04 X5 Valve Motors diaconnected

[Ladyinred]

Evening all,

Bought an 04 plate X5 private. 4.4 V8 automatic. Ran perfectly on test run and 50 miles thereafter. All of. Sudden (whilst on fumes for petrol!) engine fail safe came on. Came
Up as valve timing error, general but would return as soon as started engine after reset. Investigated u see the hood to find that both valves had been disconnected. My question is why would someone do that? I have a few theories but don’t want to prejudice others thoughts on this.

Thanks for any help
LiR

[Ladyinred]

[R129 300SL]

Faulty valvetronic motors. Common BMW issue. Disconnect so that check warning light doesn’t come on.

They are around £170 each- don’t get cheap copy ones.

[iSore]

Both motors faulty? More like worn eccentric shafts/fingers.

[R129 300SL]

iSore said:

Both motors faulty? More like worn eccentric shafts/fingers.

Yes. Good point..

[iSore]

Or faulty sensors. Not a cheap fix if done properly with genuine parts, but diagnostics is the first job.