cap is available separately from BMW. It's #11 on this parts diagram.
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...70&hg=11&fg=15
You can put back the old cap if you want and replace it next time you get in there.

For the sludge, you can try to remove as much of it as you can. Use a wet vac and a scrapping tool. Don’t be too concerned about this sludge. For the most part it doesn’t affect the engine. You can use something like Seafoam to clean out the cylinders. Long term use of something like Auto Rx might clean it out.

I cleaned out the whole and used the torx bit. The cover came out with barely any force.

The Hex wasn't going in all the way. I guess I panicked for nothing

As for the sludge, I will finish the Vanos seals replacement and then clean it up a bit before replacing the cover.

Thanks for all your help!

Rajaie: Your DIY is really great!

MC

Originally Posted by BMW2k323i

I cleaned out the whole and used the torx bit. The cover came out with barely any force.

The Hex wasn't going in all the way. I guess I panicked for nothing

As for the sludge, I will finish the Vanos seals replacement and then clean it up a bit before replacing the cover.

Thanks for all your help!

Rajaie: Your DIY is really great!

MC

To be safe you should replace that plug. If I remember correctly, they are about $6.00-$6.50 from Tischer. Should be part #11361438338.

looks like Halloween came early for your engine, hope you get everything worked out and clean up that sludge!

Well I will revive the thread with my problem. I stripped one of mine but cant think of any ideas other than removing the radiator and using my screw extractor set. My other option was to buy a 19-20mm drill bit and work about it once the cover is off. Anybody have a better idea?