Blown motors, Rod Bearing failure S65 Registry.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by TL866

Guys that its a crime, engines out whit less 30k milles, and bmw what say? "isnt bmw fail", for sure that no...

We must make a website like m3motorfailures.com or else where like blog, for facebook page whit all the info + videos , then over spam bmw whit it, every event from bmw, spam it, over spam bmw whit the engine failures then maybe, maybe they make a rod bearing campaing .

Spot on !
We need to do something that's for sure and they know about the problem ! But think "WHO" will start with it and how ?
About 30K engines with bearing failures is no exception ,but cars of end of 2013 with only 6,700 miles on it , so new engines...6 months old, that gives me the creeps !
Here listen to this S65 with only 6,700 miles on it > # 204 on this page > [/SIZE][/COLOR] http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthr...786615&page=10

[chris719]

Try contacting Autoblog or Jalopnik and get an article done on it.

Also as someone mentioned, NHTSA / NTSB will be very interested in a failure that causes loss of engine power. See: GM ignition switch recall.

[gatorfast]

Originally Posted by chris719

Also as someone mentioned, NHTSA / NTSB will be very interested in a failure that causes loss of engine power. See: GM ignition switch recall.

Correct me if I am wrong but I dont think we know of any instance where a rod bearing failure caused a car accident Not exactly the same thing as the GM ignition fiasco which resulted in deaths.

[W///]

Originally Posted by gatorfast

Correct me if I am wrong but I dont think we know of any instance where a rod bearing failure caused a car accident Not exactly the same thing as the GM ignition fiasco which resulted in deaths.

Not to mention the scale of the recalls, completely different planet.

[kerkiraios00]

Originally Posted by foolio2

I guess I have to post in this dreaded forum. Two weeks ago lost my engine and it is currently being replaced under warranty. It happened at a bmwcca HPDE too. Third 25 minute run of the day the engine just shut down on me going 120mph down the straight. No drama, just shut off. I had just taken it out of 4th to downshift to third when it died. Coasted to a stop in neutral, did not try putting it back in gear. I was too busy panicking going into turn one at that speed with no power steering or brakes! Luckily track had a big runoff so all was well. After stopping, I tried starting the car and all I got was a clunk. Also, all the dash lights stayed lit. Could not shut anything off no matter what I tried. Let the car sit over night hoping it was just an electric issue. Car never over heated and I kept my eye on the oil all day. Next morning, car still wouldn't start. Hooked up an auto logic and it told me the battery was only at 29% charge. I felt better thinking maybe I just cooked the alternator. Put it on a trickle charger for a couple hours. Tried to start it and it turned over a couple times making a horrible squeak and crunch. Thought maybe the alternator was seized...still thinking this was good news. Tried a few more times but still couldn't get it to start. Waited an hour debating to hit the BMW assist button. Decided to try it one more time and she fired right up! No check engine lights, no drama. Idled like always. Let it run for two hours idling. Temp was good, oil was good, no CELs. Still decided not to take part in day two of the HPDE. Just took rides all day. I live 60 miles from the track or so and did not want to push my luck since I wanted to drive it home if possible. Short way home I started hearing a rattle/knock in the engine under load. Kept telling myself that it was the alternator making noise but in the back of my head I had this horrible thought that it sounded like a rod knock. Made it home. Took it to BMW the next day. They called me two days later saying that the noise was coming from the bottom end and a new engine was on order! Pretty disappointed as you could imagine. For the record, I will say I was anal about my breakin and driving. Never revved past 4k till temp gauge was at the middle, followed the breakin procedure religiously.

Details:
2013 E92 M3
6 Speed
ZCP
Dinan intake, exhaust, pulleys, software
Approximately 6700 miles !!!

Video of engine noise:

They didn't say anything about the tune?

[kawasaki00]

Originally Posted by kerkiraios00

They didn't say anything about the tune?

The Dinan tune carries the BMW NA warranty.

[aus]

Originally Posted by gatorfast

Correct me if I am wrong but I dont think we know of any instance where a rod bearing failure caused a car accident Not exactly the same thing as the GM ignition fiasco which resulted in deaths.

It doesn't have to cause an accident. Just a loss of power is enough to concern them.

.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by W///

Perfectly said. If you want to keep the S65 for the long term, you just have to realize that you might potentially deal with it. Personally, I won't be losing any sleep over it too.



It's possible for sure. Look at the E46 subframe recall (it was in the US only though). My 328i had a subframe tear. It was a 2000, and it was found in 2009, with 140k miles or something like that. They had to fix it under recall, and it probably cost as much as the car itself in labor to do that job.

The only problem is that the 3er subframe tear was a pretty common problem, whereas the S65 is much smaller production, and the failure rate is not THAT high.

Agreed about don't losing any sleep ,same here... but we can losing our wallet ! Thinking that we want to keep our car,but it's out of waranty and we know the price of a new ticking bomb.....
When ///M BMW had a solution for the bearing failures it was for sure that the last builts of 2013 were included with the bearing fix !
That being said....i'm sure that you (and everyone on here) saw the big red text of my post (comment above) reason is and was... to clarify that even the last end of production cars of the ///M E9X having exactly the same problem !It's damn sad to see a new car with only 6,700 miles on it and ready to explode ?!?!
So when we think logic... it's very ...very clear that no solution is found !Even when we start a petition...what can BMW do ? Nothing is the answer ,there is no fix ! And that's why i'm damn angry...they had more than 7 years the time to find a solution....but the sales were very good,yep that's all that matters > $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ !!!
And should we all to be worried.....absolutely 100 % sure !!! Even this small thread is prove of it !!!
The bomb (our bombs) S65's... still ticking .....so who's next ?
Hope not someone on here ,i've seen and heard enough...............
Good luck guys ,that's what we need........

[W///]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Agreed about don't losing any sleep ,same here... but we can losing our wallet ! Thinking that we want to keep our car,but it's out of waranty and we know the price of a new ticking bomb.....
When ///M BMW had a solution for the bearing failures it was for sure that the last builts of 2013 were included with the bearing fix !
That being said....i'm sure that you (and everyone on here) saw the big red text of my post (comment above) reason is and was... to clarify that even the last end of production cars of the ///M E9X having exactly the same problem !It's damn sad to see a new car with only 6,700 miles on it and ready to explode ?!?!
So when we think logic... it's very ...very clear that no solution is found !Even when we start a petition...what can BMW do ? Nothing is the answer ,there is no fix ! And that's why i'm damn angry...they had more than 7 years the time to find a solution....but the sales were very good,yep that's all that matters > $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ !!!
And should we all to be worried.....absolutely 100 % sure !!! Even this small thread is prove of it !!!
The bomb (our bombs) S65's... still ticking .....so who's next ?
Hope not someone on here ,i've seen and heard enough...............
Good luck guys ,that's what we need........

I really don't want to be dragged into a rod bearing conversation again, but I leave it at this.

Mileage does not matter. We've seen cars fail early, we've seen cars fail at 90k miles. If your car is brand new with a warranty, then great for you. If it's out of warranty (like mine), then you just have to take the necessary precautions. Get the oil analyzed at the minimum (I know that might be harder in Europe). And should you need to change the rod bearings for whatever reason, then change it and deal with it. Should be a $2k job. If you can't afford that, then an M3 is probably not a good choice of a car for you. What else can we do? If that's not acceptable, then sell the car?

I did the pros and cons and I'm OK with that. Personally, I have more faith that someone in the aftermarket industry with the help of engine gurus will find a solution to this. It'll still cost $$$, but I think that's way more realistic than sitting around hoping for BMW to do a recall years from now. I'm not saying there's NOT a problem, but at the same time, the argument has always been how big of a problem is this? If we can't prove it, why would BMW care you know?

My 2 cents

[Petros]

Originally Posted by W///

I really don't want to be dragged into a rod bearing conversation again, but I leave it at this.

Mileage does not matter. We've seen cars fail early, we've seen cars fail at 90k miles. If your car is brand new with a warranty, then great for you. If it's out of warranty (like mine), then you just have to take the necessary precautions. Get the oil analyzed at the minimum (I know that might be harder in Europe). And should you need to change the rod bearings for whatever reason, then change it and deal with it. Should be a $2k job. If you can't afford that, then an M3 is probably not a good choice of a car for you. What else can we do? If that's not acceptable, then sell the car?

I did the pros and cons and I'm OK with that. Personally, I have more faith that someone in the aftermarket industry with the help of engine gurus will find a solution to this. It'll still cost $$$, but I think that's way more realistic than sitting around hoping for BMW to do a recall years from now. I'm not saying there's NOT a problem, but at the same time, the argument has always been how big of a problem is this? If we can't prove it, why would BMW care you know?

My 2 cents

Are you saying BMW should be let off the hook for knowingly selling a defective product? And who knows if the new F80 may even start having its own bearing issues too!

Besides, $2000 is not chump change, whether or not someone can afford it. I had my car just over 2 years and I already spent $2000 on throttle actuators. To spend another $2000 on bearings is just ridiculous. The M3 is not worth that kind of maintenance costs.

[W///]

Originally Posted by Petros

Are you saying BMW should be let off the hook for knowingly selling a defective product? And who knows if the new F80 may even start having its own bearing issues too!

Besides, $2000 is not chump change, whether or not someone can afford it. I had my car just over 2 years and I already spent $2000 on throttle actuators. To spend another $2000 on bearings is just ridiculous. The M3 is not worth that kind of maintenance costs.

Of course not, but are you going to do something about it? Are you going to go to a lawyer and say "Hey, there's potentially a rod bearing on x% of S65's out there"?

I know I'm not. If there is someone on this forum that is going to do that, there's a good chance that I would have had the rod bearings taken care of by the time there's a verdict.

Again, just to make it clear. I'm not saying there's not a potential problem, or that BMW should be off the hook. But I'm also being realistic. No one is holding a gun to your head and saying you have to hold on to your our of warranty E9x. Sell it and get something else. I'm also not saying $2000 is something I can just give up without thinking twice about it, but at the same time I knew what I got myself into when I bought my car out of warranty. I knew it wasn't going to be a walk in the park, but at the same time I also believe that the E9x M3 is one of THE most reliable cars BMW has made in the past decade.

E46 M3 guys (at least he smart ones) have to deal with VANOS potentially blowing up their engines (can be completely random, mileage and year doesn't matter), rear torn subframes (recall is finished, so you're on your own at this point), SMG pumps going out ect.... I can point out other issues from Audi and Porsche and Chevy yet no recall was ever made. Just gotta do your homework and realize that comes with the territory of owning a used sports car. Hell any car really.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by W///

I really don't want to be dragged into a rod bearing conversation again, but I leave it at this.

Mileage does not matter. We've seen cars fail early, we've seen cars fail at 90k miles. If your car is brand new with a warranty, then great for you. If it's out of warranty (like mine), then you just have to take the necessary precautions. Get the oil analyzed at the minimum (I know that might be harder in Europe). And should you need to change the rod bearings for whatever reason, then change it and deal with it. Should be a $2k job. If you can't afford that, then an M3 is probably not a good choice of a car for you. What else can we do? If that's not acceptable, then sell the car?

I did the pros and cons and I'm OK with that. Personally, I have more faith that someone in the aftermarket industry with the help of engine gurus will find a solution to this. It'll still cost $$$, but I think that's way more realistic than sitting around hoping for BMW to do a recall years from now. I'm not saying there's NOT a problem, but at the same time, the argument has always been how big of a problem is this? If we can't prove it, why would BMW care you know?

My 2 cents

Agree with your comment ,and have no problem for a $2K bearing job or to buy another car, but i just want to keep this car...love everything about it,except the damn bearings,and don't want to open up and engine that runs perfect ! The question is for how long....?
But who says that the updated bearings Vac,Mahle clevite...ect are better ? Maybe it's even worse...time will tell in such a case !
And exactly that risk i don't want to take ...even when it was for free !
And will take an oil sample for blackstone >http://www.blackstone-labs.com/
But even with goods results from blackstone there is no assurance ,saw on here good lab results and a while later it was .....another ticking bomb !
And you are saying...if we can't prove it ?
What is this thread ? Think it's more than prove ....
Think also we don't need to prove it ! They know it better than we know what's going on about the damn bearings...all the new engines on waranty are not for free,even when they are called BMW !
And personal i'm thinking how many pages we are talking about the same mistake of BMW ? And where we are is ...nowhere !
Look my friend, my work...my job... is to find a solution for any kind of problem and that's my problem in this case (habit to think this way)....and frustration because there is no solution !

[E90M3velocity]

Originally Posted by Petros

Are you saying BMW should be let off the hook for knowingly selling a defective product? And who knows if the new F80 may even start having its own bearing issues too!

Besides, $2000 is not chump change, whether or not someone can afford it. I had my car just over 2 years and I already spent $2000 on throttle actuators. To spend another $2000 on bearings is just ridiculous. The M3 is not worth that kind of maintenance costs.

2 years for me too and probably spent more than 2k narrowing down the list of faults that is causing my engine go into limp mode plus the rod bearing issue looming behind my head. Reasons why I dont want to track it as its my only car. I agree that some attention needs to be brought out to make bmw try to fix this and not giving us a band aid fix like replacing the motor with one that can later have the same issue again. Im with W/// in a way that an aftermarket company will have a fix for this first before bmw. With the rave reviews of the f80's, bmw will focus more on them so people will buy buy buy! People wont buy if bmw openly say "my bad, please forgive us" for older gen m3's blowing up. That will turn potential owners of the f80's to question their reliability thus loosing $$$.

[W///]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Agree with your comment ,and have no problem for a $2K bearing job or to buy another car, but i just want to keep this car...love everything about it,except the damn bearings,and don't want to open up and engine that runs perfect ! The question is for how long....?
But who says that the updated bearings Vac,Mahle clevite...ect are better ? Maybe it's even worse...time will tell in such a case !
And exactly that risk i don't want to take ...even when it was for free !
And will take an oil sample for blackstone >http://www.blackstone-labs.com/
But even with goods results from blackstone there is no assurance ,saw on here good lab results and a while later it was .....another ticking bomb !
And you are saying...if we can't prove it ?
What is this thread ? Think it's more than prove ....
Think also we don't need to prove it ! They know it better than we know what's going on about the damn bearings...all the new engines on waranty are not for free,even when they are called BMW !
And personal i'm thinking how many pages we are talking about the same mistake of BMW ? And where we are is ...nowhere !
Look my friend, my work...my job... is to find a solution for any kind of problem and that's my problem in this case (habit to think this way)....and frustration because there is no solution !

Don't disagree with you. No guarantee that new bearings will fix problem although I think it probably should. Blackstone analysis isn't 100%, but it's better than nothing. When you start seeing high lead (in my case anyway), I'll know for sure to not drive the E92 until the rod bearings are done. Or I could do preemptively change too, who knows. Would I rather the E9x was completely perfect? Definitely! But I'm ready to deal with it either way, otherwise I would have sold it, or just not bought one to begin with.

My line of work in engineering is also problem solving. That's all I do every single day. But I also know that this is not the first time something like this has happened (not just talking about BMW). The E46 subframe tear is a great example. It was a design flaw (that already could be seen in E36s) yet this was the end result?
- Recall, for USA only, not ECE as far as I know
- It took YEARS before BMW lost in court and were forced to recall
- Many more cars were affected than S65's. We are talking about 323i, 328i, 325i, 330i, E46 M3s. If you can prove that you had a tear, they HAD to fix it.

My 328i had a subframe tear and the labor was something like $5000. The car couldn't have been worth more than $7000 at the time. Just shows you how hard you'd have to fight to win a battle like that.

That's why I'm saying I feel like it's much more likely than someone will figure out how to get an aftermarket fix. Just like they did for E46 VANOS issue, solid diff+subframe bushings to combat diff bolts shearing for us E9x MT guys ect ect...

[MisterEm]

Good points W///.

Just a couple to add having dealt with ALL of the E46M issues with BMW NA and several on my own.

Originally Posted by W///

I feel like it's much more likely than someone will figure out how to get an aftermarket fix. Just like they did for E46 VANOS issue, solid diff+subframe bushings to combat diff bolts shearing for us E9x MT guys ect ect...

Necessity is the mother of invention. The VANOS issue used to be a catastrophic failure worry of all S54 powered cars going out of Warranty (circa 2006-2009). Dealerships were hush about it and only repair was a complete replacement of the unit, solenoid, and gears ($5-6k).

Today, any S54 owner can bullet-proof their VANOS (much like the subframe) with $350 in parts and an afternoon of work with excellent DIY guides.

http://www.beisansystems.com/procedures/index.html

The hysteria around the S54 VANOS during this time "appears" similar to what you guys see today on the S65 bearings.

Originally Posted by W///

My 328i had a subframe tear and the labor was something like $5000. The car couldn't have been worth more than $7000 at the time. Just shows you how hard you'd have to fight to win a battle like that.

You got taken to the cleaners on the subframe tear! I had one during the recall period I fought BMW NA with. I also dealt with another afterwards on someone else's car with 3 tears over 30mm in length. $2k at most is the going rate (much like S65 bearings).

If I buy an S65 powered car or a motor for a swap, you bet your britches I am replacing the rod bearings based on the information provided around here. Just like anyone buying an S54 powered car should rebuild the VANOS, and reinforce the rear mounts.

The information is out there and I have no sympathy in 2014 for new owners of E46M's who cry foul when these repetitive issues happen to them after they chose to ignore the preventative route.

Maybe this repair will become a regular maintenance item for S65 cars? Or maybe not.

Either way, it will be interesting to watch.

[W///]

Originally Posted by MisterEm

Good points W///.

Just a couple to add having dealt with ALL of the E46M issues with BMW NA and several on my own.




Necessity is the mother of invention. The VANOS issue used to be a catastrophic failure worry of all S54 powered cars going out of Warranty (circa 2006-2009). Dealerships were hush about it and only repair was a complete replacement of the unit, solenoid, and gears ($5-6k).

Today, any S54 owner can bullet-proof their VANOS (much like the subframe) with $350 in parts and an afternoon of work with excellent DIY guides.

http://www.beisansystems.com/procedures/index.html

The hysteria around the S54 VANOS during this time "appears" similar to what you guys see today on the S65 bearings.



You got taken to the cleaners on the subframe tear! I had one during the recall period I fought BMW NA with. I also dealt with another afterwards on someone else's car with 3 tears over 30mm in length. $2k at most is the going rate (much like S65 bearings).

If I buy an S65 powered car or a motor for a swap, you bet your britches I am replacing the rod bearings based on the information provided around here. Just like anyone buying an S54 powered car should rebuild the VANOS, and reinforce the rear mounts.

The information is out there and I have no sympathy in 2014 for new owners of E46M's who cry foul when these repetitive issues happen to them after they chose to ignore the preventative route.

Maybe this repair will become a regular maintenance item for S65 cars? Or maybe not.

Either way, it will be interesting to watch.

Oh didn't pay for that job! Otherwise, I would have driven that car straight off a cliff. They cut out the entire rear of the car, and installed brand new rear floor. Also had them change the diff bushing while they were at it. 1 or 2 years later, a clunk (don't know the cause) came back, and that's when I dumped the 328i for peanuts and used that as part of downpayment for the E92

As for the E46 VANOS vs E9x rod bearings, in a few ways it's similar, but in some other ways, it's completely different. With E46, there was absolutely no way of knowing. A visual check of the VANOS only let's you know if the tabs are still there or not, but it could shear off tomorrow. Correct me if I'm wrong, because you are the E46 guru. At least with the E9x rod bearings, it's not a complete lottery (at least I don't think so) since you can at the very least do Blackstone analysis. If you are lucky, you might even hear the noise before it's a catastrophic failure. Neither case ideal of course.

But you are right, I have no pity for guys that bought an E9x out of warranty without doing at least a bit of research. There is plenty of info about TVA's, ICV's and rod bearings.

[bde]

I have no problem changing the rod bearings every 100k miles. That can be considered as a maintenance item - more like a timing chain on a regular car that has it

However, BMW is keeping hush hush on everything that is associated with rod bearings - they don't specify any maintenance for it. It seems like it's up to the owner to find out what's cooking under the hood, hence if you show good maintenance practice and proper driving patterns with no mods applied - you should be goodwilled for an engine replacement.

There is a potential poo poo if you are not using 10w-60 oil, that's why I stayed with 10w-60. I don't want to break my head dealing with comparisons for different oils and why one is considered better than the other. If manufacturer had a single approved oil for 7 years - I'm using it.

[aussiem3]

When I spoke with the BMW tech head, he said, they will troubleshoot an engine and get to the root cause only if there is a problem. He said BMW will not look at an engine if there is no issue with it or pay any labour time. So until $hit happens you're on your own.

I had the option of opening the engine to have a look at the bearings and if they were failing then get BMW involved and they would have foot the bill for the whole job, but if it was fine then give and take $3000 out of pocket. Given how well my engine sounds - and no guarantee for ever - I am not willing to take that punt.

My oil analysis at 40k kms was 2 ppm lead and copper, and 5 ppm iron. My next oil change will be 16 months from my last oil change and would have at least 7k kms. I would like to see the difference then because during this time I had BPM Stage II and test pipes installed. Or I might do the oil change in 12 months with around 5500 km on the clock.

But as other posts have pointed out the oil analysis result is not the ultimate crystal ball of a impending bearing failure. I think we are getting very emotional about this whole thing unnecessarily knowing well BMW will not acknowledge there is an issue. May be they might just like they have done with the replacement of airbags in E9x cars.

Guys please don't blow a fuse ... you can only mitigate the issue by doing a few things differently ... warm up properly, regular oil change, and listening abnormal noise and have it noted at the dealership.

Good luck guys ... these might not be comforting words. Life does go on. There are worse things happening in the world like MH17 - did they ever see this coming? The answer is no. Life is too short ... so lets hope and pray for the best.

It's only a car engine and just because it has /// slapped on it doesn't make it any different. I am on the same boat just like all of you are

[Petros]

Originally Posted by bde

I have no problem changing the rod bearings every 100k miles. That can be considered as a maintenance item - more like a timing chain on a regular car that has it

However, BMW is keeping hush hush on everything that is associated with rod bearings - they don't specify any maintenance for it. It seems like it's up to the owner to find out what's cooking under the hood, hence if you show good maintenance practice and proper driving patterns with no mods applied - you should be goodwilled for an engine replacement.

There is a potential poo poo if you are not using 10w-60 oil, that's why I stayed with 10w-60. I don't want to break my head dealing with comparisons for different oils and why one is considered better than the other. If manufacturer had a single approved oil for 7 years - I'm using it.

The problem with goodwill is that it's up to the whim and mood of the dealers and corporate office. What if you bought the car used from a private party? What if you do your own oil changes and not take it to a dealer? And at what point in terms of age and mileage will BMW tell you that your car is just too old and used up for a goodwill repair?

Originally Posted by MisterEm

Today, any S54 owner can bullet-proof their VANOS (much like the subframe) with $350 in parts and an afternoon of work with excellent DIY guides.

Well, if you accept that the bearing issues are caused by lack of clearance, then hypothetically you can bulletproof the engine with a few hundred dollars worth of thinner bearings. The only problem is that no one actually makes any for the S65 engine other than the OEM thick bearings.

[bde]

Originally Posted by Petros

The problem with goodwill is that it's up to the whim and mood of the dealers and corporate office. What if you bought the car used from a private party? What if you do your own oil changes and not take it to a dealer? And at what point in terms of age and mileage will BMW tell you that your car is just too old and used up for a goodwill repair?

I believe that if you have all your car work documentation and invoices with proper maintenance and intervals, use proper oil and don't do any modding then this should not be an issue. Mileage-wise I have no clue. From what I've seen these issues often develop below 100k miles mark.

[aus]

Originally Posted by W///

The E46 subframe tear is a great example. It was a design flaw (that already could be seen in E36s) yet this was the end result?
- Recall, for USA only, not ECE as far as I know
- It took YEARS before BMW lost in court and were forced to recall
- Many more cars were affected than S65's. We are talking about 323i, 328i, 325i, 330i, E46 M3s. If you can prove that you had a tear, they HAD to fix it.

My 328i had a subframe tear and the labor was something like $5000. The car couldn't have been worth more than $7000 at the time. Just shows you how hard you'd have to fight to win a battle like that.

That's why I'm saying I feel like it's much more likely than someone will figure out how to get an aftermarket fix. Just like they did for E46 VANOS issue, solid diff+subframe bushings to combat diff bolts shearing for us E9x MT guys ect ect...

Is there a fix for the E46 subframe issue?
I think you mentioned the repair is not available anymore? Is that true?
My buddy has an E46 M3 and he doens't now anything about this stuff.
Thanks.
.

[aus]

Originally Posted by MisterEm

Good points W///.

Just a couple to add having dealt with ALL of the E46M issues with BMW NA and several on my own.




Necessity is the mother of invention. The VANOS issue used to be a catastrophic failure worry of all S54 powered cars going out of Warranty (circa 2006-2009). Dealerships were hush about it and only repair was a complete replacement of the unit, solenoid, and gears ($5-6k).

Today, any S54 owner can bullet-proof their VANOS (much like the subframe) with $350 in parts and an afternoon of work with excellent DIY guides.

http://www.beisansystems.com/procedures/index.html

The hysteria around the S54 VANOS during this time "appears" similar to what you guys see today on the S65 bearings.

Just like anyone buying an S54 powered car should rebuild the VANOS, and reinforce the rear mounts.

Do you have a link for the rear subframe reinforcement kit?

Also, for the Vanos, that link you provided has it for the VANOS and VANOS solenoid. Do they both need to be replaced?

My buddy doens't surf the web much and doesn't know much about this stuff.
Thanks.