Successful S54 VANOS rebuild

Over the last two nights my friend and I rebuilt the VANOS on my S54. I am relieved, and pleased, to say that it went off without a hitch -- although we did break the coolant return line from the system to the overflow bottle. It was brittle and fragile, and I'd rather break it in the garage than on the track. I also lost one nut for the ignition cover somewhere (not inside the head -- I know that because I did a thorough inspection before assembly). I don't remember if I had them all to begin.

All parts came from Beisan Systems, and their product, online documentation, and support was excellent. I'd recommend them unequivocally. I installed their oil pump disc, which has smaller holes that are engaged with the VANOS tabs. There is a noticeable amount of play with the stock disc on the tabs -- which causes both the notorious VANOS rattle, and in some cases broken tabs. The re-machined disc fits with much closer tolerance.

I don't know about you guys, but after I do any type of work like this I kind of "what if" myself to death -- what if, for instance, I didn't torque everything properly, and something comes loose . . . I am resisting the urge to disassemble the valve cover just to make sure.
Apparently it takes some run-in time to notice a difference, and I haven't put any miles on the car so I can't quite make a full report yet. Stay tuned.

Rob

Ya I think we have all felt that way at one time or another after a re-build. I feel that way sometimes after just an oil change!! Oh ya..... it's always more helpful if you just put the name/type of car you are talking about. I didn't know what an S54 was and had to look it up. We all don't know every designation for every car out there. Just a suggestion. Good job on the rebuild though.

thing I learned from watching the race teams in action. Nailpolish or a paint marker. As you tighten a nut or bolt to spec.. mark it.

Good job on the Vanos. I would love an E46 M3.. but that is one job I didn't want to do

Feedyurhed wrote: Ya I think we have all felt that way at one time or another after a re-build. I feel that way sometimes after just an oil change!! Oh ya..... it's always more helpful if you just put the name/type of car you are talking about. I didn't know what an S54 was and had to look it up. We all don't know every designation for every car out there. Just a suggestion. Good job on the rebuild though.

GWTP!

get with the program. ha. says the guy with the BMW in his pic.

mad_machine wrote: thing I learned from watching the race teams in action. Nailpolish or a paint marker. As you tighten a nut or bolt to spec.. mark it. Good job on the Vanos. I would love an E46 M3.. but that is one job I didn't want to do

This is a brilliant idea. We will be rebuilding his VANOS in the near future, and I will certainly adopt this strategy. And, I think I will find the brightest shade of pink to use to do so.

The VANOS worry helps keep the prices of E46 M3s reasonable. So buy in, and then do it. It really was straightforward and very rewarding. The VANOS unit is very cool -- everything is so beautifully machined, and it all goes together so smoothly.

I apologize for the S54 designation -- that's the engine in E46 M3s, and some Z3 M Coupes.

can you give us an idea of how much the parts cost and the time it took you to complete this project. It is always good to see someone complete a job that scares everyone. Good job.

cdowd wrote: can you give us an idea of how much the parts cost and the time it took you to complete this project. It is always good to see someone complete a job that scares everyone. Good job.

Here is my parts list:

rebuilt solenoid pack $300 with a $150 refundable core charge

modified oil pump disk $300 with a $150 refundable core charge

VANOS seals repair kit $60

VANOS sealing plate repair kit $10

VANOS gasket $20 or so

I didn't replace my valve cover gasket since it was new 4000 kms ago when I did the valve adjustment. The new seals are some high tech thing involving teflon, not rubber. Again, I don't know if Beisan Systems is a GRM advertiser, but they were exceptional. They should be an advertiser.

We did the job over two nights, and it was probably 8 or so hours. But that was social time, and some problem solving around the broken coolant line. I am confident that we could do it in less than 4 hours now. We will find out when we do the next one. It is very, very straightforward. The most challenging part is getting the fan off the car, and my friend undertook that job.

ZOO wrote: I apologize for the S54 designation -- that's the engine in E46 M3s, and some Z3 M Coupes.

Also Z4 M Coupes

I don't understand why you'd have to drive the car for a while for a change to become apparent, unless it's an ECU learning thing. When I replaced the o-rings on the VANOS solenoids on my S62 (had to look that up, but the cool kids know their engine codes), the difference was apparent the very first time I hit the key.

I've been considering going further into the system as Beisan is full of doom and gloom ("Stock parts only last 20k miles!!!"), but there's no hurry yet.

Good work!

Keith Tanner wrote: I've been considering going further into the system as Beisan is full of doom and gloom ("Stock parts only last 20k miles!!!"), but there's no hurry yet. Good work!

The "correct" way to fix VANOS on a track rat is to remove it, lock the cams at full advance, run race fuel and re-gear the car so revs never drop below 4500RPMS.

It makes the valve train lighter, spins more freely and it's practically free except for the cost of a megasquirt and a couple hours of tuning

Not gonna happen in my car - it's far from a track rat.

Keith Tanner wrote: I don't understand why you'd have to drive the car for a while for a change to become apparent, unless it's an ECU learning thing. Good work!

I drove less than 10km, at night, after a long day and in the rain, with a broken and macgyvered coolant line. Even if you don't need a run-in time, those conditions wouldn't allow me to make any assessment at all.

The documentation says around 200kms -- I do know that the new rings are a different material, and I wonder if they need time to fully bed? My next track day is on the 23rd, so I hope to have some good information at that point.

And we all know that mechanical aptitude is a result of genetics. Not.. AKA Rob's Dad

ZOO wrote: I didn't replace my valve cover gasket since it was new 4000 kms ago when I did the valve adjustment.

M54 needs valve adjustments? I'm amazed BMW moved backwards from hydraulic lifters on the earlier M5x series motors

mr2peak wrote:

ZOO wrote: I didn't replace my valve cover gasket since it was new 4000 kms ago when I did the valve adjustment.

M54 needs valve adjustments? I'm amazed BMW moved backwards from hydraulic lifters on the earlier M5x series motors

S54s do. Every 50000 kms or so. I read that mechanical lifters allow for higher rpms but I don't know for sure.

lateapexer wrote: And we all know that mechanical aptitude is a result of genetics. Not.. AKA Rob's Dad

Don't worry, Dad -- I've learned many things from you that are far more important than mechanical aptitude. Like how to be the best father in the world

mr2peak wrote:

ZOO wrote: I didn't replace my valve cover gasket since it was new 4000 kms ago when I did the valve adjustment.

M54 needs valve adjustments? I'm amazed BMW moved backwards from hydraulic lifters on the earlier M5x series motors

Hydraulic lifers are not necessarily better than solid lifters. It depends on what you're aiming for. Power - solid lifters. Maintenance reduction - hydraulic.

dculberson wrote:

mr2peak wrote:

ZOO wrote: I didn't replace my valve cover gasket since it was new 4000 kms ago when I did the valve adjustment.

M54 needs valve adjustments? I'm amazed BMW moved backwards from hydraulic lifters on the earlier M5x series motors

Hydraulic lifers are not necessarily better than solid lifters. It depends on what you're aiming for. Power - solid lifters. Maintenance reduction - hydraulic.

^^

What he said.

It isn't backwards.

My understanding of the situation:

Solid lifters can have faster ramp time than a hydraulic one because they don't need time to get "solid" so the valve timing can be more aggressive. Open valves for longer durations equals more flow and more flow equals more POWAH!

Secondary line of thought occurs to me...

When you take a straight six out to 3.4L it gets looong in the cams and crank. When you spin it really fast (S54 can go to 8400RPMs) those shafts start 'a flibberin' from one to the other and can no longer keep time as easily. I'm not sure if that is also a reason but it makes sense to me that a solid block of steel can be counted on to be precisely where you expect it to be making one less thing to worry about when expensive metal bits are coming very close to making junk of themselves.

I've done a couple of the Beisan rebuilds on m52/m52TU motors successfully.

I bought the rebuild kit within a couple of days of buying my 99 328i. Finally installed it 6 months later. It fixed a cold start issue and bumped my MPGs by about 1.5 too. Those kits are great. I would love to sell them to all my customers, but at 6 hours labor and no guarantee of improvement, it's a tough sell. Not everybody cares if their BMW runs as great as it did new, or at least can afford too.