Vanos Seals
 

My 2001 X5 3.0 has never had the Vanos seals replaced -- it has 197,000 miles. I am reading on other boards that the M54 motor will gradually lose power and MPG and that these seals will last a max of 100,000 miles.

I found DRVANOS https://drvanos.com/collections/dual online and it looks pretty good -- they do a switch-out with the existing Vanos.

Has anyone used them and can report back their experience?

Haven't used them personally but I've heard many good things about Dr. Vanos

I haven't used them. Did my own Vanos seal replacement at about 160,000 miles. It's not a very difficult job.

I bought a couple of their kits. Never used the exchange service. They have been around forever and have a pretty good reputation afaik.

I replaced the seals and "rattle rings" (spacers that lead to a startup rattle after things wear out in the VANOS) in my 3.0i at about 186k miles when I had the engine apart for a head gasket + repair.

I did not have any VANOS problems before or after. Engine runs pretty great. Not sure if it was needed, but since I was in there, it was an easy decision to make.

I can't see doing the job all by itself with no symptoms, based only on intertube stories. 90% of my (perfectly running) car is due for mileage-based replacement, if I were eager to do it, and listening to the widely reported metrics.

The actual VANOS rebuild (if you want to call it that) is very straightforward. 90% of the job would be to get to the VANOS, and if you can do and un-do that part of the job without creating more problems, the remaining work to rebuild the VANOS is trivial. You should be able to do that easily, and the effort to have someone else do it will probably not make sense.

- My 2006 X5 3.0i is still stock. No stalling or any issues, therefore I tend to leave them alone until they cause problems.

- Search "Beisan Vanos Seals" and you will see parts/procedures for M54 engines.

Did it myself - was pretty easy. There are many YouTube videos showing the process.

If you're willing to do the swap, you can do the seal replacement.

Im removing the valve cover so thinning about doing seals and rattle kit from https://beisansystems.com/products.html

I remember I did one on single vanos M52 for my E39


I really like this kit
https://x8r.co.uk/for-bmw-double-twi...h-gaskets.html

Comes with VANOS Sealing Gasket