[19shaun79]

it all started after a trip to calgary and edmonton and back to winnipeg last summer. When I got home the engine sounded very ‘ticky’ so I opened it up and checked the valves. A lot of them were out of tolerance, so I adjusted them. I did not remove the VANOS to adjust the valves.
Once I put it all back together, did an oil change and started it up, I got a code - Exhaust camshaft position sensor. The symptoms were quite intense when I started it up - pushing the gas pedal resulted in a ‘bog’ of the engine before climbing in revs. It did not stall and it idled fine.
So I replaced the sensor and started it back up. Once again the car idles fine, seems to climb in revs fine. I took it for a drive yesterday to try to go through a drive cycle with it. The car feels sluggish (like not as fast as my Focus ST), granted I haven’t driven the Bimmer since last August and they are two different cars with different characteristics. The Bimmer just feels slow now. no ‘bogging’ when I hit the gas pedal, but not that ‘throw you back in the seat’ feeling I remember it having last summer.
AND there are codes remaining! It’s showing:
B9 - Function Exhaust VANOS
OF - Camshaft sensor synchronization to camshaft
OA - Signal, camshaft sensor, exhaust

For reference: I have the BEISAN solenoid, and have done all the VANOS lock downs there are. I have headers, no cats, and a FSTT tune. I have deleted the SAP, but still sometimes pop a code for it.

Do I need to time the engine? Should I check the VANOS, even though there is NO WAY that there should be anything wrong with it? What’s going on??

Thanks in advance…

[Drewster]

Originally Posted by 19shaun79

it all started after a trip to calgary and edmonton and back to winnipeg last summer. When I got home the engine sounded very ‘ticky’ so I opened it up and checked the valves. A lot of them were out of tolerance, so I adjusted them. I did not remove the VANOS to adjust the valves.
Once I put it all back together, did an oil change and started it up, I got a code - Exhaust camshaft position sensor. The symptoms were quite intense when I started it up - pushing the gas pedal resulted in a ‘bog’ of the engine before climbing in revs. It did not stall and it idled fine.
So I replaced the sensor and started it back up. Once again the car idles fine, seems to climb in revs fine. I took it for a drive yesterday to try to go through a drive cycle with it. The car feels sluggish (like not as fast as my Focus ST), granted I haven’t driven the Bimmer since last August and they are two different cars with different characteristics. The Bimmer just feels slow now. no ‘bogging’ when I hit the gas pedal, but not that ‘throw you back in the seat’ feeling I remember it having last summer.
AND there are codes remaining! It’s showing:
B9 - Function Exhaust VANOS
OF - Camshaft sensor synchronization to camshaft
OA - Signal, camshaft sensor, exhaust

For reference: I have the BEISAN solenoid, and have done all the VANOS lock downs there are. I have headers, no cats, and a FSTT tune. I have deleted the SAP, but still sometimes pop a code for it.

Do I need to time the engine? Should I check the VANOS, even though there is NO WAY that there should be anything wrong with it? What’s going on??

Thanks in advance…

You need to diagnose it with a scan tool that shows you current camshaft position, and can run it through the Vanos test.

If the tool shows a good, consistent camshaft position reading, but the Vanos test shows your exhaust cam didn't move at all, you probably need to clean out the valve body and/ or get a new solenoid from Raj.

[DRockM3]

Run the Vanos test on DIS, it helped me pinpoint a similar problem.

My similar problem although on the intake side ended up being the valve body, it must have gotten plugged while I was doing the 'cleaning' procedure. Never could get it clear again. Replaced Valve body and 100%.

[19shaun79]

Well, life has a habit of getting in the way of me and my M3.

I had a friend do some tests on the car and he suggested that the exhaust cam was retarded. I opened the engine back up and checked it and sure enough that cam was way out of time. I fixed that, timed the top and bottom.

When I put it back together I cleared the codes, went for a drive and it felt better. No codes came back. The next morning I went to drive it to work and the codes popped up right away. Same codes as before.

Now when I stab the throttle it still has a bit of hesitation. Not as bad as before, but noticeable to me.

I haven't had time to run the DIS VANOS test yet, but I guess that is my next step. At least now I know that the engine is timed properly.

I will update when I have the VANOS test completed.