I think i have a VANOS issue

[tikamak]

I have no SES, nor do I feel any lack of power, maybe a little bit of low mpg.

the thing that makes me believe i have a vanos issue is the ever so slight knocking sound when i pop up the hood.

any ideas? anyone had this problem in a Z4M ?

[Mirko]

When did you have your last valve adjustment?

Also search some youtube videos for vanos noise and see if it relates to what you have.

[tikamak]

I think it was done probably 2 years ago, i will take my car to the mechanic for a valve adjustment as i think that it probably needs a new one.

I don't have the vanos noise, i just have this metallic thin sound like something is loose in the engine bay.

could it be the flywheel ?

[davesz4mc]

If it was the flywheel you would have all sorts of drivability issues etc...

It could be valve adjustment or you are hearing the injectors pulse maybe. How often do you listen to it with the hood up or why did you recently?

Does the sound increase in tempo with reving the engine or stay constant? Is the A/C on or off while checking this?

Time to turn everything off and listen a little more, maybe low budget you can use a long screw driver held to your ear and touch the metel end to valve cover etc and try to isolate the noise better? Like a stethoscope...

[tikamak]

I think i need a valve adjustment and the vanos noise is the normal one you hear from 2200 RPM till 3000RPM

the thing that makes you notice the sound the most is when you drive parallel to a wall, the little tickering sounds will bounce right back and you would think that your car is falling apart.

the sound is not marbleish like people say for the vanos, but rather like a tiny jackhammer (thin sound) and very metallic.

i reckon this is what the injectors sound?

[tekmoe]

Had my valves adjusted a few weeks ago. It has made the noise since I bought the car and is still making the noise after the adjustment. From what I have researched, it is completely normal. The mechanic who did the valve adjustment for me said everything looks and sounds like it is running in tip-top shape. Hope it stays that way!

[onebluemcm]

HIGHLY dependent on what the "noise" is, and describing it in words or listening to videos can be extremely misleading. One thing is for certain, the S54 is a more "noisy", mechanical sounding engine that most you will hear. Some ticking and clicking is normal with most of them. I've had two, one in an M3, and certainly they've made me wonder from time to time. I've also got a friend that has been through many S54s in race cars and I trust his word when he says to expect a little more "noise" from them.

All that said, if you are worried your "noise" is something more than the typical S54 sound the best thing you can do is find a mechanic that specifically has experience with S54s - these guys can be hard to find. The engine is a different animal and even a good mechanic that hasn't worked with one before might not recognize normal from abnormal because the engine is a little different and you could possibly end up misled....good luck!

[RobertRO]

tikamak, I have exactly the same symptom on my car. Now and then, at idle, a few knocks (like 3-4). The series of knocks are rather seldom, being separated by quite a few seconds.

I also wonder where they come from, as the engine runs fine.
It's not connected to the valve lash, since I am checking/adjusting them once a year.

If you have any more feedback since you opened this thread, please post it here.

[Z4-VILLA]

65k here and still no adjustment and no noises yet....so far

[StickMon]

Had my vanos bolts replaced about 6 months ago. It was making a noticeable racket. Fine now, just some rattle at 3200 rpm when the oil is cold. Goes away once the oil is hot. I'll be doing my own valve adjustment for the first time in a couple of months. Will see if that makes any difference.
It took the mechanic that replaced the bolts 2 tries to get the camshaft timing correct(ish). I just got INPA, in German, unfortunately, and got the following. I was able to get enough from Google Translate to know what it says, but I don't know what it means. Looks like the exhaust camshaft is slightly lagging, and the intake vanos setpoint is totally whacked.
This was idling in the garage with no load. Revving the engine didn't change much. Maybe it's supposed to look like this with no load?

[StickMon]

Installed a version of INPA (still 5.0.2) with 50% more English.
Got different results. Who'da thunk it. Looks like the German was MSS70 v0.01, and the 1/2 English is MSS70 v2.01