Engine Heating Up

[mstewart]

I am brand new to this website and I have had my 1999 wagon for two and a half years now. It is a 528i. I like it a lot. It is definitely the best car I have ever owned. I did not purchase it new and I have a question for you experts.
OK, first of all I want to say that I am not your typical BMW owner. I am a high school English teacher and repair costs kill me. I used to go to the dealer and they killed me. I now have a mechanic who worked for BMW for ten years and has all of the software and knowledge and does a damn good job.
This is my problem. It takes my car a long time to warm up, and until it warms up I have no power whatsoever. This is what I have to do. In the morning, any morning, I have to drive the car around barely touching the gas until I get to 20mph and it switches into second gear, then I can drive till I warm up the engine. When it is cold, 40 degrees or lower, it can take me up to fifteen minutes driving around my neighborhood in the morning to get the engine warmed up. Not to get to second gear, I can get there, just to get the engine warmed up enough to go up the hill I have to ascend. I can't just turn on the engine and drive normally like everyone else. If I don't warm up the engine, and this is after work also even if it is not cold out, I have no power, literally. The rpms rev and it has no effect upon the engine. After I have the engine warmed up, it runs beautifully.

What should I do? I don't know if it is the transmission or what it might be. I have a new thermostat but that didn't seem to affect anything.

I need help.

MS

[bigm77]

so basicly.. your topic subject should be..
"engine NOT heating up"
lol

at least you dont have the problem like a lot of guys on this forums..with overheating.. =)

but i know exactly how you feel.. well at least part of it.
I used to have an issue with my car never warming up..like go up to normal operating temperature.. itd take forever to go to the middle normal temp range...and then when it gets there and i start driving..itll go slowly back down to cold..


this was solved by:
changing Vanos Seals!!! by Beisen.

after that my car warms up in about 2-3 minutes if not faster. then when its real cold outside.. max 5-8 minutes.

Power issue: could be transmission!?!?!??!?! maybe its waiting for the transmission fluid to warm up and "volumize" or something.

[BimmerBreaker]

The rpms rev and it has no effect upon the engine.

I have a new thermostat but that didn't seem to affect anything.

I need help.

MS

My initial reaction was to say you need a thermostat. But then I read the line about the tranny and that you got a new thermostat... threw me off.

RPMs revving but car not moving is a serious issue. Sounds like your tranny could go kaput any moment - I would take it to your mechanic and tell him the problem.

[mstewart]

OK, I really appreciate the input. Here is some more info. On cold mornings, if I turn the car on and let it idle, and don't drive it around, after about five minutes the engine seems to go in cycles where the computer needs to kick in and goose the gas so it doesn't stall. The cycle is about every minute and a half. If it is really cold it will stall. But it doesn't have any effect upon the way the car runs once it is warmed up. And starting it up again is no problem. I was looking at some of these other threads and they mention a clogged ICV, which seems to pertain to my problems. Of course I went out and looked for it but could not see it.

Is my engine a E39? I don't even know what that means.

Mike

What are Vanos seals?

[bigm77]

i had the same issue with cold stalls almost every single time it was cold outside..and i started the car ..went back inside.. come back out.. cars dead.. i had to start it again and keep giving it gas so it wont die...

loss of torque in lower rpms is also a vanos seal issue..

and overall shitty drive....


VANOS SEALS i say ..for the stalling and not warming up properly..

if ur car doesnt move at all in drive when ur punching the accelerator.. it could also be transmission related issues.. but if youve never changed vanos seals... DO IT.. i think all 5'series E39's i6's have Vanos Seals problems.

http://www.beisansystems.com/procedures/vanos_procedure.htm

here it is ^


btw i did the vanos seals/valve cover gasket repair..by my self with fairly standard tools in my home garage in about a day... and i was only 18-19 at the time.. with almost no understanding of this car...
his procedure on the site is SOOOO Detailed its probably the best DIY tutorial ive ever seen.

[BimmerBreaker]

E39 refers to the chassis code of the 1997-2003 BMW 5 series. Other chassis codes, for example: E36, E38, E92; refer to different BMW models and production series. The engine in your car is the M52

The problem sounds to be either an ICV or VANOS. The fact that you say it happens somewhat regularly once it does happen implies to me it may still be an issue with VANOS - probably the seals. VANOS is the valve timing unit in our engines to alter valvetrain timing; the seals are where the unit is located which is in front of the camshafts. I am not sure exactly what happens but I assume wear/tear over the years deteriorates the seal which inadvertendly leads to a vacuum problem causing erroneous idle. I am not sure entirely about the problem, but depending on mileage it may be worth it to replace. VANOS problems may lead to a power loss but I would not expect it to be as serious as you described - you did say the revs were climbing and the car was not moving, correct? That would be a symptom of a bad clutch - which makes me think about your auto tranny.

[mstewart]

The car does accelerate when I push the gas, but the ratio between gas usage and power output seems one sided toward gas usage, if you know what I mean. The car does move and the tranny shifts, but it takes me a little while babying the gas to get to a higher gear where the engine can do some serious warming up. I have spoken of this to my mechanic and he says that the cars love heat and that it will always run a little rich as it warms up, but this is excessive. The car never has a time when it isn't moving. It just doesn't move as it should. I have asked a woman at work if her M3 has had problems warming up, and I know that the engine is totally different, but she hasn't had any problems. I have 194,000 on the engine, but it's weird. When it is warmed up, the engine is so good, lots of power and smooth and quiet, but when it hasn't been driven, I have to put around to warm it up to get some power.

I really appreciate your info. Seriously.

Thanks,

Mike

Where would I find my ICV? I just looked again at the DIY for a 1999 528 and looked at my engine, but it wasn't the same.

[bigm77]

if you havnt changed it..:

Vanos Seals brother!

im telling you.... do it.. your car will be completely different..feel much better..feel like how it was supposed to feel!!! now since youve said it more clearly.. all your symptoms do point to a vanos issue...at least from my experience!

[mstewart]

OK, I'll replace the vanos seals. Thanks for the info. I appreciate it.

Mike

[bigm77]

dont disappear.. make sure you stick around here and check this topic to see if anyone puts any more input.

Btw 194,000 is awesome.. congrats.. your almost a high mile club member! lol

[mstewart]

I'm still open to suggestions about what is wrong. Also, I don't know what I was thinking about the 194. I have 140,000 on the car.

Anyway, I have a question for you bigm. I am looking at the link you attached about repairing the vanos stuff, and there is are instructions for a M52TU engine. Now, another responder says I have a M52 engine. Is that the same as a M52TU? And I have to say that I am confused as to which parts I am to get because of there being so many numbers associated with everything. I'm not some sort of ______, and I can follow directions to fix my car, but I am having problems determining which parts I am supposed to get. I know that I am asking a lot, but I have a 1999 528i wagon and I am wondering what I have to buy to fix my vanos seals. It seems like your diagnosis seems to fit my problem closely and I think it would be a good idea to replace the parts. And for that, I appreciate your input. I look at this link and wonder what the heck I need. Anyway, thanks.

Mike

[bigm77]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_M52

also in the Beisen website it says:
This vanos unit is part of BMW 6-cylinder engines M52TU, M54, and M56. These engines were incorporated into a wide range of car models during years 1998-2006. They are found in the 3-series E46 98-05, 5-series E39 99-03 / E60 & E61 02-05, 7-series E38 98-01 / E65 & E66 02-05, Z3 E36 98-02, Z4 E85 02-05, X3 E83 03-06, X5 E53 00-06.

1999 you could have M52 or M52TU, depending on when your build date it.

If im correct, if your cars Production Build Date was Post September 1998, you should have M52TU, which is the distinct Double Vanos Valve Train.

I believe you can check your door sills to find your cars Build Date.
*Note your cars BUILD DATE is different then your Model Year. My cars model year is 2000 but Build Date is 08/1999

Also you can try entering in your VIN Number in REALOEM.com to see if shows any details.

I think best way to find out is just check the front of your engine and see if it looks like this:

http://www.beisansystems.com/procedures/vanos_procedure_files/image007.jpg


im pretty sure theres other better ways to see , but these arre all i can tell right now. Some of the true pros around here should chime in.


----------
When doing vanos seals make sure you have a Torque Wrench and torque down screws exactly to torque specs.
The most troubling part of this procedure was taking the fan blade off, i did that by someone elses help... i used the huge 32mm open wrench and started banging the end of that while someone assisted in holding the pully belts and it broke the seize.
It might seem daunting but it was fairly easy.

You WILL need to change your valvecover gaskets when doing this procedure, so if you have a leaky valve cover leaking oil.. youll get that knocked out also.

I suggest getting everything he lists on the website in terms of Parts:

Double vanos seals repair kit (6-cyl) (BS001) $60/each (www.beisansystems.com), <- only place you can get the seals.
vanos gasket (11-36-1-433-817) 6.73/each,
2 x vanos oil hose/pipe washer (32-41-1-093-596) $.25/each
Optional but recommended.
Valve cover gasket replacement parts: valve cover gasket set (< 09/02 11-12-9-070-990, >= 09/02 11-12-0-030-496) $34.26/each,
15 x valve cover bolt grommet (11-12-1-437-395) $1.73/each,
oil fill neck gasket (11-12-7-526-447) 2.29/each

Easily breakable parts: 2 x vanos piston bolt (11-36-1-748-745) $1.42/each, 4 x engine cover bolt/nut cap (11-12-1-726-089) 3.27/each, (E39 2 x, E46 1 x) fan shroud rivet (17-11-1-712-963) $.27/each, E39: radiator overflow neck (17-11-0-419-132) $1.67/each
Easily lost parts: 4 x engine cover pad (11-12-1-730-352) $1.98/each
E39: Small adjustable hose clamp. Needed if radiator overflow hose OEM clamp not previously replaced with adjustable clamp.

Just make sure You read through the Beisan websites DIY procedure and get yourself accustomed to it, over and over again.
Look in front of your car, in your hood while reading to get the hang on what youll have to be doing.
Be confident and take it slow!!! =)
You can finish this all in one day.. i started at 6Pm Saturday - 11am Sunday.. I took my sweet ass time, making sure i didn;t mess anythign up.

[xisco44]

m52 single vanos

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/d/e/3.png

http://www.beisansystems.com/procedures/vanos_single_procedure_files/image020.jpg





m52tu double vanos

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/w/h/14.png


http://www.meeknet.co.uk/E38/BMW_M52TUB28.jpg

[mstewart]

Thanks a lot. I appreciate your input.

[Aintfirsturlast]

My car is is a 99' V8, which is the first year "double VANOS" was standard on the M62 engine(making it an M62TU). There is no ICV on M62TU's, so maybe there is no ICV on I6 dual VANOS? Don't know, just trying to help you.