Time for some work...

[Spanker]

Originally Posted by weiln12

I stopped by the local O'Reillys on the way home today. They were able to check the codes, and they came back as P0011 and P0021. Based on what other have said, it appears I somehow did not get the timing back on correctly. I used the Bimmer Tool Rental kit and followed the directions on how to set everything up. Since I didn't remove the VANOS or the upper timing chains I didn't think I had anything to worry about. I re-timed everything with the camshaft blocks in place, the piston at TDC and used the pin in the flywheel. I'm confused as to what I could have missed. But...that doesn't appear to have been my luck! I had them clear the codes and I'll wait for them to come back. After driving for a few minutes after getting them cleared they didn't come back, but I'm not holding my breath.

So, seems like the only option is to take the covers back off and re-time them? If I'm not mistaken, that means taking the whole front back off including the lower timing cover? Or is there a much easier way to go about fixing this oopsie?

Who knows, maybe I'll be an expert at ripping into this thing by the time I'm done. My other question is, apart from the slightly rough idle it runs fine. Is this something I can drive on for 3 weeks until I get into my house and have plenty of room and all my tools to dig in again? Or...is this a park it until then?

If you have to retime it.......you DO NOT have to take the lower timing cover off. Just the left and right uppers. Some have said the little timing wheel may need adjustment only and that the timing tools are foolproof if the camlocks did not lift on you. You can do quick check of the little timing wheel by looking
through the upper timing cover inspection hole.
When I did mine, I removed the cam and flywheel locks and rotated the engine a few times and rechecked it. It was off due to chain movement. I did it again until I was able to get a consistent reading.