2.8 Camshaft positioning sensors

[NWI.Ken]

1998 2.8 After having a OBII scanned, all the issues made sense. Bad camshaft positioning sensor. Ok. 146K miles, probably has never been touched, so I ordered both. The intake replacement is a Standard Intermotor PC310. I pull the old one out. It has 4 guide "keys" in the connector, new one only has 3. They both appear to have the same pair facing the front of the car. The old one has a pair facing the rear a little narrower with the new one having a single one in the middle. These are "keys" on the sensor wire to slip into grooves on the stationary plug on the car.

Ok. I move to the exhaust side. Um.....can't find it. I have watched a YouTube video and looked on Pelican's site. Under the Vanos cover facing the expansion tank, starting toward the wheel well is an about a 10 mm nut with 2 much larger bolt heads next to each other. There is no electrical connection that I see anywhere there. The pictures and the video show it just under the corner of the cover pulling out towards the radiator. VIN 4USCJ3327WLC12665 I do not know if I can post pictures at this time. Any ideas?? Thank you in advance. Ken

[BimmerBreaker]

Do you have an M52TU or an M52..?

[NWI.Ken]

How would I know for certain which model it is? I know its a 1998 2.8, that's about the extent of it. First season owning one of these.

[328 Power 04]

You have a single vanos M52, therefore a single camshaft position sensor.


Also, it is not wise to use anything but an OE VDO/Siemens or original BMW sensor for this job. The Chinese aftermarket ones are notoriously unreliable.

[NWI.Ken]

Thank you 328 Power. That is what I was thinking and I knew mine was single Vanos just as the 97s. For some reason Rockauto has both listed for each of those years. Thank you for the advice.

That explains not having the exhaust side but are the intake sensors different between the single Vanos vs. dual?

[NWI.Ken]

I did some research, apparently they are different.

[bluptgm3]

Everything is different.
Use the last seven of you VIN in www.realoem.com to determine your exact part requirements.


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[JLyons85]

1998 2.8 After having a OBII scanned, all the issues made sense. Bad camshaft positioning sensor. Ok. 146K miles, probably has never been touched, so I ordered both. The intake replacement is a Standard Intermotor PC310. I pull the old one out. It has 4 guide "keys" in the connector, new one only has 3. They both appear to have the same pair facing the front of the car. The old one has a pair facing the rear a little narrower with the new one having a single one in the middle. These are "keys" on the sensor wire to slip into grooves on the stationary plug on the car.

Ok. I move to the exhaust side. Um.....can't find it. I have watched a YouTube video and looked on Pelican's site. Under the Vanos cover facing the expansion tank, starting toward the wheel well is an about a 10 mm nut with 2 much larger bolt heads next to each other. There is no electrical connection that I see anywhere there. The pictures and the video show it just under the corner of the cover pulling out towards the radiator. VIN 4USCJ3327WLC12665 I do not know if I can post pictures at this time. Any ideas?? Thank you in advance. Ken

What symptoms are you having? Mine is missing on the front two cylinders and throwing a camshaft cannot reach position, or somesuch, as well as a fuel trim code. The fuel trim code is throwing me off, and I've gone through and replaced the valve cover gasket, plugs, both intake bellows, checked the DISA, and gasket, exhaust camshaft solenoid, and sensor replaced. I WAS getting random multiple misfires on all six cylinders when I started, so it's better having done all that, but it's still not right. I've only had the car for two months, and have now completely missed vert season as it's barely drive-able at the moment. Sorry to hijack your thread, but seeing as we're having probably similar issues. Definitely only buy the VDO/Siemens part, if you're replacing them, and check realoem.com with your VIN number for the correct part.

[Randy Forbes]

What symptoms are you having? Mine is missing on the front two cylinders and throwing a camshaft cannot reach position, or somesuch, as well as a fuel trim code. The fuel trim code is throwing me off, and I've gone through and replaced the valve cover gasket, plugs, both intake bellows, checked the DISA, and gasket, exhaust camshaft solenoid, and sensor replaced. I WAS getting random multiple misfires on all six cylinders when I started, so it's better having done all that, but it's still not right. I've only had the car for two months, and have now completely missed vert season as it's barely drive-able at the moment. Sorry to hijack your thread, but seeing as we're having probably similar issues. Definitely only buy the VDO/Siemens part, if you're replacing them, and check realoem.com with your VIN number for the correct part.

I'm not familiar with your engine as I am with the 3.2 versions, but the "camshaft cannot reach position" certainly sounds like a VANOS ailment. Typically though, at least with the early 2-step units, the only real symptom is a loss of low end power.

There are a couple of specific tools/fixtures required (which can be rented, if you don't want to purchase them) but the removal/replacement of the VANOS unit is doable by anyone willing to read the step-by-step instructions in the BMW TIS (still available on ebay for approx. $20); I don't know that I'd trust foillowing the sequence in the Bentley manual for a job like this...

As for the misfires, don't rule out clogged and/or leaking injectors. I've rectified some weird driving issues__after ruling out ign coils__by sending injectors off to be cleaned and tested. I recommend Injector Rx https://www.injectorrx.com/ for a quick and economical turn around, but there may be others offering as good of service (?).