n54 2009 135i vanos help please !

[maj0r]

Hello,

I've been trying to read every thread I can find across multiple sites but I haven't found a solution yet to my vanos problems. So I've been getting intake vanos and boost deactivation recently. Swapped vanos solenoids and code remained on intake. Put different solenoid into intake and it helped for a couple of days but codes came back. Changed the oil and it helped for a couple of days but codes came back.

However I suspect it to be multiple issues because the newer vanos solenoid is adjusting much faster than the old one which was swapped top/bottom previously about a year ago.
I checked the vanos filters yesterday they were clean but the valves seemed very stiff it was difficult to get them to move even by sucking air through them as hard as possible. I've checked the oil filter housing, the cage is in there and seems okay.

Now the weird issue I'm having is that the car is reacting better to the new solenoid so I think the old one was bad anyway. I can cold start the car now with no issues where previously it would misfire and sometimes stall before the vanos would smooth out eventually.

Now I can run the car as much as I want to, doing 3rd 4th 5th 6th gear pulls with no issue, however after the oil gets hot and I turn it off or even let it idle for 5-10min (as happened last night tried not to turn it off to avoid codes) it will immediately throw codes upon restart and pulling away. Last night I cleared and reset adaptations after the codes popped up upon idling and it worked fine the rest of the trip.

Since the vanos filters were clear of any shavings or debris I'm hoping the cam ledges are fine. At this point I'm thinking/hoping the vanos valves are getting stuck when hot ? When we removed the filters there was very little if any oil which points to them being defective and letting oil drain out of the head ? When the car is running it runs fine but when the vanos filters are needed to hold pressure they could be failing to do so ? Also checked oil filter and there was no metal inside.

Update- Now the car is back to where it was, the idle is bad and it will stall if I don't hold the gas a bit on cold start and I get vanos code that won't clear. Why would the vanos give a code and not go away even if the car is off ?

It's back to doing the same thing as before, it will be jammed upon startup, I wait about 2-3minutes and the intake vanos unjams. However depending on how it wants to act it will still stutter like it did last night on the highway jamming for like 1/10sec and making the car buck a bit.

Today I took my two original solenoids that were swapped with another set of used but original solenoids and connected them to the cables with the original solenoids sitting outside of the car. With the battery on I could feel the exhaust solenoid with power flowing through it, but the intake solenoid did't have this same feeling and it was getting red hot ? Although, when I turn the battery on/off I can hear them click once and adjust but when I leave the battery on the intake solenoid continutes to heat up.


Any advice would be great.

Car is 2009 135i with single turbo kit running pump gas tune alone.

[iminhell1]

Last time it was walnut blasted?
If you don't know, clean them.


If you're thinking the solenoid was bad, it could be the tune was made with it bad and is off. May be worth contacting the tuner and sending logs to see if he spots something abnormal.

[maj0r]

Hello thanks for your response. The valves were cleaned before turbo kit installed about 6000km ago + catch can is installed.

When the car is started and vanos is jams then after couple of minutes starts up again. I'm going to buy a new oem solenoid and try it out.

Also, when the car is running and i unplug the intake solenoid cable or the MAP sensor the idle immediately smooths out.

Does anyone know how stiff the nonreturn check valves for vanos are supposed to be ? Mine were super stiff and basically had zero oil when plugged although they were clean. Could a bad valve inside the filter cause lack of oil pressure to the vanos ?


Update Aug 10th- So after swapping around the same 4 used solenoids I have the car is back to being able to do full 22psi pulls with no codes. However if I idle for a couple of minutes or if I shut the engine off then restart it will seemingly jam and idle rough and throw intake vanos codes. I'm going to get a new oem solenoid and check valves and see what they accomplish.

However I did do a test that I found interesting. I plugged in my two spare solenoids and let them rest on the engine cover and started the engine. The exhaust side I could always feel an electrical buzz going through it, but the intake side no. Then the intake side would randomly come alive and start buzzing. I tried to show my friend and of course now both were buzzing with power.

Nevertheless, I thought since the car usually throws codes upon startup what if I plugged in a solenoid to intake connector during this time and voila no electrical buzzing going to it while the car was idling rough and throwing codes. Could all of my problems be some sort of intermittent electrical issue with the intake side ? Possibly the single turbo melting something ? I'm just not certain because I don't have another working n54 to compare mine against.

Can someone try this and see what happens with their car ? It only took me 1minute.

Well I dove deeper into the issue. The exhaust connector would be providing stable voltage but he intake connector would randomly jump to 14v and as soon as I plugged it in it would jam the vanos and cause all of my issues. I thought maybe the ecu was responding to a jam by increasing power but I let the car smooth out after a few minutes and I tested the voltage and it was the same as the exhaust.

Then I left the connector disconnected and the car was fine at this point, then randomly the voltage jumped to 14v with the connector still loose and I plug it back in and immediately it jams the vanos. For some reason the voltage would spike to 14v randomly on the intake side and this is what was causing all of my issues ! Who would have thought.

I reflashed the tune and the car has been running well for the last 48h. No problems after shutting off or anything ! Fingers crossed.


Update aug 14th- everything is working perfectly so far !

[///Makis]

Originally Posted by maj0r

Hello thanks for your response. The valves were cleaned before turbo kit installed about 6000km ago + catch can is installed.

When the car is started and vanos is jams then after couple of minutes starts up again. I'm going to buy a new oem solenoid and try it out.

Also, when the car is running and i unplug the intake solenoid cable or the MAP sensor the idle immediately smooths out.

Does anyone know how stiff the nonreturn check valves for vanos are supposed to be ? Mine were super stiff and basically had zero oil when plugged although they were clean. Could a bad valve inside the filter cause lack of oil pressure to the vanos ?


Update Aug 10th- So after swapping around the same 4 used solenoids I have the car is back to being able to do full 22psi pulls with no codes. However if I idle for a couple of minutes or if I shut the engine off then restart it will seemingly jam and idle rough and throw intake vanos codes. I'm going to get a new oem solenoid and check valves and see what they accomplish.

However I did do a test that I found interesting. I plugged in my two spare solenoids and let them rest on the engine cover and started the engine. The exhaust side I could always feel an electrical buzz going through it, but the intake side no. Then the intake side would randomly come alive and start buzzing. I tried to show my friend and of course now both were buzzing with power.

Nevertheless, I thought since the car usually throws codes upon startup what if I plugged in a solenoid to intake connector during this time and voila no electrical buzzing going to it while the car was idling rough and throwing codes. Could all of my problems be some sort of intermittent electrical issue with the intake side ? Possibly the single turbo melting something ? I'm just not certain because I don't have another working n54 to compare mine against.

Can someone try this and see what happens with their car ? It only took me 1minute.

Well I dove deeper into the issue. The exhaust connector would be providing stable voltage but he intake connector would randomly jump to 14v and as soon as I plugged it in it would jam the vanos and cause all of my issues. I thought maybe the ecu was responding to a jam by increasing power but I let the car smooth out after a few minutes and I tested the voltage and it was the same as the exhaust.

Then I left the connector disconnected and the car was fine at this point, then randomly the voltage jumped to 14v with the connector still loose and I plug it back in and immediately it jams the vanos. For some reason the voltage would spike to 14v randomly on the intake side and this is what was causing all of my issues ! Who would have thought.

I reflashed the tune and the car has been running well for the last 48h. No problems after shutting off or anything ! Fingers crossed.


Update aug 14th- everything is working perfectly so far !

Re flashing is the IT equivalent of turning it off and on again

Glad it all worked out well for you.

[Windy5000]

Hey Major,

Experiencing the exact same problems as you after replacing both solenoids, mine is a little more infrequent. Haven't experienced these codes for the last 8 or so long trips i've done but know if i give the car a good push it'll come up again.

Not too sure where to go from here i might have the mechanic check out the solenoids, car is due a walnut blast having reached 70,000 miles, can't see that the HPFP has ever been replaced either.

August 8th 2020
Fault code: 002D5A VAnoS, intake: control error, cam shaft pinched
Details:
number of revolutions : 0
Relative load : 54
camshaft intake : 50
actual gear : 4586

Fault code: 002C58 Boost pressure control: shutdown due to reaction
Details:
number of revolutions : 0
ambient pressure : 19
ambient temperature : -40
Relative load : 609

Fault code: 00387F Power management: closed-circuit current violation
Details:
Time with quiescent current 80-200 mA : 0
Time with quiescent current 200 - 1000 mA : 180
Time with quiescent current above 1000 mA : 0
shut-down : 0


August 20th 2020
Fault code: 002D5A VAnoS, intake: control error, cam shaft pinched
Details:
number of revolutions : 0
Relative load : 48
camshaft intake : 50
actual gear : 5862

Fault code: 002C58 Boost pressure control: shutdown due to reaction
Details:
number of revolutions : 0
ambient pressure : 17
ambient temperature : -40
Relative load : 603


Reading your thread in more detail i think i should probably replace the Yusasa battery the garage installed when repairing my car.

[Mandinca]

Sorry to hijack the thread but I am also having Vanos issues. Here is what I have done so far.
I bought the car (E88) 3 years ago with about 57K on it. Immediately changed oil, plugs and walnut blasted the valves. I then upgraded the charge pipe, fake Tial BOV, larger intercooler, catless DP’s and MHD stage 2 tune.
Everything was good until about a year ago when I started having Vanos errors (limp mode?) at around 80K. I wasn’t sure what to do but either let it reset with engine off, engine on – or reset the code using the MHD app. Unfortunately I wasn’t keeping note of which Vanos was causing the code each time but it was XYZ Vanos and Boost pressure each time.
Fast forward to a couple of months ago and I noticed the frequency increasing so I bought a couple of Chinesium Vanos solenoids and everything was good for about a month, maybe 6 weeks, when suddenly I’m getting Vanos codes pretty much every time I drive the car.
The last few times I reset them I noted that each time it was intake Vanos and boost pressure so I took out the solenoids, cleaned them, swapped them around and put them back in. 50 miles later the codes were back…..still intake and boost pressure ☹ I was, of course, hoping it would be exhaust……but it wasn’t.
Also, maybe worth noting that my battery may be dying…..my clock keeps forgetting date and time and my trip meter keeps resetting to zero – if I don’t drive the car for a day or two. No issues cranking just yet but maybe as it gets colder here in CT I’ll have a problem.
So, what does everyone think ?
Replace the Chinesium intake Vanos with an OEM ?
Replace the battery ?
Reflash the tune ?
Do the ledge dance ?
Obviously I don’t want to replace the ledge if it’s something else and I guess I kind of answer my own questions….I need a battery, I can re-flash the tune…..then replace the solenoid and lastly replace the ledge if I absolutely have to.
Lastly, am I damaging the engine by driving it with the CEL light on (vanos and boost codes) if I baby it.
Anyway, opinions please…..and if anyone knows of a good DIY on ledge replacement, please drop in a link.
TIA

Edit, I change the oil for FCP Euro BMW approved oil and filter every 5K and have since I bought it. The O ring is in there. I have not tried resetting adaptations. I've also never noticed metal shavings on the vanos solenoids when I've had them out.

[Windy5000]

Went main dealership, turns out it was a boost valve! Let them know i recently changed Vanos Soleniods they applied an adaptation apparently.

Will report back once i have the car.

[Mybimmer]

You need to reset adaptions when ever you change something on VANOS. Can be done via MHD or INPA.

[Windy5000]

Well i'm pretty livid, took the car on an extended drive over Sunday and same engine light came on with even more codes. I didn't expect this from a main dealer having paid over £600.00's. Will be asking for a refund on the diagnostic check, adaptation and replacement boost pressure converter.

To be misdiagnosed from a main dealer is ridiculous.