DIY S54 VANOS Solenoid Coil Pack

[nutzkicker617]

Seeing that Papak created a thread for his Vanos going out, I thought I should as well for the S54 Motor.

About a month ago, my 2007 M Coupe with 61k on the clock started hesitating with little to no throttle response. It would struggle to increase revs after 2500 rpm. A few miles later after these symptoms started, the SES light came on.

The weird thing is that once I turned the car off, let it cool off, and started the car back up, the symptoms would dissappear for a few miles before presenting themselves again.

I used my generic OBDII reading and pulled 2 codes: P0010 and P0135.

The first code refers to a faulty intake camshaft position sensor and the second code refers to a failed heating element in the Bank 1 Sensor 1 Oxygen Sensor.

Opting for the easy route first, I got a replacement Bosch Oxygen Sensor overnighted off of Amazon (cheapest and fastest option) and replaced the next day which only took half an hour. Cleared the codes and all was fine for about 50 miles. The hesitancy came back. No SES light came on, but my code reader did show the P0010 code as pending.

I searched this forum with no one experiencing this code, so I went over to the E46 guys and quite a few people had to replace the intake camshaft position sensor. Part itself is about 130 dollars, but not the easiest job. So before I did this, I decided to take it to a shop and have them run a full diagnostic. They mentioned that it was a bad solenoid possible. I then started googling s54 solenoid issues and found what I was looking for.

Apparently tons of E46 M3's have had their coil pack go out. The existing design has weak spots on the printed circuit board so when the motor heats up, it expands and loses contact, which explains why the symptoms went away in the morning or on a cold car.

Anyways, I found that Beisan Systems rebuilts these solenoids and makes them much more robust as opposed to getting a new OEM one which will eventually fail at a MUCH higher cost. Raj, from Beisan, is extremely helpful, willing to answer questions and responsive. I told him about my symptoms and my P0010 code and he was 100% sure that it was the solenoid going out.

I got a refurbed coil pack from them in 2 days, and switched it out with my old one. I took my time to make sure everything was cleaned and done correctly so it took me a little longer...about an hour. Check out this link for a great DIY:

http://www.beisansystems.com/procedu..._procedure.htm

The part itself only cost about $300 and if you send them back your old, failed solenoid, they will refund you $150.

It has been about 800 miles and no issues.

Good luck to all.