M54 Engine Vanos Seals

[Dudewanarace]

I assume you have the double vanos, found here:
Beisan Systems - Products

And the handy DIY here:
Beisan Systems - Procedures - Double Vanos Procedure

[PCH BMW]

Originally Posted by StartX5

I just finished vanos seals rebuild today. It took ~4.5 hours to complete the entire job. Inner vanos seals rubber cooked and feeling like hard plastic.

StartX5. Just wondering if you recall your odometer reading when you completed your Vanos seals project?

I have the same 2004, X5, 3.0i, M54 engine and I'm sitting on 90K miles. I'm preparing for a valve cover seal replacement job to kill a tiny, but seriously annoying, oil leak from my valve cover (just over the exhaust, so the drip hits the hot pipe and turns into smoke and a complaint from the wifeepoo). It's been there for over a year now likely due to a failing oil separator that I replaced a few month back. Enjoyed your most excellent post on the valve cover gasket - a shot of a hot chick or a good joke is the only missing element

Bottom line, since the valve cover job looks like 40% of the Vanos job, and I have 90K miles on the engine, should I just pony up the time and kill the Vanos seal job? Bonus round question - it appears that the Vanos position sensor will also be in the clear, should I just swap it as well?

PS - the small cost of the parts is not an concern since I value driving piece of mind and one less thing for the wife to mention (not that she can't notice other things "wrong" with the X5 and then ask for a new one all in the same breath - normally triggered by a sighting of a new X5 which seem to be the official taxi here).

Thanks in advance for any advice. Mahalo,

[cn90]

I have 113K miles on my M54 engine, which runs fine, no stalling etc.
I have a minor oil leak into the #3 spark plug area.

I am waiting for the oil leak in #3 spark plug to be worse, then do the whole thing:
- VCG gasket
- Vanos seals

[dkl]

Don't forget the Vanos gasket. While you're in there, consider getting the rattle kit as well since some may developed piston bearing "play". Good time to fix that as well.

[admranger]

beisan systems upgrade time...

[cn90]

I am very familiar with Vanos seals issues, coming from E39 (still have the E39).

At the present time, the oil leak (into #3 spark plug) is very minor, and I have no Vanos symptoms (yet).
This is why I am holding off for now, until the oil leak becomes worse or the Vanos symptoms show up...

[lhordmclain]

Originally Posted by cn90

This is why I am holding off for now, until the oil leak becomes worse or the Vanos symptoms show up...

[mgbmwx5]

I have the M62 engine with 108K miles. how long would you say I have before needing to rebuild the Vanos? Thanks in advance!

[cn90]

In the E39 forums, bimmerfest, bimmerforums etc., the general feeling is:

- For Dual Vanos M54 engine, when the Vanos seals go bad, the engine can stumbles etc.

- The V8 Vanos is less troublesome, even if the seals are bad, you don't have stumbling issues (I may be wrong). The bottom line with V8 is: leave it alone until you have to do things like Valve gasket, Valley Pan etc.

[PCH BMW]

Post Vanos Seal Replacement Report and Pictures.

I noticed improvements right away. Since I was replacing my valve cover, the vanos job was well worth it. Engine response to throttle input was sharper and smoother. MPG improved a bit. Old seals were cooked into brittle bricks and sat flat in the unit - lower than the new seals. Old seals were difficult to cut off.

Putting the new seals on was tricky - they do not stretch and fit tightly. I was careful to avoid damaging them. I found a large socket that just fit over the vanos part and used it to press evenly against the new seal to slide it into place.

I also used glycerin from Right Aid as assembly fluid to help slip the seals into place and on the new valve cover gasket to keep it from pinching (per the Bently manual).