After 135,000 miles, it finally happened....
 

My vanos is headed south :bawling: This morning before heading to work I decided to open the hood and take a listen to things. Well, I heard something a little funny, not quite the *tick* you hear from an S52. So I put my ear to the vanos and sure enough, sounded like a bunch of marbles in a can. Now I know you can drive for quite a while with a failing vanos and it won't severely hurt the car. You may lose low end power and torque, but that really doesn't matter considering the long list of other things I need to fix to have the car in "real driving" conditions. And if the vanos gets really bad, it can screw your timing. My list of parts is quickly climbing and I'm already at $1500. That doesn't include a fix from Dr Vanos, suspension, or summer tires. Oh, and selling is absolutely not an option. Goose will be gutted, stripped, and track dedicated before he's sold.

Maybe it's time to get a double vanos unit, and individual throttle bodies... and a 6-sp :eek:

What is a vanos unit?

Variable valve timing monitored by the DME and accelerator petal position. Makes for smoother operation, fuel economy and performance.

VANOS controls the intake valve only. Double VANOS works the intake and exhaust valves.

VAriable NOckenwellen Steuerung

Dang.

I have no idea what anything means that you said or if that's even English, but I think that "Poor Goose" is a proper reply, so, Poor Goose! :saad:

I thought all BMW engines had VANOS? Was it just the M engines, I-6s???

I do know the Euro e36 M3 had double vanos, the US had single, and the e46 had double.

And yes Michelle, it was all English... and poor Goose works :)

Forget about "poor goose" with all those troubles, break out the Grey Goose to forget about the troubles...

Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever. Have started stockpiling $ for future repairs, but am rabidly having the mechanics replace anything that shows the smallest bit of failure in an attempt to push off that big $ day - So far, having the Dinan S2 upgrade gave the effect of having the engine rebuilt - Almost 3yrs now and flawless performance - at 83k. I'm not at your level yet - and the fact that I don't use it for commuting, does cut down on the wear'n'tear - even having a tough time wearing out the Diamaris(I could get 35K+ out of them) - I agree with you - rather than sell it, I'll rip out the rear seats, install a rollbar, racing seats w/5-pt belts, extinquisher, go down to Bonneville Salt Flats and join the 150mph club, then set it up for rallys

Good luck with your repairs

...I think it has 335 envy....