E86 Vanos solenoid removal

chanlon1

chanlon1

Active member
 Belfast
If you take the vanos solenoids out to give them a clean, is it recommended or required to replace the two o ring gaskets?

Thanks.
 
Recommended, yes. Reduces the risk of future trouble.

So long as the old o-rings are clean of grit/dust and wiped over with clean engine oil, they are usually fine to re-use. Just make sure they're not cracked or brittle. But if they still feel like rubber then reuse them. Worst case, they'll weep oil and you'll need to replace them.
 
Thanks Liam, new sets dont seem to be too expensive anyway, so I may look at just replacing to save any faff down the road
 
Received the two sets of o ring gaskets the other day. Hoping to remove the solenoids this weekend and give them a clean etc.

Any tips or advice regarding doing this?

thanks
 
Use a good fit spanner on the, I have used a new adjustable wrench with pristine jaws that achieve a good positive grip on them. Quite soft alloy housing on them and easy to mark so take your time. Always good to use new O rings originals have been sat in there compressed for years going through heat cycles which is not good for rubber.
 
colb said:
Use a good fit spanner on the, I have used a new adjustable wrench with pristine jaws that achieve a good positive grip on them. Quite soft alloy housing on them and easy to mark so take your time. Always good to use new O rings originals have been sat in there compressed for years going through heat cycles which is not good for rubber.
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Cheers. I have replacement o rings ready and I am fairly sure that in the past I was able to get my 10mm ratchet and loosen at least one bolt.
Are the electrical clips easy to disconnect?
 
Devils advocate here but isn't the consensus to just replace solenoids as cleaning just prolongs the inevitable?
 
Brouse said:
Devils advocate here but isn't the consensus to just replace solenoids as cleaning just prolongs the inevitable?
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Or even.......if it ain't broken don't fix it :poke: , I've heard that just trying to clean them doesn't resolve much , especially if the engine has had regular oil changes, I replaced mine earlier this year as they didn't appear to have been replaced and on inspection they looked very clean.
 
TOMGREEN413 said:
Brouse said:
Devils advocate here but isn't the consensus to just replace solenoids as cleaning just prolongs the inevitable?
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Or even.......if it ain't broken don't fix it :poke: , I've heard that just trying to clean them doesn't resolve much , especially if the engine has had regular oil changes, I replaced mine earlier this year as they didn't appear to have been replaced and on inspection they looked very clean.
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I’ve a slight fluttering on idle and had read that a possible solution was to clean the solenoids.
 
Wishing you all the best, let us know if cleaning cures the flutter, interested to hear your outcome :thumbsup:
 
I had a misfire and the scan codes pointed to solenoids, removed them, cleaned them by connecting a battery and operating them in first fuel then clean oil and refitted them, if cleaning doesn’t work then new may be needed. 4k miles since and hasn’t missed a beat, it’s not a difficult DIY task but do check trouble codes first.
 
Managed to get them out. Took quite a bit of effort due to lack of space and light.
Didn’t appear to be too dirty. When connected to a battery the solenoids opened and closed without any issues.
Before
IMG_9929.jpeg
After
IMG_9930.jpeg

Gave them a good clean and now comes the fun of putting them back in again…..

No codes were found before I took them.
 
Ended up taking the plastic cover in the engine bay that covers the fan off. This gave way more light and a bit better visibility.
Got the solenoids back in, but with the new o rings on, they were really tough to push in.
But, the slight fluttering is still there.
Atleast I know what to do if I need to check the solenoids in the future.
 
Two sugestions:

1) Check the VANOS check valves which are on the side of the engine. You have to remove the wheel to get access to them. It helps to have a few flex-joints on a ratchet, I found getting the top one out to be time consuming, but re-installing was pretty fast. You can clean, or just outright replace. BMW is now charging a lot more on these than they used to :(.

2) The idle flutter might be related to the Eccentric Shaft Sensor and/or missing rubber from DISA valves and/or CCV

I unfortunately had a failing CCV, inner DISA missing rubber and an Eccentric Shaft Sensor that was marginal and replacing all of these items restored my idle. Bad news is you have to pull the valve cover (and do a valve cover gasket repalcement) to get to the Eccentric Shaft Sensor if yours is failing. I suggest the Continental part vs. BMW P/N because the Continental (OE) part is much cheaper.

Don't be fooled by people who say you have to have oil in the ESS connector for it to be failing, oil can still build up inside the sensor but not show up on the connector (ask me how I know).
 
I just replaced the VANOS on my 3.0si (N52).
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Part no. 11367585425. I ordered PIERBURG 7.06117.01.0 from Autodoc, which came with replacement o-rings.
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As @chanlon1 mentioned, the space at the front of the engine bay is tight, so I removed the top fan cover. This wasn't mentioned in the guides I read beforehand, so thought I'd highlight it here in case anyone else reads this thread when hunting for instructions.

Radiator top cover.png

Working at the top of the radiator support, remove eight Phillips head screws (red arrows and the two T25 Torx fasteners (green arrows).
 
Z-4-FUN said:
so I removed the top fan cover. This wasn't mentioned in the guides I read beforehand, so thought I'd highlight it here in case anyone else reads this thread when hunting for instructions.
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That's exactly what I did. Gives an extra centimetre of space, but more importantly lets more light in, and actually allows better visibility.
 
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