Vanos/marathon underway

[bigwinn]

To reduce the pile of parts in the garage I decided to get underway on the marathon

Vanos refurb
Water pump, thermostat and expansion tank
Belts
Etc etc

Although I promised I’d pace myself, actually got to here tonight:




I was a little worried when I’d been looking under the oil cap as it looked a bit Mayo like- but I’m now thinking that’s a cloggy ccv over owt else- see pic of underside of cover/cap

Also found the source of the oil leak onto the exhaust

The rubber gasket cracked in my fingers- technically beyond life I think!

I’ll keep posted how it progresses…

 

[Nash3vans]

Out of interest, is the vanos change just preventive or lack of power? My 2.5z got 80 odd thou on it now so wondering how you know. Cheers.

 

[bigwinn]

Purely past experience

Did it on my 2.2 and it was night and day in terms of performance

Simply the best performance mod you can do

 

[Nash3vans]

Think I need a go in another 2.5 to see if I’m up or down on power.

 

[Zedebee]

Nice to see some oily bits. Just for context, is that a M54 3.0i you’re working on?

It does look like a new CCV is in order, but I’ve seen worse. You will have had to take the breather off to get where you’ve got to. Is it also clogged with mayo?

 

[bigwinn]

Nice to see some oily bits. Just for context, is that a M54 3.0i you’re working on?

It does look like a new CCV is in order, but I’ve seen worse. You will have had to take the breather off to get where you’ve got to. Is it also clogged with mayo?

I’m thinking the same bud

Yea m54 3.0

I’ll do the ccv later on- the missus will brain me if any more car parts arrive

 

[bigwinn]

Think I need a go in another 2.5 to see if I’m up or down on power.

Most who have done the job have said the difference is stellar

And I genuinely thought my car ran well before doing it, idle, low end torque and Rev range all improved

 

[patriot66]

Out of interest, is the vanos change just preventive or lack of power? My 2.5z got 80 odd thou on it now so wondering how you know. Cheers.

Your VANOS will almost certainly be wholly or partially inoperative at that age and mileage as the Buna type rubber BMW used for the VANOS O-ring piston seals has limited temperature and chemical resistance. I replaced the VANOS seals and washers/bearings on my 2.5i last year and agree with Bigwinn....night and day. In my opinion the single most effective performance repair or improvement you can do on your Z4

 

[bigwinn]

Out of interest, is the vanos change just preventive or lack of power? My 2.5z got 80 odd thou on it now so wondering how you know. Cheers.

Your VANOS will almost certainly be wholly or partially inoperative at that age and mileage as the Buna type rubber BMW used for the VANOS O-ring piston seals has limited temperature and chemical resistance. I replaced the VANOS seals and washers/bearings on my 2.5i last year and agree with Bigwinn....night and day. In my opinion the single most effective performance repair or improvement you can do on your Z4

100%

And guidance from people like Si makes it so much more accessible

 

[Nash3vans]

The car still pulls real strong tho, even high up the revs. Definitely need to link up with someone to do a swap over test drive. Think it’s gonna be my next job either way.

 

[patriot66]

The car still pulls real strong tho, even high up the revs. Definitely need to link up with someone to do a swap over test drive. Think it’s gonna be my next job either way.

Seriously, just rebuild your VANOS with new seals etc. My car always drove really well too, strong and smooth but post rebuild it is massively better all round with MUCH more low and mid range torque and slightly improved fuel consumption

 

[bigwinn]

Get out!

Vanos off
Water pump off
Thermostat off

Vanos opened up and wow- anyone in doubt of whether this job is worth it or not…

The crud around the vanos pistons was unreal- the gaskets around the valve cover were like glass and the seating of the pistons was so sloppy

Off to get the bearings undone now

 

[bigwinn]

That’s the second vanos I’ve done that needed no ‘persuasion’

Tilted forward and out it came!

 

[markplant]

Need to discuss this with you at Tony's next weekend

 

[bigwinn]

Need to discuss this with you at Tony's next weekend

You thinking of doing it?

 

[patriot66]

Get out!

Vanos off
Water pump off
Thermostat off

Vanos opened up and wow- anyone in doubt of whether this job is worth it or not…

The crud around the vanos pistons was unreal- the gaskets around the valve cover were like glass and the seating of the pistons was so sloppy

Off to get the bearings undone now

55012D53-135A-4984-B8C4-5880DC8A5D73.jpeg899E01F0-E2D7-4CC1-A7A7-53D5BC2FDDFA.jpegE8F7B5F9-45F1-46D6-B3A4-862A545399AC.jpegD7622FDD-35AB-4E36-B40E-D67952CD627D.jpeg

Well done Stuart That's a lot of 'varnish' build up on the outside of those piston covers for sure

 

[parabolica]

Watching this closely; I have my vanos refurb kit sitting waiting to go and got a week off work at the start of June.

 

[markplant]

More likely getting a garage to, depending on cost,
Years ago didn't seem phased about doing jobs on cars but now

 

[bigwinn]

More likely getting a garage to, depending on cost,
Years ago didn't seem phased about doing jobs on cars but now

Happy to lend a hand if you do get adventurous Mark!

 

[bigwinn]

This afternoon:

Opened the vanos up

Seals were pooped!

I popped over to T-Tony who let me use his vice and impact wrench (lovely to meet you buddy- thanks again!!!)

That allowed me to replace the needle bearings and change the rattle rings- I didn’t do this on the 2.2 but saw this as a preventative on the bigger engine- I also recall seeing it being more prevalent on the 3.0

Home- old cylinder seals off and new ones on- rebuilt the vanos

Then popped the ns engine bolt off, new pump and thermostat on. This surprised me- the pump was the original from 2003 (as the car had only done 66k that’s not unusual I suppose) as the impeller was plastic???

Replaced with a metal impeller pump

Vanos back on, those t30’s slowed me a bit due to that damn cross member

New gaskets all round, rocker cover back on after fitting new sparks- the old ones looked fairly good

Then a general tidy up and clean round

The missus stopped play saying I was an antisocial git- but a solid six hours and it’s all back together

Not started it yet as tomorrow is

Finish cooling system with expansion tank and bleed
Oil and filter change

I’ll let you know if it runs!!!