Stuck in ignorance land again......please help

[BobS]

I have a 2001 X5 3.0. The service engine light came on. I read the code with my Peake reader. I am getting "Exhaust camshaft vanos, over-retarded". Now as little as I do know, I believe that if the vanos is bad and needs replacing it's not something I can do ( specialized tools, etc. ). However sometimes these error codes just get you in the ball park so-to-speak and I'm wondering if there is any information that anyone might share or something that I can check to further identify my exact problem. Maybe it's not as bad as I think and then again maybe it is. Any help or advice is greatly appreciated. Also I'm wondering if this is a common problem with these vehicles. ( approx. 80,000 miles ).