vanos??? - BMW Forum

scotav e46 · 04-30-2006, 05:40 PM

on the brink!!I have a 99 323 with just 53k which is driving me nuts!my car will not idle and runs bit rough for approx 15 mins till fully warmed up!sadly no local bm dealer as i live on an island!have a good friend with very good garage tho who has run tests that show no faults!my research is pointing towards a knackered vanos unit can anyone help or has anyone had the same probs?

saltshaker185 · 04-30-2006, 05:47 PM

what do you mean by doesnt idle? like you have to keep your foot on the gas the entire time??

scotav e46 · 04-30-2006, 06:03 PM

hi mate thanks alot for ur reply yea the car will pulse idle and cuts out unless i dance on the the gas!

saltshaker185 · 04-30-2006, 06:19 PM

are you familiar with bimmers or cars? if the idle is jumpy and then it goes because it stalled out then it could be your ICV (idle control valve) which is not a very rare thing to happen... if this is the case reply to this and ill tell u how to clean it...have u checkd the throttle cable and make sure its tight? BTW

to the werkz!

scotav e46 · 04-30-2006, 06:33 PM

yep this is my 3rd one in 5 years might be my last if this goin cost silly£sss!first thing i had done was icv!it was sound!

saltshaker185 · 04-30-2006, 06:34 PM

did have you done a vacuum leak check yet?

scotav e46 · 04-30-2006, 06:42 PM

yep that two!

saltshaker185 · 04-30-2006, 06:46 PM

wow... umm im stumped... im sure someone on here will help you though... guys lets gettum some help!

scotav e46 · 04-30-2006, 07:02 PM

I really hope so!!!have to get 2 the bottom of this?i love my bimmer!

zibby · 04-30-2006, 07:30 PM

[quote=scotav e46]on the brink!!I have a 99 323 with just 53k which is driving me nuts!my car will not idle and runs bit rough for approx 15 mins till fully warmed up!sadly no local bm dealer as i live on an island!have a good friend with very good garage tho who has run tests that show no faults!my research is pointing towards a knackered vanos unit can anyone help or has anyone had the same probs?

[/quote
I do not think this is a VANOS problem.Contact your local dealer and tell them to upgrade DME software.It most cases it cures unstable idlling.That is, what they do primary here in US and Canada to deal with this issue.
Good luck !

Ivan · 04-30-2006, 11:37 PM

lol he said he doesnt have a local dealer

zibby · 05-01-2006, 12:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ivan

lol he said he doesnt have a local dealer

Oops ! Its gonna be then problematic-sorry...

scotav e46 · 05-01-2006, 01:54 PM

[quote=zibby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scotav e46

on the brink!!I have a 99 323 with just 53k which is driving me nuts!my car will not idle and runs bit rough for approx 15 mins till fully warmed up!sadly no local bm dealer as i live on an island!have a good friend with very good garage tho who has run tests that show no faults!my research is pointing towards a knackered vanos unit can anyone help or has anyone had the same probs?

[/quote
I do not think this is a VANOS problem.Contact your local dealer and tell them to upgrade DME software.It most cases it cures unstable idlling.That is, what they do primary here in US and Canada to deal with this issue.
Good luck !

hi zibby thanks for reply. can you explain a bit more to me about dme software upgrade. have you known anyone else with similar problem? would like to think it is not the vanos unit but it seems to be very noisy till fully warmed up. do you know what is involved in a software upgrade? thanks.

zibby · 05-01-2006, 02:21 PM

[quote=scotav e46]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zibby

hi zibby thanks for reply. can you explain a bit more to me about dme software upgrade. have you known anyone else with similar problem? would like to think it is not the vanos unit but it seems to be very noisy till fully warmed up. do you know what is involved in a software upgrade? thanks.

Yes ,I know cases here in Vancouver when people cured this problem ,what you described, on their 323 and 328 (1999-2000) with a software upgrade.Dealership(I do not know anybody else can) have to reprogramm your DME.It is like $100 job, but I can not say for sure it is going to work for you.Anyway is worth to tray , if only you can reach the BMW dealership somehow.
Good luck !
Oh ! Regarding DME :

"The Motronic system (also called the Digital Motor Electronics or DME) is hands down the best overall fuel injection system that you can use when you consider price and performance. Ignition timing and fuel delivery are all controlled by a digital map that is recorded in a removable chip within the main fuel injection (DME) computer. The computer takes input from a variety of sensors that are located on the engine – cylinder head temperature, altitude (ambient air pressure), crank angle, throttle position, exhaust gas oxygen (mixture), ambient air temperature, and mass air flow. The DME chip is programmed from the factory with certain performance characteristics (mostly conservative) so that the engine will react well under a host of varying conditions. Major changes to the engine (including the addition of different camshafts) require an updated chip map to take full advantage of these modifications. Failure to update the Motronic system may actually result in a decrease in performance, as the original system is finely tuned to supply the correct timing and fuel injection values for a stock engine configuration'.

scotav e46 · 05-01-2006, 03:25 PM

[quote=zibby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scotav e46

Yes ,I know cases here in Vancouver when people cured this problem ,what you described, on their 323 and 328 (1999-2000) with a software upgrade.Dealership(I do not know anybody else can) have to reprogramm your DME.It is like $100 job, but I can not say for sure it is going to work for you.Anyway is worth to tray , if only you can reach the BMW dealership somehow.
Good luck !
Oh ! Regarding DME :

"The Motronic system (also called the Digital Motor Electronics or DME) is hands down the best overall fuel injection system that you can use when you consider price and performance. Ignition timing and fuel delivery are all controlled by a digital map that is recorded in a removable chip within the main fuel injection (DME) computer. The computer takes input from a variety of sensors that are located on the engine – cylinder head temperature, altitude (ambient air pressure), crank angle, throttle position, exhaust gas oxygen (mixture), ambient air temperature, and mass air flow. The DME chip is programmed from the factory with certain performance characteristics (mostly conservative) so that the engine will react well under a host of varying conditions. Major changes to the engine (including the addition of different camshafts) require an updated chip map to take full advantage of these modifications. Failure to update the Motronic system may actually result in a decrease in performance, as the original system is finely tuned to supply the correct timing and fuel injection values for a stock engine configuration'.

hi zibby
Thanks for replying so quickly. Living on a island in the west coast of scotland called Isle of Lewis which involves a 3 hour ferry journey to the scottish mainland and another 2 hours drive to local bmw dealer. Would be quite happy to spend money on that trip if it turns out to be a software problem compared to having vanos unit replaced. I have phoned lots of dealerships and none of them believe it to be a vanos unit problem!