E36 M3 VANOS issues
Discussion
Hi Guys,
I have a 1997 E36 Evo M3 which I have owned (and loved) for over 10 years (78,000 on the clock). I had an oil leak on the back of the engine about 2 years ago and had the head gasket replaced. The car ran terribly subsequently which my local garage (and another local BMW specialist garage) diagnosed as a VANOS issue.
The garage sourced and installed a second hand VANOS which has worked fine for the past 2 years until several weeks ago when the car became very noisy and extremely rough at idle. Performance and fuel economy is down as well.
I took it back to the garage as it was due an oil service. I then took it to the local BMW Specialist (non-dealer)who after replacing the plugs and investigating the fault, stripped the VANOS and found the replacement VANOS to be at fault (I believe he said one of the pumps was failing).
I was toying with selling it on as I have just taken on the wife's X5 as well (having bought her a Mini Copper S), however, having spent the weekend cleaning and polishing the M3 and taking it out for a spin I've realised how much I love it.
I'm therefore considering getting the VANOS replaced again! but this time with a properly refurbished version which will last. The local garage recommended Mr. Vanos in Darlington. I have also seen a few recommendations for Phil at CPC in Amersham. As I am in Essex, Phil is quite a bit nearer than Mr. Vanos, however, I want to make sure I'm going to the right place.
The garage had in fact contacted Mr. Vanos (who they have used in the past themselves) and they suggested the garage send the VANOS unit to them together with the cam shaft out of my car and that they will rebuilt the unit and "Match" it to the original cam shaft. The fee would be £1,300 + VAT.
This does seem more than others have suggested or experienced?
Any recommendations would be much appreciated.
I have a 1997 E36 Evo M3 which I have owned (and loved) for over 10 years (78,000 on the clock). I had an oil leak on the back of the engine about 2 years ago and had the head gasket replaced. The car ran terribly subsequently which my local garage (and another local BMW specialist garage) diagnosed as a VANOS issue.
The garage sourced and installed a second hand VANOS which has worked fine for the past 2 years until several weeks ago when the car became very noisy and extremely rough at idle. Performance and fuel economy is down as well.
I took it back to the garage as it was due an oil service. I then took it to the local BMW Specialist (non-dealer)who after replacing the plugs and investigating the fault, stripped the VANOS and found the replacement VANOS to be at fault (I believe he said one of the pumps was failing).
I was toying with selling it on as I have just taken on the wife's X5 as well (having bought her a Mini Copper S), however, having spent the weekend cleaning and polishing the M3 and taking it out for a spin I've realised how much I love it.
I'm therefore considering getting the VANOS replaced again! but this time with a properly refurbished version which will last. The local garage recommended Mr. Vanos in Darlington. I have also seen a few recommendations for Phil at CPC in Amersham. As I am in Essex, Phil is quite a bit nearer than Mr. Vanos, however, I want to make sure I'm going to the right place.
The garage had in fact contacted Mr. Vanos (who they have used in the past themselves) and they suggested the garage send the VANOS unit to them together with the cam shaft out of my car and that they will rebuilt the unit and "Match" it to the original cam shaft. The fee would be £1,300 + VAT.
This does seem more than others have suggested or experienced?
Any recommendations would be much appreciated.
Hi Simmons,
I would be quite interested to get an answer to this too as am in a similar position... I have a 98 EVO owned for 5 years and have had the seals replaced twice now on the VANOS due to oil leak. I now have lumpy idle and lack of low end power which I'm quite sure is due to the VANOS not working properly.
Deciding whether to fix it or not becomes quite tricky given the value of the cars now, £1300 does seem a little much to me though (but I know main dealer would charge a LOT more).
If anyone else has experience of having VANOS refurb / replace done by independent would be good to hear recommendations and at what price the work was done!
Dan
I would be quite interested to get an answer to this too as am in a similar position... I have a 98 EVO owned for 5 years and have had the seals replaced twice now on the VANOS due to oil leak. I now have lumpy idle and lack of low end power which I'm quite sure is due to the VANOS not working properly.
Deciding whether to fix it or not becomes quite tricky given the value of the cars now, £1300 does seem a little much to me though (but I know main dealer would charge a LOT more).
If anyone else has experience of having VANOS refurb / replace done by independent would be good to hear recommendations and at what price the work was done!
Dan
I've not used 'Mr Vanos' myself (infact I'm only just shopping for my E36 M3) but in the course of many months of research I've only seen praise for his work on all the major BMW forums. Seems the only complaint that anybody can level is that he's very busy and sometimes difficult to get hold of.
Where is the £1300 + vat price coming from? I was under the impression that Steve (Mr Vanos) charged around £700-£900 to come to your house and fit a complete refurbished and improved VANOS. Is the extra what your Indy is charging to remove, post and refit? Because it seems an unneeded extra expense?
Where is the £1300 + vat price coming from? I was under the impression that Steve (Mr Vanos) charged around £700-£900 to come to your house and fit a complete refurbished and improved VANOS. Is the extra what your Indy is charging to remove, post and refit? Because it seems an unneeded extra expense?
carreauchompeur said:
Mr. VANOS did mine a year ago, charged £850...
Thanks for your reply. Did he come out to you or did you take your car to him ? And was the £850 inc. VAT?The quote from my local garage was to strip the vanos and the camshaft off the car and courier both to Mr. Vanos to refurbish the vanos and, I believe, align it perfectly with the camshaft and then return both by courier for my local garage to fit. I'm not sure how much labour is included in the £1,300 quote.
JamesL said:
I've not used 'Mr Vanos' myself (infact I'm only just shopping for my E36 M3) but in the course of many months of research I've only seen praise for his work on all the major BMW forums. Seems the only complaint that anybody can level is that he's very busy and sometimes difficult to get hold of.
Where is the £1300 + vat price coming from? I was under the impression that Steve (Mr Vanos) charged around £700-£900 to come to your house and fit a complete refurbished and improved VANOS. Is the extra what your Indy is charging to remove, post and refit? Because it seems an unneeded extra expense?
I had also seen that Steve charges around £850 to fit a refurbished Vanos, however, I assumed that was if you go to him? It will cost me around £250 in petrol and a days holiday to drive to Darlington which is why I was also enquiring about people's experiences with CPC in Amersham as that is considerably closer.Where is the £1300 + vat price coming from? I was under the impression that Steve (Mr Vanos) charged around £700-£900 to come to your house and fit a complete refurbished and improved VANOS. Is the extra what your Indy is charging to remove, post and refit? Because it seems an unneeded extra expense?
The £1,300 quote does include the labour for stripping and refitting the camshaft and the vanos and the courier charges both ways. It does seem an unnecessary expense if I can go direct...
Johnb850 said:
Lads.
There are numerous things that can make your M3 run poorly.
The first thing to do is have a proper BMW diagnostic carried out - this can also test the operation of the VANOS system.
Take your next actions based on the results of the diagnostic.
Thank John. I have had the diagnostics checks carried out by my local independent BMW garage. The diagnostics indicated a problem with the Vanos. The garage stripped the Vanos off the car and they diagnosed a pump failure. Based on the cost I told them to put the car back together in the hope some new seals and new plugs might fix the problem, however, the car is running so badly. Not just a matter of performance. The car physically moves around with the engine at idle...There are numerous things that can make your M3 run poorly.
The first thing to do is have a proper BMW diagnostic carried out - this can also test the operation of the VANOS system.
Take your next actions based on the results of the diagnostic.
Hi Simmons,
My M3 is booked with Mr Vanos for 3 weeks time. Complete Vanos replacement which is costing me £750 plus vat and includes gears and cam adjustment etc. I am based near Colchester so might be worth mentioning to him when you book in and he could tie ours in at the same time. Won't save any money but might reduce your waiting time to have it done.
It's a big cost to swallow but I'm assured that these units are nigh on fail proof with a two year warranty.
My M3 is booked with Mr Vanos for 3 weeks time. Complete Vanos replacement which is costing me £750 plus vat and includes gears and cam adjustment etc. I am based near Colchester so might be worth mentioning to him when you book in and he could tie ours in at the same time. Won't save any money but might reduce your waiting time to have it done.
It's a big cost to swallow but I'm assured that these units are nigh on fail proof with a two year warranty.
NelsonR32 said:
Hi Simmons,
My M3 is booked with Mr Vanos for 3 weeks time. Complete Vanos replacement which is costing me £750 plus vat and includes gears and cam adjustment etc. I am based near Colchester so might be worth mentioning to him when you book in and he could tie ours in at the same time. Won't save any money but might reduce your waiting time to have it done.
It's a big cost to swallow but I'm assured that these units are nigh on fail proof with a two year warranty.
Hi Nelson,My M3 is booked with Mr Vanos for 3 weeks time. Complete Vanos replacement which is costing me £750 plus vat and includes gears and cam adjustment etc. I am based near Colchester so might be worth mentioning to him when you book in and he could tie ours in at the same time. Won't save any money but might reduce your waiting time to have it done.
It's a big cost to swallow but I'm assured that these units are nigh on fail proof with a two year warranty.
Thanks for letting me know. What date is he coming to you?
I tried ringing him most of yesterday and left a message but no reply yet. I'll try again today. If you can let me know the date for your visit I'll email him as well.
Many thanks!
NelsonR32 said:
Hi Simmons,
My M3 is booked with Mr Vanos for 3 weeks time. Complete Vanos replacement which is costing me £750 plus vat and includes gears and cam adjustment etc. I am based near Colchester so might be worth mentioning to him when you book in and he could tie ours in at the same time. Won't save any money but might reduce your waiting time to have it done.
It's a big cost to swallow but I'm assured that these units are nigh on fail proof with a two year warranty.
Hi Nelson,My M3 is booked with Mr Vanos for 3 weeks time. Complete Vanos replacement which is costing me £750 plus vat and includes gears and cam adjustment etc. I am based near Colchester so might be worth mentioning to him when you book in and he could tie ours in at the same time. Won't save any money but might reduce your waiting time to have it done.
It's a big cost to swallow but I'm assured that these units are nigh on fail proof with a two year warranty.
I've spoken to Steve this morning and have managed to get booked in at the same time as you. Thanks a lot for the heads up.
carreauchompeur said:
Brilliant!
Incidentally if you've got an Inspection 2 coming up this work can save you doing the valve clearances and also rocker gasket price.
If you get a set of spark plugs and ask nicely Steve will also replace these at the same time...
Thanks. Incidentally if you've got an Inspection 2 coming up this work can save you doing the valve clearances and also rocker gasket price.
If you get a set of spark plugs and ask nicely Steve will also replace these at the same time...
Just had the spark plugs replaced a few weeks ago in the vain hope that might have been the issue... I'll check out the Inspection 2 timing though.
It's often a 20 min fix resoldering a cracked solder joint.
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Hello All,
I've just come across this thread, as I'm having issues with my m3 evo too and just started to looking to the options and who can sort it..
So just wanted to ask how it went with Mr Vanos at the end of July for you both (Simmons2012 & NelsonR32)
Was it easy going, did he turn up? was it worth the money? Did it fix your issues and is the car running better??
Oh yes, are you happy with his work??
Regards,
J
I've just come across this thread, as I'm having issues with my m3 evo too and just started to looking to the options and who can sort it..
So just wanted to ask how it went with Mr Vanos at the end of July for you both (Simmons2012 & NelsonR32)
Was it easy going, did he turn up? was it worth the money? Did it fix your issues and is the car running better??
Oh yes, are you happy with his work??
Regards,
J
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