All 2006 M's get your cam shaft and vanos screws updated and replace please!

[shitbrownMcoupe]

Most of you have read my thread on how my car broke down at McDonald's.

Please get your car in to the dealer and have them replace them with new screw/bolts. They have upgraded ones already.

And basically they won't recall this, it's on a walk in case by case basis.

They're probably going to replace my engine.. but you don't want to be on the freeway going 100, and the engine stops, and your call does a dead stop.

Cheers!

[Z3Z4MC]

Did they tell you if these upgraded screw/bolts are already on the 07-08 models?
Do you know if replacing these screw/bolts are cover under warranty?

[mousitch]

As mine ran out of warranty on 04/26, has anyone else heard of this problem on our cars?

[The HACK]

What were the symptoms?

[Blind32]

My car was built in 12/06 but is a 07 model. Does this mean I am affected?

[mousitch]

Originally Posted by Blind32

My car was built in 12/06 but is a 07 model. Does this mean I am affected?

I'm not gonna trip on it as this is the first I've heard of this on our cars. Shit happens. If it's mechanical there is always a chance of something going south. That's the dice game you play with CPO. Which is a path I chose not to go. If it blows than I will put it my garage and get a used S54 for a lot less than 10k. Life is too short not to go fast and I got these headers to get on before it rains .

[thekurgan]

Originally Posted by shitbrownMcoupe

Most of you have read my thread on how my car broke down at McDonald's.

Please get your car in to the dealer and have them replace them with new screw/bolts. They have upgraded ones already.

And basically they won't recall this, it's on a walk in case by case basis.

They're probably going to replace my engine.. but you don't want to be on the freeway going 100, and the engine stops, and your call does a dead stop.

Cheers!

Do you have part numbers for the old vs new? I have a feeling they're dicking with you as I've not heard of that issue with the S54.

[shitbrownMcoupe]

Here's my take on it.

If the screws snap off during driving, your car will stop immediately. The car behind you will hit you for sure as your brake lights don't light up because you didn't press on the brakes.

If you're crossing an intersection or railroads and your car stalls, YOUR CAR WON'T START.

The camshafts stop turning, your valves and pistons hit eachother and they become bent. Your engine is dead and needs to be replaced.

All I'm saying is,

Who care's about the warranty, if you drive this car, you're not on a tight budget. And even if it did cost you money, your life is worth much more than that.

So If you do drive and M z4, and you're sure it's an 07 or 08, then you probably don't have to worry, but if you've got an 06. Then bring it in and pay for it.

If they don't cover it under warranty.. I'd still ask them to check if the screws are the updated ones... it's just 1 hour labour... 60 bucks?

So say it's after warranty, and you are driving fast and you do get into an accident because the engine stopped... disregard personal injury... (wheelchare for life maybe...)

Do you want to have your car in the repair shop for a few weeks? And your car won't be the same again...

And thinking forward, if you sell it... it's on the BMW record books that it's a lemon..

Life is precious guys....

[mousitch]

Originally Posted by shitbrownMcoupe

Here's my take on it.

If the screws snap off during driving, your car will stop immediately. The car behind you will hit you for sure as your brake lights don't light up because you didn't press on the brakes.

If you're crossing an intersection or railroads and your car stalls, YOUR CAR WON'T START.

The camshafts stop turning, your valves and pistons hit eachother and they become bent. Your engine is dead and needs to be replaced.

All I'm saying is,

Who care's about the warranty, if you drive this car, you're not on a tight budget. And even if it did cost you money, your life is worth much more than that.

So If you do drive and M z4, and you're sure it's an 07 or 08, then you probably don't have to worry, but if you've got an 06. Then bring it in and pay for it.

If they don't cover it under warranty.. I'd still ask them to check if the screws are the updated ones... it's just 1 hour labour... 60 bucks?

So say it's after warranty, and you are driving fast and you do get into an accident because the engine stopped... disregard personal injury... (wheelchare for life maybe...)

Do you want to have your car in the repair shop for a few weeks? And your car won't be the same again...

And thinking forward, if you sell it... it's on the BMW record books that it's a lemon..

Life is precious guys....

Point taken. Probably will get it checked out. Damn, always something with this car to worry about!

[Z3Z4MC]

Originally Posted by shitbrownMcoupe

Here's my take on it.

If the screws snap off during driving, your car will stop immediately. The car behind you will hit you for sure as your brake lights don't light up because you didn't press on the brakes.

If you're crossing an intersection or railroads and your car stalls, YOUR CAR WON'T START.

The camshafts stop turning, your valves and pistons hit eachother and they become bent. Your engine is dead and needs to be replaced.

All I'm saying is,

Who care's about the warranty, if you drive this car, you're not on a tight budget. And even if it did cost you money, your life is worth much more than that.

So If you do drive and M z4, and you're sure it's an 07 or 08, then you probably don't have to worry, but if you've got an 06. Then bring it in and pay for it.

If they don't cover it under warranty.. I'd still ask them to check if the screws are the updated ones... it's just 1 hour labour... 60 bucks?

So say it's after warranty, and you are driving fast and you do get into an accident because the engine stopped... disregard personal injury... (wheelchare for life maybe...)

Do you want to have your car in the repair shop for a few weeks? And your car won't be the same again...

And thinking forward, if you sell it... it's on the BMW record books that it's a lemon..

Life is precious guys....

Thanks for the info. Mine is an 07. But hell for $60, that's a no brainer.

[shitbrownMcoupe]

The mechanic working on the car is an old class mate of mine. He get's nothing from this work. In fact, it's a warranty job, so he get's paid less than normal hours for a warranty job. He's spent 3 days taking it apart and putting it back and taking it apart again.

I was there this morning, and he showed me the two screw that fell off, they were both snapped in half. I looked at the cams, and there where 2 screws missing.

And he personally told me that the valves were bent, so he's going to take the next level off and look at the pistons. If those are bent or screwed, then he'll request a new engine.

He said that it's happened to the previous M3's. and there was 1 case out this dealer with the exact same issue on that M3. Unfortunately for that guy, it wasn't under warranty, and he was driving fast and the car was 2nd hand, so BMW didn't cover anything for him... costed him over 10K to fix that M3.

I didn't ask for the part numbers, he told me that the newer engines have a new screw.

Anyways, I have nothing to gain from this guys, I just don't want anyone to go through anything worse than what I'm going through.. accidents...

[shitbrownMcoupe]

One more important point... if you do get into a major crash... and it's because the engine stopped, because of the screws snapping off.... your car may be so wrecked that BMW may BLAME you as the driver for the accident... I don't think that after an accident that the mechanic or BMW will take your broken totalled car in and inspect the engine to see if the screws are missing.. and even if they are missing.. they could say that it's because of the accident impact and your poor driving...

[shitbrownMcoupe]

I'm probably not going to get another BMW again, after this car.. I'll keep this car if the engine replacement is good and after the warranty, I'll mod it heavily for track... then porsche gt2 or gt3 or something else.

My father had a 750 15 years back... it was terrible, always in the shop for repairs... so we've been merc's ever since... this was the first BMW I've ever had for myself... was a dream car.. still is... but what a dissapointment on BMW engineering

[AWM3]

Kind of odd that they would have such problems with an engine in production since 2001. Exactly how common is this failure? 1 out of 100? 1 out of 1000? 1 of 10,000?

[mousitch]

If this happens to anyone out of warranty, here you go

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-S...item563bdb51ee

It's nice to know they are out there. JustinCase

[Serious]

Originally Posted by shitbrownMcoupe

Here's my take on it.

If the screws snap off during driving, your car will stop immediately. The car behind you will hit you for sure as your brake lights don't light up because you didn't press on the brakes.

LOL That won't happen. that is physically impossible.

[onebluemcm]

Uh, I'd not count on being able to find an S54 on ebay in a pinch, especially not a low mileage documented engine. I'd say this is an uncommon occurance....

My question is if they go to all the work to remove the valve cover to check the bolts, just how are they able to determine from looking at them if they are "updated" bolts or not? Do the bolts really look different, or is there come kind of number on them.

[Graham M]

Yeah the rear end MAY lock up, but at best the rear tires will skid violently. For it to literally STOP like that is absolutely impossible.

Thats if the clutch doesn't slip at all, of which it would stop the rear end from being beyond control if the driver were to simply use the clutch, or put the car into neutral.
Check out www.car-part.com, as that would be a great tool for locating a good longblock engine.

[BookerM3]

When I first read this I didn't read much into it. (what are the chances...)
However, when I looked at the ETK one the bolts for the Vanos is
dicontinued without a replacement.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...04&hg=11&fg=25

No. Description Supplement Qty From Up To Part Number Price Notes
01 TIMING CHAIN 1 11317830869 $130.96
02 Vanos gearbox, outlet 1 11367832031 $918.39
03 Set, diaphragm spring 2 11367830684 $16.82
04 Vanos gearbox, inlet 1 11367832030 $918.39
05 Fillister-head screw M6X16 12 07119919965 ENDED
06 Hex bolt M6X25 12 07119913589 $0.62
07 SPROCKET 1 11211401036 $184.22

Is 05 the bolt failure item?

I just picked up my '07 M coupe this week....

[Serious]

Originally Posted by onebluemcm

Uh, I'd not count on being able to find an S54 on ebay in a pinch, especially not a low mileage documented engine. I'd say this is an uncommon occurance....

My question is if they go to all the work to remove the valve cover to check the bolts, just how are they able to determine from looking at them if they are "updated" bolts or not? Do the bolts really look different, or is there come kind of number on them.

the bolts require removal of the vanos unit, it's a hell of alot longer process then an hour.

Just check by production month/ year. Ill see if I can look it up. RealOEM shows the bolts on all s54's as PN#07119919965 as (ended).

[crfine88]

Thanks for the head up.

[Blind32]

Originally Posted by BookerM3

When I first read this I didn't read much into it. (what are the chances...)
However, when I looked at the ETK one the bolts for the Vanos is
dicontinued without a replacement.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...04&hg=11&fg=25

No. Description Supplement Qty From Up To Part Number Price Notes
01 TIMING CHAIN 1 11317830869 $130.96
02 Vanos gearbox, outlet 1 11367832031 $918.39
03 Set, diaphragm spring 2 11367830684 $16.82
04 Vanos gearbox, inlet 1 11367832030 $918.39
05 Fillister-head screw M6X16 12 07119919965 ENDED
06 Hex bolt M6X25 12 07119913589 $0.62
07 SPROCKET 1 11211401036 $184.22

Is 05 the bolt failure item?

I just picked up my '07 M coupe this week....

So y'all are saying part 05 was replaced by part 06? If this is true, they made the bolt 9mm longer. I don't think this problem is that common but I'll check with my buddy and see how many he has run into.