Mechanic asked me to find something for him...

[jrhaile]

He said I need a new varios (I don't know if I'm spelling it right) timing unit for my car. He said the one I have is either stuck or is shitty. He's a damn good mechanic on bimmers so I trust him. Problem is, I can't find one or don't know how to spell it properly to find it. Anyone have any idea what this is?

[bitcore]

VANOS

It's the varriable camshaft unit. Cool little bugger, helps the fuel economy Vs. engine power problem, but having one makes it hard to tune the engine.

I've heard of sticky vanos units before, and this sounds legit. The VANOS unit is under a usually unpainted metal piece on the engine, open the hood up and it's right in your face.

Here's a isometric view from the front passenger corner of the car:


... Fun stuff....

[jrhaile]

yeah well I have slow take offs from 0-2500 rpms and I have a cranking/knocking sound coming from that area. It's not the knock sensor that's doing that.. he said the time time he took apart one of these motors in his friends, it was completely seized...

so I'm just going to replace the fucker but I can't seem to find one.. help would be appreciated..

[bitcore]

well, there's the obvious dealership...

Try calling bavauto, either the parts they have are aftermarket, or BMW parts at a major discount.

[billB]

The VANOS unit is readily identifiable by the "lump" on the driver's side of the head & valve cover at the front of the engine. The VANOS unit adjusts the timing of the intake cam.



Newer BMWs, such as the E46 M3, with "twin VANOS" motors (VANOS units controlling both the intake and exhaust cams) have a "lump" on both sides of the valve