Originally Posted by ard

Crazy way to throw parts at an issue.....

(Now maybe you are coming to understand why that dodge dealer was happy as all get out when some sucker bought it for 2k over auction wholesale.)

Any chance the motor had been opened? Timing might have been set wrong. Issues with the VANOS (not the solenoids but the mechanical parts)

All you have is a code reader? No computer with BMW software???
If you have a computer you could monitor timing, run a vanos function test, see that it is doing what it should be doing