Engine squeal / whine / rough running Vanos 2A87 fault.

[daverp]

2007 328i, 210k miles.

So, I've had these symptoms before, related to the vanos solenoids. This time it's not going away.

Car warms up, get a few miles down the road, and the engine starts "squealing". High pitched. Almost sounds like a slipping belt, but that's not it.

Car will stall often when coming to a stop. Runs rough when this happens, along with the engine squeal. Check engine light, 2A87 fault.

Each time before, I swapped out the vanos solenoids (cleaning them never seemed to work), and the car drove great again.

This last time, I got a yellow oil light, followed by the rough running, squealing, and stalling. 1qt down. Immediately pulled off the next exit and put in oil. 2A87 fault. Ordered up new vanos, and changed them out. Same fault, 2a87. Changed the oil, swapped the solenoids, cleared the fault, and got same 2a87 fault.

Believe it's cam bearing ledges from what I've read, but before I sink $400 for intake and exhaust ledges and a weekend into changing them out, any other ideas? I've not heard anyone else complain of this squealing noise, but I've gotten every time the vanos have had problems. Swap out the vanos, and it goes away never to return until I have a vanos problem again....maybe 30k to 50k miles later.

Not sure how I let it get a quart down so I'd get the yellow oil light, but I did. Am wondering if the low oil pressure sent the cam bearing ledges "over the edge", or if I may have other problems. No other faults found on the scanner.

[deltagirl60]

I'm having same problem, getting ready to go to dealer.. How did you come out?

[mobitechaz]

I'm having same problem, getting ready to go to dealer.. How did you come out?

ASE Certified BMW mechanic. Came across this exact issue this morning after replacing oil filter housing gaskey and valve cover gasket in 2011 328i. The spooky thing about this issue is that it didn't present until about 20 minutes after I ran the car. As murphy would have it client called no more than a block away from my location saying that car was shaking and noisy. Car was misfiring on all cylinders and horrible squeal sounded like a pulley was about to fail. Pulled intake codes 2A7C and 2A82 indicating it was a VANOS issue. I was very concerned that something may have fallen into engine during the repair. I followed the following protocol at the link below. Checked oil level, it was fine. Removed and cleaned connectors with solvent but was no help. Then removed intake and exhaust solenoids soaked them in solvent and switched them (they are identical part). Engine has run perfectly since. In this issue I suspect that the VANOS solenoid was just clogged or dirty from dirty oil. I inspected the client's oil filter and it looked very old and cracking. I replaced filter and advised client to perform immediate oil change. So, no need to fear... the VANOS solenoids are super sensitive it appears to debris. So, that was my experience and i hope this report has helped others who may have experienced this following gasket replacement. you can send me an email by adding gmail dot com to my username. im based in Scottsdale AZ and would be happy to service your vehicle if you are in the area.

https://us.autologic.com/news/bmw-va...and-diagnosing