M62TU VANOS Differences?????
 

Looking for any info I can find especially from anyone that has had his/her hands on/in the adjusters. The X5 M62TU adjusters are slightly different from the say 540/740 M62TU adjusters. Metal cap vs plastic ring, pins vs no pins. Why are they different? is one better? are they interchangeable (realoem says no). I'm just finishing up a big job (chain guides, front overhaul, cooling system, etc.) on the 4.6 and will soon be doing the same to my e39 540i so before buying anything for the 540 I wanted to see if the X5 units were an upgrade in any way and try to source some to rebuild or already rebuilt. Any information or even conjecture are welcome.

Thanks.
AG.

I was told that the 4.6 didn't have the pins and was just a different manufacturing process. Not sure about any differences in gearing/modifications from 4.4 units.

I'm really curious as to why BMW would opt to change the manufacturing process halfway through a model run and not update all models. Seems like a waste of money.

Isn't 4.6is originally adopted from Alpina's (B10 V8) tuned version of M62TU engine? Does that have something to do with these differences?

That's a thought I had, but its mere speculation at this point. I've spent some extensive time searching, even talked to a few vendors and all I come up with is that they seem to be interchangable but I haven't come across anyone that has put it to the test, and at $1200 new for the pair I can understand why. Maybe I should try reaching out to Beisan.