Vanos seals

[Sludgepump]

Hi all.
I drop by every day to see what people are up to but don't post often. However I need some advice/encouragement!

I'm looking to get my vanos seals done
Although my 14 year old zed has relatively low mileage (70,000) I suspect the seals will have age-hardened and need replacing.

I'm tempted to use the X8R kit off ebay. Have watched a few videos and trawled through some threads on here so I'm reasonably
happy I can do it.

Then I thought sod it, I'm getting a bit old for all this spannering so I got a quote from an independant BMW specialist:
£849 for the vanos seals
£267 for the vanos solenoid seals (whatever they are)

Needless to say I'm dusting off the spanners and limbering up the old carcass for one final fling.

I'm aware of the issue with the bulkhead but I don't really want to crawl around underneath the car trying to jack up the engine.
I'm tempted to cut the studs with a hacksaw. Is there enough space to do this?

 

[bigwinn]

Afternoon

I was in the same place you were. Trust me, do it, you wont regret it

Its the single best thing I've done to my car, and thats backed up by everyone else who has done it on here. Its transformed the engine tickover, response and mid range.

I used the X8R kit (£99) without the bearings- up to you if you do those as well but mine is a 2.2 and I read that was only really an issue on the bigger engines

I planned a whole day to do it and it was done comfortably in 4 hours with a helper. I did loads of planning/watching videos (again the X8R one is good as its on a bench) and I was worried about the clearance issue and the fragile screws parts- all passed with no issues.

When done we stood there and both said how easy that was

Bang for buck- do it! Only specialist tool I'd advise is a long nose 90 degree set of pliers to get the valve caps off.

Happy to do a write up- if you are near me I am also happy to help!

Be bold!

 

[patriot66]

I wouldn't cut the studs with a hacksaw if I was you. IF you cannot then wind them out with ViseGrips or if one or more snap off in the block then you're going to be in a bit of a mess.
There really is no need. Just slacken the front cross-member bolts ( x 3 each side) and get a mate to lever it against the waterpump with a long pry bar. This WILL give you just enough room to get the Vanos out and back in again

 

[Sludgepump]

Thanks guys
Pliers ordered!
Will let you know how I get on