Vanos kit recommendations

P

parabolica

Member
I know for a fact the VANOS on my 03 has never been refreshed; there aren't any signs of the system failing but better to be proactive etc. Any recommendations for which kit to get and who from? Open to hearing the pros and cons for going for the larger kits over just the piston seals.

I tried to do a search on this as I've seen a lot of posts but it brought up hundreds of entries and I couldn't find what I was looking for.
 
I have just fitted the full kit from X8R, cost £139 and was really easy to install and the instructions easy to follow. I went for the full kit as my car has 214000 miles on it and I didn't want to strip the vanos and find I needed extra bits.

Job took about 3 hours to do including taking and refitting the unit to the car. I took one of the longer studs out to help easy removal from the engine as it is quite tight.
 
I rebuilt my VANOS recently and like Ivancrx I also bought the full VANOS kit from X8R, paid £139 on Ebay. Possibly the best money I have spent on my Zed...should've done it 5 years ago when I bought the car ! Fully bedded in now and the torque is massively improved...pulls like a train :thumbsup:
 
I'm looking at doing this soon too. Would the £139 kit work for a 04 Z4 e85 or is that a different kit? Also does the front bumper need to come off to do this or can it be done with keep the bumper on?
 
Dr. Zed said:
I'm looking at doing this soon too. Would the £139 kit work for a 04 Z4 e85 or is that a different kit? Also does the front bumper need to come off to do this or can it be done with keep the bumper on?
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No the bumper doesn’t need to come off, I took the plastic trim off from above the radiator as it helps a little. It is very tight especially if you have large hands. I have a 2.2 2004 model but the kit is for any M54 engine with the duel Vanos unit.
 
Fairly sure it's the same kit for M54 2.2i, 2.5i and 3.0i engines. Just make sure when ordering. You don't need to take the front bumper off. I removed the plastic slam panel trim and then loosened the 3 main bolts either side of the front cross-member and got my son to lever it forward half an inch with a big pry bar pressing against the waterpump centre. This gave me JUST enough room to wiggle the VANOS unit out and back in afterwards. Some people remove an engine mount nut and jack up the engine with a trolley jack, but having done this when I replaced my waterpump I think it is a more complicated method. :thumbsup:
 
ivancrx said:
No the bumper doesn’t need to come off, I took the plastic trim off from above the radiator as it helps a little. It is very tight especially if you have large hands. I have a 2.2 2004 model but the kit is for any M54 engine with the duel Vanos unit.
Click to expand...

patriot66 said:
Fairly sure it's the same kit for M54 2.2i, 2.5i and 3.0i engines. Just make sure when ordering. You don't need to take the front bumper off. I removed the plastic slam panel trim and then loosened the 3 main bolts either side of the front cross-member and got my son to lever it forward half an inch with a big pry bar pressing against the waterpump centre. This gave me JUST enough room to wiggle the VANOS unit out and back in afterwards. Some people remove an engine mount nut and jack up the engine with a trolley jack, but having done this when I replaced my waterpump I think it is a more complicated method. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input! I have pretty small hands so should be okay. If the front bumper needs to come off then it's not the end of the world (it could do with being realigned anyways) but was just curious.
I might contact them closer to the time then to make sure that same kit will do for a 2.5 too.
 
My Zed is a 2003 2.5i and this is the kit I bought :20200624_155019.jpg
In the description it says :20200624_154007.jpg
So you should be fine with the same kit :thumbsup:
 
Thanks @patriot! Appreciate it. I'll get that on order soon. One less thing to worry about if I get that changed!
 
patriot66 said:
I rebuilt my VANOS recently and like Ivancrx I also bought the full VANOS kit from X8R, paid £139 on Ebay. Possibly the best money I have spent on my Zed...should've done it 5 years ago when I bought the car ! Fully bedded in now and the torque is massively improved...pulls like a train :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
I need to do this somewhere down the line of jobs to do
 
CHIMV8 said:
patriot66 said:
I rebuilt my VANOS recently and like Ivancrx I also bought the full VANOS kit from X8R, paid £139 on Ebay. Possibly the best money I have spent on my Zed...should've done it 5 years ago when I bought the car ! Fully bedded in now and the torque is massively improved...pulls like a train :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
I need to do this somewhere down the line of jobs to do
Click to expand...
Do it ! The improvement is quite amazing :driving: :thumbsup:
 
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