E39 Vanos preventitive maintanance
Discussion
I've read about the M5 Vanos problem. Very expensive to fix. I am thinking of trading in my 993 for an M5 (as family grows), and looking at buying a 2000/1 E39 for around £12-15k. Is there anything that I should look out for maintanance wise that should be done at certain mileage to prevent the Vanos problem? Any other problems / maintanance to look out for?
If your budget allows, try and go for at least a 2001 as the engines are revised and dont use as much oil as the earlier E39's T reg, Vreg...etc.
There isnt a mod for the Vanos unfortunatley, just make sure, when viewing, you specify to view the car from cold so you can hear it start and listen to see if Vanos sounds bad or not.
A lot of the E39's have a slight rattle from cold but it should only be for a second or so, anymore then walk away.
2001 is a facelift time too, so you will have revised steering wheel, larger satnav screen, Angel eyes and Zenons, to name a few of the upgrades.
Buy one with a good MOT, as they are prone to rear tyre wear, bushes front and rear, snapped coil springs on the rear, so at least if its just been through a MOT then you can be sure to be Gremlin free in this respect.
I suppose it goes without saying to make sure it has full history too, a car of this caliber should have been looked after by every owner, again, if the mileage and history doesnt add up, walk away.
Air flow meters are the most common fault on the E39 M5 and really need replacing ideally in pairs every 40-50k and they cost around 150-180 a piece for genuine Bosch units.
Good luck and keep us posted on your buy.
There isnt a mod for the Vanos unfortunatley, just make sure, when viewing, you specify to view the car from cold so you can hear it start and listen to see if Vanos sounds bad or not.
A lot of the E39's have a slight rattle from cold but it should only be for a second or so, anymore then walk away.
2001 is a facelift time too, so you will have revised steering wheel, larger satnav screen, Angel eyes and Zenons, to name a few of the upgrades.
Buy one with a good MOT, as they are prone to rear tyre wear, bushes front and rear, snapped coil springs on the rear, so at least if its just been through a MOT then you can be sure to be Gremlin free in this respect.
I suppose it goes without saying to make sure it has full history too, a car of this caliber should have been looked after by every owner, again, if the mileage and history doesnt add up, walk away.
Air flow meters are the most common fault on the E39 M5 and really need replacing ideally in pairs every 40-50k and they cost around 150-180 a piece for genuine Bosch units.
Good luck and keep us posted on your buy.
Edited by M5 Dan on Monday 5th November 14:14
Edited by M5 Dan on Monday 5th November 14:26
I think the Vanos thing can be a bit over hyped on these cars. There have certainly been some genuine failures, but I think some of the so called failures are down to vanos units being unnecesarily replaced under warranty simply because they're noisy.
BMW have always aknowledged that some of the units are noisy, and have always said that the noise is no cause for concern, and has no effect on the performance or longevity of the engine.
Also the failures seem to mostly affect the earlier pre facelift cars. These cars are known to have high oil consumption,(1 litre/450 miles is within tollerance) and also specifically require Castrol TWS Motorsport 10w60 oil, which is generally not available at filling stations, and is difficult to find anywhere other than at a main dealer parts dept.
Because of this, I wonder how many of these early cars which suffered vanos failure, did so because they were allowed to regularly run low on oil, or were consistently topped up with the wrong oil, rather than because of an inherent fault with the unit
BMW have always aknowledged that some of the units are noisy, and have always said that the noise is no cause for concern, and has no effect on the performance or longevity of the engine.
Also the failures seem to mostly affect the earlier pre facelift cars. These cars are known to have high oil consumption,(1 litre/450 miles is within tollerance) and also specifically require Castrol TWS Motorsport 10w60 oil, which is generally not available at filling stations, and is difficult to find anywhere other than at a main dealer parts dept.
Because of this, I wonder how many of these early cars which suffered vanos failure, did so because they were allowed to regularly run low on oil, or were consistently topped up with the wrong oil, rather than because of an inherent fault with the unit
Edited by M5Dave on Monday 5th November 16:12
M5 Dan said:
If your budget allows, try and go for at least a 2001 as the engines are revised and dont use as much oil as the earlier E39's T reg, Vreg...etc.
There isnt a mod for the Vanos unfortunatley, just make sure, when viewing, you specify to view the car from cold so you can hear it start and listen to see if Vanos sounds bad or not.
A lot of the E39's have a slight rattle from cold but it should only be for a second or so, anymore then walk away.
2001 is a facelift time too, so you will have revised steering wheel, larger satnav screen, Angel eyes and Zenons, to name a few of the upgrades.
Buy one with a good MOT, as they are prone to rear tyre wear, bushes front and rear, snapped coil springs on the rear, so at least if its just been through a MOT then you can be sure to be Gremlin free in this respect.
I suppose it goes without saying to make sure it has full history too, a car of this caliber should have been looked after by every owner, again, if the mileage and history doesnt add up, walk away.
Air flow meters are the most common fault on the E39 M5 and really need replacing ideally in pairs every 40-50k and they cost around 150-180 a piece for genuine Bosch units.
Good luck and keep us posted on your buy.
To OP. If I was buying private for a car at £4k or above and it had 7months or less MOT I would demand that the owner puts it through the MOT as a condition of purchase (and it goes without saying that the current owner pays for any failure). Any seller not prepared to put their car through the MOT clearly has doubs if it will pass (as its only £40). There isnt a mod for the Vanos unfortunatley, just make sure, when viewing, you specify to view the car from cold so you can hear it start and listen to see if Vanos sounds bad or not.
A lot of the E39's have a slight rattle from cold but it should only be for a second or so, anymore then walk away.
2001 is a facelift time too, so you will have revised steering wheel, larger satnav screen, Angel eyes and Zenons, to name a few of the upgrades.
Buy one with a good MOT, as they are prone to rear tyre wear, bushes front and rear, snapped coil springs on the rear, so at least if its just been through a MOT then you can be sure to be Gremlin free in this respect.
I suppose it goes without saying to make sure it has full history too, a car of this caliber should have been looked after by every owner, again, if the mileage and history doesnt add up, walk away.
Air flow meters are the most common fault on the E39 M5 and really need replacing ideally in pairs every 40-50k and they cost around 150-180 a piece for genuine Bosch units.
Good luck and keep us posted on your buy.
Edited by M5 Dan on Monday 5th November 14:14
Edited by M5 Dan on Monday 5th November 14:26
From a sellers Point of View given the car is say above £3k in value its worth putting it through the MOT to ensure it has the full 12 months for any possible new owner. This of course applies to part xing too - as one of the conditions of Good/ave/below ave condition is length of MOT and it can certainly make a big difference on the price theyy will offer you for the car.
Just my 2p.
I only had mine for about 7 months and would recommend one but buy on condition. Mine never used a drop of oil in 5.5k miles (Sept '00 car with the later engine I believe) but had many gremlins with the sat/radio/tv unit. Also rattles & squeeks. Battery issues, wind noise from sun roof and a very reluctant gearbox when cold. It had a recent fluid change too.
When it was all together and working fine it was a great car. I had some fantastic runs accross the mountain on the Isle-of-man and they really do shrink around you. Just don't be tempted by the 1st one you see and try loads to get a feel for a good one.
Good luck
Paul.B
When it was all together and working fine it was a great car. I had some fantastic runs accross the mountain on the Isle-of-man and they really do shrink around you. Just don't be tempted by the 1st one you see and try loads to get a feel for a good one.
Good luck
Paul.B
Having owned a couple of M cars and now an E39M5, in my experience you look after the VANOS by allowing the oil to warm up fully before putting the engine under load. The lights on the rev counter go out way to early IMO and to date I have had only the tyical vanos growl and no failures. To have one fail is very very rare and only make the headlines as they are expensive to fix.
The VANOS on the m5 had a an 'oil pressure acculator' in 2000 some time but was fitted to a lot of older m5's (99 models) owing to the loud growling at idle. It is not a cure for the noise but helps. You can see if its been fitted, its on the front of the engine.
The VANOS on the m5 had a an 'oil pressure acculator' in 2000 some time but was fitted to a lot of older m5's (99 models) owing to the loud growling at idle. It is not a cure for the noise but helps. You can see if its been fitted, its on the front of the engine.
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