Broken VANOS Bolts

[CRuben09]

Originally Posted by swmrdrn

Well it has been an interesting last few weeks. 7 days ago BMW NA called to tell me that they approved the "repurchase" of the car. I signed the agreement and yesterday I was notified that my check has been forwarded to the return agent. The car will be going back to BMW next week and I'm sorry to see it go. It has been one of my favorite cars of all time and I have had many many cars over the years.

On a positive note, I have never had a better experience with a large company. The good people at BMW NA were exceedingly polite and helpful. Never did I have to raise my voice or argue my point. They simply gathered the needed information and arrived a the logical conclusion. Because of their straightforward and honest approach I am actually considering replacing this car with a 335i M-Sport... although the S4/5 also is appealing. Has anyone had issues with the newer production N55 engines?

How did you do it?

My car have been in the shop already two times for the same issue.

[ken1137]

Originally Posted by swmrdrn

Well it has been an interesting last few weeks. 7 days ago BMW NA called to tell me that they approved the "repurchase" of the car. I signed the agreement and yesterday I was notified that my check has been forwarded to the return agent. The car will be going back to BMW next week and I'm sorry to see it go. It has been one of my favorite cars of all time and I have had many many cars over the years.

On a positive note, I have never had a better experience with a large company. The good people at BMW NA were exceedingly polite and helpful. Never did I have to raise my voice or argue my point. They simply gathered the needed information and arrived a the logical conclusion. Because of their straightforward and honest approach I am actually considering replacing this car with a 335i M-Sport... although the S4/5 also is appealing. Has anyone had issues with the newer production N55 engines?

Congratulations on BMWNA stepping up...it doesn't happen often. The bad, is your call will end up at a dealer under CPO for sale You should post the Vin #.

[Wakka]

The S54 seems to have the same problem:

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...bolt-death-DIY

[Slyncka]

Originally Posted by CRuben09

When my car broke down it happened in the highway at highway speed. I was parked at a restaurant and when I turned on the car the service engine light went on 2 minutes later I was at the highway and it just shut. I still could drive the car to a stop but the brakes were so hard. I was lucky there wasn't traffic around.

Same thing happened with the X5 here. Engine had the warning, dealer said drive it down, shut off completely on the highway and was able to drift it to the side near a safe area. Still in the shop as of right now and no word.

Interesting on the buy back, I thought it would take quite a while like the other post said.

[CRuben09]

Originally Posted by Slyncka

Same thing happened with the X5 here. Engine had the warning, dealer said drive it down, shut off completely on the highway and was able to drift it to the side near a safe area. Still in the shop as of right now and no word.

Interesting on the buy back, I thought it would take quite a while like the other post said.

Crazy right? My car was in the shop for 5 days, and then two weeks later a second time for 4 more days and a third time 1 week later for 2 days. What can I expect...

At the beginning of the year the car left me stranded because of a broken charge pipe :S.

BMW NA won't step in to help in my case. He got really lucky. They say then only thing I can do is to trade the car in, and purchase another one. But the trade in value of my car is lesser than the debt.

I'm really disappointed with them. Probably because I'm in Puerto Rico, they won't assist.

[sea6speed]

Originally Posted by e36addict

Yes, there is a bulletin out about this issue, and if effects E82 and E88 produced from 2/2010 to 12/2010...

So... next question is whether there are any reports of this happening on build dates after 12/2010.

Mine is a 1/2011 build, so maybe I missed it by a month? Let's hope.

[FABIAN128I]

Same problem happen to me on my 2011 128i , 49,xxx mi , the car has been in the dealer for a whole week now , SA said only three bolts had fell only :

[Slyncka]

Just a quick update. Car has been at the dealer for 36 days now, no resolution. They did repair it, started up fine, then on the test drive everything failed again.

BMW shipped a special hydraulic table for the engine which is entirely out of the car. They're having them take 100's of pictures and they're getting direction from higher up at BMW. They still cant figure it out. They're replacing the engine but no way are we taking that car back.

[shah269]

They should just give you a new car....

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by Wakka

The S54 seems to have the same problem:

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...bolt-death-DIY

VANOS bolts shearing off is a reasonable concern on all BMWs. I did a thesis on it in college (well the thesis was on camless valvetrain actuation, but I went into the modern solutions)

Anyway, ive seen some pictures that just look nasty.

[vertebra]

Originally Posted by Slyncka

Just a quick update. Car has been at the dealer for 36 days now, no resolution. They did repair it, started up fine, then on the test drive everything failed again.

BMW shipped a special hydraulic table for the engine which is entirely out of the car. They're having them take 100's of pictures and they're getting direction from higher up at BMW. They still cant figure it out. They're replacing the engine but no way are we taking that car back.

I hope they gave you a decent loaner. BMW or the dealer should have just gotten you out of that car already. They should ship the whole car back to the motherland and figure that out on their time.




Posted from 1addicts.com App for Android

[Slyncka]

Originally Posted by vertebra

I hope they gave you a decent loaner. BMW or the dealer should have just gotten you out of that car already. They should ship the whole car back to the motherland and figure that out on their time.




Posted from 1addicts.com App for Android

They have had no interest in giving a loaner, still driving a kia sorento on day 40+. It's my parents back in PA and they don't get it even after I told them the exact same thing.

[Slyncka]

If anyones still interested, they called today and said "the car is ready" out of the blue. It went into the shop on August 12th. A regional manager or someone higher up was involved and he's saying it'll take a few days to work something out and then said the car has to be picked up. I told them not to pick up the car yet.

The service manager also claimed it wouldnt be reported to carfax since it wasnt an insurance claim, which is clearly a lie. The car is worth substantially less than it was before, I do not want them to pick up that vehicle. From the sounds of it they want to write a check for the mileage put on the car (which is less than 1000 miles) to compensate. I want another vehicle for them which is reasonable. The dealer has been unclear the entire time about whats going on and now this regional manager is coming off like he's not that interested in helping.

Any advice? Any thoughts would be useful. I expect to see more of this happening in the future, this more of a widespread problem than it seemed.

[Slyncka]

Also just an FYI, here's the VIN

5UXZV4C55BL405312

[Mach1er]

Keep us posted, I hope you get something out of them from this mess. They should buy the car back from you as a lemon and get you a good deal on something else.

[Slyncka]

They seem like thats exactly what theyre trying to not do. Ive never seen something handled so poorly from a company that takes such pride is being the best.

If they end up making my parents take back their first BMW they ever owned (plus had a catastrophic engine failure) and put less than 1000 miles on, I'll be getting rid of my 335 that week... but we're not there yet, I'm going to get directly involved now.

[SinCalgary]

Just got my 135 back today after having sheared off bolts on both Vanos units. MY car is a 04/2010 production date. I am 4,000 Kms out of warranty so I got the pleasure of paying for the repair. I will be giving BMW a call to discuss some goodwill as this is obviously a defect and I was unlucky enough to have it last through the warranty period just barely. Expensive and annoying to have to deal with.

[Slyncka]

Originally Posted by SinCalgary

Just got my 135 back today after having sheared off bolts on both Vanos units. MY car is a 04/2010 production date. I am 4,000 Kms out of warranty so I got the pleasure of paying for the repair. I will be giving BMW a call to discuss some goodwill as this is obviously a defect and I was unlucky enough to have it last through the warranty period just barely. Expensive and annoying to have to deal with.

Definitely do that, the more I look into it the more it's clear these engines have a manufacturing defect.



I thought this was interesting too. Maybe not important, but the amount of data out there is pretty large.

[Rock135i]

I have a 2011 135i with 64,000 miles. I have not seen my car in over 3 weeks. I had the bolts cause damage to one of my pistons and they are replacing that as well. I'm out $5500 right now and have a specialty import shop performing the repair. I am probably saving a couple thousand vs. BMW. I have had all kinds of issues with my local BMW service department so after they charged me $613 just to tell me the bolts failed I took it elsewhere. I am leery about shelling out $5500 and still having major problems moving forward with the engine after this. Time will tell I guess.

I feel slighted due to this being a manufacturer defect that has hit quite a few N55 owners. When you invest over $50k in a car you expect the thing to at least be built right. The whole thing is disturbing that they did not offer this as a recall repair. I am paying on the fact someone at BMW messed up designing those Vanos Units. It's total BS.

[Slyncka]

Originally Posted by Rock135i

I have a 2011 135i with 64,000 miles. I have not seen my car in over 3 weeks. I had the bolts cause damage to one of my pistons and they are replacing that as well. I'm out $5500 right now and have a specialty import shop performing the repair. I am probably saving a couple thousand vs. BMW. I have had all kinds of issues with my local BMW service department so after they charged me $613 just to tell me the bolts failed I took it elsewhere. I am leery about shelling out $5500 and still having major problems moving forward with the engine after this. Time will tell I guess.

I feel slighted due to this being a manufacturer defect that has hit quite a few N55 owners. When you invest over $50k in a car you expect the thing to at least be built right. The whole thing is disturbing that they did not offer this as a recall repair. I am paying on the fact someone at BMW messed up designing those Vanos Units. It's total BS.

Rock what state are you in? This dealership may have turned you away incorrectly. Get your warranty book and read it carefully, specifically the warranties emissions parts. The VANOS is one of these parts and carries a longer warranty. With 65k you are likely covered under these separate warranties. If you find this to be the case don't have the new shop do any work.

I filed suit against bmw for breach of warranty and it's set to be heard this month. BMW failed in every respect to do a single thing. PM me and you can call me if you want to talk about the details, I'd be very happy to.

[dcaron9999]

I have a May 2010 build date, 2011 135i, with 34,000Miles (56,000Kms) on the odometer. Car is still under base warranty until May 2015/50,000Miles.

I have not experienced the Vanos bolt issue and hope I never will. I track the car and it consumes a bit of oil.

I emailed my service advisor with this issue, and asking about preventive maintenance, just for kicks. I provided the SIB number from this thread. His response was as expected " No preventive maintenance can be done, and the SIB is a simply a reference document used by service technicians to help with their diagnosis and repair"

No kidding!

All I know is Im not keeping this car after warranty expires, or I will buy a BMW extended warranty if I decide I keep the car past the base warranty.

[3002 tii]

Unfortunately broken Vanos bolts are not a new issue, its relatively common on the S54. Some owners
tackle the issue on their own:

http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=407826
http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=321494